Phoenix Suns Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacific Notes: Durant, Green, Rivers

February 21st, 2016 at 11:32am CST by ChrisCrouse

The Lakers may not be a real contender to sign Kevin Durant should he decide to leave Oklahoma City in free agency due to the lack of talent on their roster, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reports in a session on Fox Sports Radio (h/t to Adrian Hasenmayer of Fox Sports). Wojnarowski adds that the Warriors have Durant’s attention and they remain a threat to steal him away from the Thunder, supplementing an earlier report that the Warriors would be “significant” front-runners to sign Durant should he leave the team.

Big-name free agents, including Durant, don’t care about whether a team has high-value assets such as top draft picks or young prospects because those are not going to help a team win a championship right away. If Durant is going to leave Oklahoma City, it’s going to be for a place that can win a championship and part of his criteria will be whether the destination is good enough to beat top teams, like the Warriors, with him on it, sources tell Wojnarowski.

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

Executive/coach Doc Rivers believes the addition of Jeff Green gives the Clippers a fighting chance against the top teams in the Western Conference, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee writes. “When you look at the teams we have to beat, we need to get longer, more athletic, and we need to increase our shooting,” Rivers said. “And I think with Jeff we did all three of those things.
The Clippers could get Austin Rivers, who has been sidelined with a broken left hand, back on the court in less than two weeks, Dan Woike of the Orange County Register tweets.
With Markieff Morris out of the picture, the Suns can finally start to build for the future, Dan Bickley of the Arizona Republic argues. Bickley believes the Suns should acquire players who resonate with the community, similar to how other professional franchises in Phoenix have done.

Southeast Notes: Magic, Jennings, Morris, Hinrich

February 20th, 2016 at 7:35pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Magic scored an impressive $8,193,029 trade exception, equivalent to Channing Frye‘s salary, from Thursday’s trade with the Cavs, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Orlando is poised to have enough cap room to sign two players to maximum-salary contracts this summer, so it’s likely that the team renounces that exception in July, but the Frye exception could still come in handy for trades around draft time. The Magic could choose to remain technically over the cap by keeping the cap holds for their own free agents and using sign-and-trades to bring in outside free agent targets. That would allow them to keep the sizable Frye exception until it expires next February, but sign-and-trades are inherently more difficult to pull off than conventional signings.

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

Magic coach Scott Skiles has been monitoring the progress of Brandon Jennings for years, writes John Denton of NBA.com. Orlando added depth to its backcourt this week by picking up Jennings in a trade with the Pistons. Skiles has been keeping an eye on the seventh-year guard, whom he coached for three and a half years in Milwaukee, and said Jennings “was playing the best basketball of his career’’ before the Achilles injury in January of 2015 that kept him out of action for about a year.
New Wizard Markieff Morris already feels at home in Washington, relays Keely Diven of CSNMidAtlantic. The power forward was traded Thursday from the Suns after a rocky season in Phoenix. He said reuniting with Marcin Gortat and Jared Dudley, who were his teammates on the 2011/12 Suns, made the transition easy.
Kirk Hinrich was caught off guard by a trade right before Thursday’s deadline that sent him from the Bulls to the Hawks, according to Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. This is the second stint in Atlanta for Hinrich, who was also traded there by the Wizards in 2011. “I was shocked but after it settled in I’m excited for the opportunity, whatever it may be,” Hinrich said of his latest trade. “I just didn’t see it coming. I’m in Cleveland doing my game-day routine and I got the phone call. I was a little surprised.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Western Notes: Green, Cole, Collison, Suns

February 20th, 2016 at 2:49pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Grizzlies offered Jeff Green to the Clippers earlier in the week and after Los Angeles turned them down, they expected to keep the combo forward on the roster, Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal reports (Twitter link). The Clippers then contacted the team right before the deadline to rekindle talks and the sides were able to come to an agreement, Tillery adds.

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

Norris Cole and Darren Collison were among the point guards available for trades before Thursday’s deadline, a league source told Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. Ellis heard the same about D.J. Augustin, whom the Thunder traded to the Nuggets.
The Suns will not bring back Orlando Johnson, Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic writes. Johnson’s 10-day contract with Phoenix expired earlier this week and the team signed Phil Pressey to a 10-day deal earlier today.
P.J. Tucker drew interest from other teams at the deadline, but Suns GM Ryan McDonough believes that it was the right move to keep the veteran, Coro writes in a separate piece. “He’s one guy we look at as an example for how hard you should play every night and the kind of toughness and edge you should bring to the game,” McDonough said. With Markieff Morris leaving town, Tucker is now the Suns’ longest-tenured player.

