Pacific Notes: Suns Roster, Suns Lineup, Beal, Paul, Harden

The Suns are comfortable with their current roster, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic reports, though they must make at least one more move.

Aided in large part by the Kevin Durant trade and the buyout of Bradley Beal‘s contract, the Suns have dropped under the tax aprons and can now aggregate contracts in a trade, do a sign-and-trade and use mid-level exceptions. However, it’s unlikely they’ll make another significant move.

While Rankin confirms the Suns have some interest in restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga, they lack the draft capital and assets to pique the Warriors’ interest. Veteran free agents Russell Westbrook and Al Horford are not on their radar.

Phoenix will have to add another player to the standard roster by opening night to meet the minimum of 14.

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

• What does the Suns starting lineup look like after all the roster additions and subtractions? Rankin predicts Devin Booker, Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, Ryan Dunn and Mark Williams will claim those spots. Collin Gillespie, Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neale, Oso Ighodaro and lottery pick Khaman Maluach project as the top reserve candidates.
• Beal, who joined the Clippers on a two-year, $11MM contract, has a 15 percent trade kicker as part of his new deal, Michael Scotto of Hoope Hype tweets. Beal officially signed with the Clippers on Friday after clearing waivers.
• There’s no lingering friction between Chris Paul, who signed with the Clippers on Monday, and his former Rockets teammate James Harden, according to Law Murray of The Athletic. In fact, president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank declared that Paul will back up Harden next season. Frank was intent this offseason on getting quality depth, considering his aging roster and the proliferation of injuries throughout the league. “I’ll knock on wood, but the reality is for any NBA team, the amount of times you have your top 10 all available is usually 21 to 25 times throughout the course of a year. So, you literally need everyone on your roster to be able to contribute,” Frank said.