Suns Sign Phil Pressey To 10-Day Pact

February 20th, 2016 at 1:20pm CST by Eddie Scarito

1:20pm: The deal is official, the Suns announced (Twitter link). It’ll cover four games, against the Spurs, Clippers, Nets and Grizzlies. The first game, against San Antonio, isn’t until Sunday, and the Suns have a game on March 1st, the day after the contract expires, against the Hornets, so it’s somewhat surprising that Phoenix didn’t wait one more day to sign him.

9:47am: The Suns intend to ink free agent Phil Pressey to a 10-day deal, Marc J. Spears of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports reports (on Twitter). Phoenix has an available roster spot after Jordan McRae‘s second 10-day deal with the team ended on Friday. Teams can only ink players to a maximum of two 10-day contracts per season, so the Suns would have had to sign McRae for the remainder of the season if they wished to retain his services.

Pressey was with the Sixers early this season as their 16 man via the hardship provision. He appeared in 14 games and averaged 3.9 points and 3.3 assists in 12.1 minutes. The point guard became expendable in December when Philadelphia recalled Tony Wroten and Kendall Marshall from the D-League after the duo had recovered from injuries, leading to Pressey’s release.

After the Sixers cut him loose, Pressey rejoined the Idaho Stampede, Utah’s D-League affiliate. The 25-year-old appeared in 25 contests for Idaho, averaging 13.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists in 33.9 minutes per outing. His slash line in the D-League this season is .440/.333/.724.

Eastern Notes: Morris, Frye, Varejao

February 20th, 2016 at 1:10pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy said he had no clue that Markieff Morris‘ situation in Phoenix would take the turn that it did when he acquired his twin Marcus Morris this past offseason, writes Ben Standig of CSNMidAtlantic.com. “I didn’t have any idea,” Van Gundy said. “We just knew that we liked Marcus. He was a good player, a professional guy, hard worker. We never had any problems from our end with it. I mean, Marcus was upset when it happened, upset at Phoenix, but it never had any effect on what we were doing in Detroit. He was a real professional.”

Markieff intends to approach his new situation with the Wizards the same way, Standing adds. He already has the support of Marcin Gortat and Jared Dudley, both of whom relayed positive things about Morris, the scribe notes. “You know, it’s just guys that actually know me, and not on the outside looking in,” Morris said. “Guys that I’ve actually played with and been in the locker room with. Things happen. It’s in my past. All I can do is move forward and learn from it. I’m happy to do it. And getting compliments from those guys means a lot. We’re good friends, we keep in touch. They know me as a person.”

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

The Cavaliers were able to land Channing Frye on Thursday despite having less in the way of assets to offer Orlando than the Clippers, who were also interested in the stretch-four, Jason Lloyd of The Akron Beacon Journal notes. Los Angeles backed away from Frye because of the two years and approximately $15MM remaining on his deal, a contract that Cleveland instead views as an asset with the cap set to jump this offseason, Lloyd adds.
The Hawks would be wise to consider signing center Anderson Varejao, whom Portland waived after acquiring him from the Cavaliers, Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders opines. Atlanta needs a backup center with Tiago Splitter lost for the remainder of the season, and inking Varejao would carry little risk and wouldn’t impact the franchise’s cap flexibility heading into the offseason, Greene notes.
Despite a somewhat slow start to his NBA career, Hornets coach Steve Clifford believes Frank Kaminsky will become a solid starter in the league thanks to how hard he works off the court, Gary D’Amato of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relays. “He has an NBA game right now,” said Clifford. “His biggest issue is he’s physically not strong enough to play every night against the starters. He’s worked hard in the weight room. I think in another year you’ll see him take off because of his work ethic.” The 2015 No. 9 overall pick has appeared in 53 games this season and is averaging 7.6 points and 4.1 rebounds in 21.5 minutes per night.

Western Notes: Morris, Ayres, Stephenson

February 19th, 2016 at 8:46pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Suns GM Ryan McDonough believes the trade that sent Markieff Morris to the Wizards will allow both sides to have a new start, Bob Baum of The Associated Press relays. “I think Markieff will play well in Washington but I think for all parties involved it was time for a fresh start,” McDonough said. “I think this trade hopefully will bring a breath of fresh air into our organization.” The executive also noted that he was extremely pleased with the protected first rounder Phoenix acquired from Washington in the swap, Baum adds. “We feel good about it,” McDonough continued. “Anytime you’re able to acquire a draft pick that has a chance to be late lottery or mid-first round for a player that probably wasn’t fitting in as well as he could have, we view that as a positive outcome for the franchise.”

Here’s more from out West:

Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace is intrigued with deadline acquisition Lance Stephenson and believes the swingman is still growing as a player, Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal relays. “Lance is a guy who got a significant free agent contract from Charlotte based on how well he played in Indiana two years ago,” Wallace said. “He is a very tough, versatile player who can handle the ball and guard multiple positions. He’s got every reason to be very motivated and help us. He was one of the best shooters coming into the [2010] draft. He’s a young guy who the book hasn’t been written on.”
The Clippers acquired Jeff Green with the intention of using his Bird rights to re-sign him in the offseason, and Green, while saying that he’s still adjusting in the immediate wake of Thursday’s trade, can envision a long-term fit in L.A., observes Dan Woike of the Orange County Register (Twitter links).
The Rockets have assigned rookie combo forward Sam Dekker to their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be Dekker’s second trek to Rio Grande Valley, though he was injured during his first stint with the Vipers and he did not see any game action as a result.
The Thunder have assigned Mitch McGary to their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be the center’s sixth stint with the Blue on the season.
Center Jeff Ayres, whose second 10-day deal with the Clippers expired last week, has rejoined the the Idaho Stampede, the Jazz’s D-League affiliate, Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor tweets.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Wizards Acquire Markieff Morris

February 18th, 2016 at 11:56pm CST by Chuck Myron

Mark J. Rebilas / USA TODAY Sports Images

7:20pm: The Suns have traded Markieff Morris to the Wizards for Kris Humphries, DeJuan Blair and Washington’s top-nine protected 2016 first-round pick, the teams announced. Phoenix is reportedly set to waive Blair. It’s a swap that ends a months-long saga involving Morris, who demanded a trade over the summer and recanted that stance, at least publicly, before the season, saying as late as Wednesday night that he wanted to stay in Phoenix.

Washington wasn’t prominent among the several teams linked to Morris since the summer, a group that included the Pelicans, Rockets, Pistons and Raptors. Instead, the Wizards were among the teams linked to Ryan Anderson and other, mostly reserve big man options, before coming away with one of the season’s most talked-about trade candidates.

“Markieff is a versatile, young power forward who brings athleticism and physicality along with a good shooting touch,” Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld said in the team’s statement. “He will be a very good addition to our team as we make our playoff push and gives us a proven starter at that position for the next several years.”

Morris, who’s facing felony aggravated assault charges for his role in a January incident, is under contract for three more seasons after this one at an average of $8MM a year. Humphries is making $4.4MM this season with a non-guaranteed $4.63MM salary for next year. Blair has $2MM coming his way this season, but next year’s $2MM salary is non-guaranteed, just as with Humphries. So, this move compromises Washington’s cap flexibility for this summer, when D.C. native Kevin Durant will be a free agent. The Wizards nonetheless still project to have enough room to offer the max to Durant, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter).

The $7.4MM on the books for Morris next season brings Washington’s guaranteed salary commitments to about $45MM, and that, plus a roughly $14MM cap hold for Bradley Beal and at least about $3.3MM in other cap holds, leaves room for Durant’s projected $24.9MM max beneath the projected $89MM cap. A higher cap of $95MM, which some forecast, would lift Durant’s projected max somewhat higher too, but not by as much, giving the Wizards even more breathing room.

The Wizards will hope for a return to form for Morris, the 13th overall pick from the 2011 draft whose numbers are off sharply this season. His 3-point shooting is a career-worst 28.9%. Humphries added a 3-point shot to his game this year and made 34.3%, but injuries have limited him to only 28 games this season, and his appearance against the Knicks last week was his first since January 3rd. Blair was out of the rotation for most of his year and a half with Washington, averaging only 6.9 minutes per game combined between this season and last.

Phoenix moves on from a tumultuous relationship that seemed to come to a head in the wake of the offseason trade that sent his brother to the Pistons. I chronicled the back-and-forth between Morris and the Suns when I examined his trade candidacy last month.

Today’s swap adds $1.56MM to Washington’s payroll, bringing the Wizards to only about $1MM shy of the tax line. It also allows the Suns to create a trade exception for that $1.56MM amount.

Shams Charania of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports first reported the deal. TNT’s David Aldridge relayed that a first-round pick would go to Phoenix (Twitter link) and Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic had news of the details of the pick (on Twitter). Marc J. Spears of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports reported that Humphries and Blair were Suns-bound, while Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post added that one of them would be waived (Twitter link). RealGM confirms that the pick going to Phoenix is Washington’s own.

Western Rumors: Anderson, Rockets, Lakers

February 18th, 2016 at 2:02pm CST by Will Joseph

The price New Orleans has set for Ryan Anderson is “exorbitant,” tweets Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal. The Cavs were one of several teams linked to having interest in acquiring Anderson, who is set to be a free agent this summer. Anderson is expected to attract a salary starting at $16MM-$18MM when he hits the market this summer. It’s interesting to note how much the Pelicans are asking for Anderson because they aren’t even sure if they can keep him beyond this season.

Here is more trade deadline news from the Western Conference:

The Rockets have been gauging the value of point guard Patrick Beverley, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).
P.J. Tucker is one of the Suns‘ top assets, but he has been told he will not be traded, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
The Lakers have taken calls regarding Roy Hibbert, but they don’t intend to buy him out if he is not dealt, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com tweets. Most teams interested in Brandon Bass and Hibbert would force the Lakers to take back unattractive contracts, Shelburne also tweets.
Mike Conley‘s first choice when he hits free agency this summer is to stay with the Grizzlies, Sean Deveney of The Sporting News reports.

Bucks, Suns Talk Teletovic; Markieff Still On Block

February 18th, 2016 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The Bucks and Suns are in talks about a trade that would send Mirza Teletovic to Milwaukee, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (ESPN Now link). It’s among multiple conversations Phoenix is having, Stein notes. The Suns continue to shop Markieff Morris and receive interest from the Raptors and others in P.J. Tucker, Stein adds (on Twitter). The effort on the Morris front is in spite of Morris having said Wednesday night that he wants to stay in Phoenix, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.

“Happy where I am now and we’ll see what happens,” Morris said. “It’s a part of the game. I’ve learned that this past two years. A lot of stuff is going to happen that’s not in my control. All I can do is wait to see if I’m here. If I’m not, I had a couple great years here and I loved it. If I am, keep on moving forward and get better.”

Morris and Teletovic both play power forward. Jon Leuer is the only other natural four on the Phoenix roster. Teletovic’s $5.5MM salary is slightly too large for Milwaukee’s $5.2MM trade exception, as Stein points out, so the Bucks would have to send at least $3.6MM in salary to the Suns to faciliate a deal.

The Raptors had interest in Morris, but they’re apparently out of the mix on him. The Suns as of mid-January had reportedly been delaying talks about Teletovic, who’s on a one-year contract, and Tucker until they had a better idea of whether they could make the playoffs, but Phoenix hit the All-Star break 13 games out of a playoff spot.

Pelicans, Others In Talks With Bryce Dejean-Jones

February 17th, 2016 at 2:12pm CST by Chuck Myron

2:12pm: The Lakers, Grizzlies, Jazz, Spurs and Suns have contacted Dejean-Jones, though they haven’t necessarily made offers, Kushner tweets.

FEBRUARY 17TH, 12:56pm: New Orleans is waiting until after the trade deadline, Kushner writes. Dejean-Jones would prefer to stay with the Pelicans instead of jumping to another team, according to Kushner, who indicates that he nonetheless wants guaranteed salary that stretches beyond this season. Dejean-Jones is seeking a two- or three-year deal, as Kushner has also reported.

FEBRUARY 11TH, 11:15am: The Pelicans are in talks with Bryce Dejean-Jones about a deal that would bring him back to the team for the rest of the season, and the rookie shooting guard is having conversations with other teams, too, reports Scott Kushner of The New Orleans Advocate (Twitter link). The second 10-day deal that Dejean-Jones signed with the Pelicans expired overnight, and while other NBA teams can sign him to 10-day contracts this year, New Orleans can no longer do so.

The 23-year-old started in eight of his 11 appearances for the banged-up Pelicans, who are missing Eric Gordon and Tyreke Evans because of injuries. Gordon is due back shortly as he recovers from the broken right ring finger he suffered last month, but conflicting reports exist about whether Evans will miss the balance of the season. Quincy Pondexter’s left knee forced him out for the season in January.

Dejean-Jones is averaging 6.3 points and 3.5 rebounds in 19.9 minutes per game, having made 10 of 26 3-point attempts. His connection with the Pelicans dates to the summer league this past July, shortly after he went undrafted out of Iowa State. New Orleans signed him in August to a deal for training camp that included a $50K partial guarantee, but he didn’t make the opening night roster. He appeared in nine games for the D-League affiliate of the Jazz before the Pelicans signed him in January to the first of his 10-day pacts.

The Pelicans already have 14 players under contract through at least the end of the season, so re-signing Dejean-Jones would leave the team without a flexible roster spot. New Orleans has one more game before the All-Star break, tonight at Oklahoma City, and its next game isn’t until February 19th, one day after the trade deadline.