Point guard Brandon Knight underwent successful surgery to treat a sports hernia on Thursday, the Suns announced. Phoenix had already shut down Knight for the remainder of the season as he sought a second medical opinion after being limited to just 52 appearances on the campaign. No timetable was given for Knight’s return to action, but he is expected to begin his rehabilitation immediately, according to the press release. The 24-year-old finishes the 2015/16 season with averages of 19.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.2 steals in 36 minutes per outing. His slash line was .415/.342/.852.
Villanova coach Jay Wright told Dana O’Neil of ESPN.com that he has a strong desire to remain with the school, but he left the door slightly ajar to the idea of jumping to the NBA. The 54-year-old who just led the Wildcats to the national title values the ability to fade from the spotlight during the offseason in Philadelphia and indicated that if that changes, it would be the most significant reason for him to leave, O’Neil writes. The Suns are reportedly interested in Wright for their head coaching job, but he said no team has made an offer. “I can say right now that in my mind I plan to stay at Villanova,” Wright said. “But I also don’t want to be a liar. I want to stay. I know I want to stay, but I just say I hope I can stay because I’ve learned from the past how crazy things can be. I hope I can stay at Villanova because this is where I want to be.”
FRIDAY, 7:54am: Wright doesn’t appear to be Phoenix’s top choice, and many sense that Watson remains very much in the running, writes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. Coro points to “insiders” who believe Wright will stay at Villanova and that it would take a heavy financial offer to pry him from the school. Watson meanwhile says he and McDonough have frequent conversations and good conversations in which they don’t always agree but share common goals.
THURSDAY, 11:02am: Villanova University coach Jay Wright is the top choice of the Suns for their head coaching job, league sources tell Mitch Lawrence of The Sporting News (Twitter link). The 54-year-old Wright is fresh off leading Villanova to the national title.
GM Ryan McDonough said shortly after the team fired former coach Jeff Hornacek that Earl Watson, who’s been in charge on an interim basis, would be a candidate for the job, and Watson has the support of at least some of the players. Phoenix is just 6-23 since Watson took over, though injuries limited Brandon Knight to 10 games and Eric Bledsoe to none during that stretch. The Suns have also reportedly been poised to target former coach Mike D’Antoni, the lead assistant for the Sixers.
Two NBA GMs recently told Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com they could envision Wright as an NBA coach, though he’s never held a job in the league. He’s instead coached exclusively at the college level, sending eight players, including Kyle Lowry, to the NBA. His first head coaching gig came at Hofstra, which he twice led to the NCAA Tournament during a tenure that ran from 1994-2001. He’s been at Villanova ever since, leading the Wildcats to 11 NCAA Tournament appearances in 14 seasons.
McDonough, the former Celtics assistant GM, has a history of mining the college ranks for coaching. He was the first to go after Brad Stevens, Goodman tweets.
- Suns big man Tyson Chandler intends to host workouts over the summer to help him and his teammates develop better chemistry, writes Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. “I feel like this season got way off on the wrong foot,” Chandler said. “Even though we won some games, I didn’t like it even early. Even when we were 7-5, I didn’t like it because it’s important that you win the right way. When you’re playing at a high level, and I’ve been there, you know when you’re a good team. You can just feel it. I felt we had spurts but we were always kind of rocking. It’s important all of us are on the same page and we all truly come in with the same goal.”
THURSDAY, 1:19pm: Miller’s deal is a two-year, $2.1MM arrangement that includes an escape clause that would allow him to return to the NBA, a source tells Pick (Twitter link).
WEDNESDAY, 1:51pm: Recent Suns and Sixers swingman Sonny Weems is putting the finishing touches on a two-year guaranteed deal with Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel, reports international journalist David Pick (Twitter link). Philadelphia released Weems late last month a few weeks after claiming him off waivers from Phoenix, which signed him this past summer to a two-year deal worth about $5.755MM. The second year on his NBA contract was non-guaranteed.
The Israeli team, poised to lose Dragan Bender to the NBA draft, has also reached agreement with three-year NBA veteran Quincy Miller, Sportando’s Orazio Cauchi reports. The club had been a heavy favorite to land Miller, as Pick reported earlier this week (Twitter link). The Nets waived Miller in October, but he quickly latched on with Serbian team Red Star Belgrade.
Weems, 29, is headed back overseas after what appears to have been a brief return to the NBA. He started 29 games for the Raptors in 2010/11 but spent the next four seasons playing for Zalgiris in Lithuania and later CSKA Moscow. He put up 2.5 points in 11.7 minutes per game for the Suns this season, failing to secure a more significant role even amid a rash of injuries. The Sixers reportedly intended to take a hard look at him even though they acquired him chiefly to eclipse the minimum team salary, but his playing time in Philadelphia was almost identical to what it was in Phoenix as he averaged 2.4 points in 11.1 minutes.
Miller is only 23 and less than four years removed from having been the No. 38 pick in the 2012 draft, but he’s made it into only 69 NBA games, 10 of which came last season, when he split time between the Kings and Pistons. Detroit traded him to Brooklyn last summer for Steve Blake.
Mirza Teletovic has indicated that he wants to remain with the Suns beyond this season and that feeling is shared by the team, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 relays (via Twitter). Phoenix GM Ryan McDonough said the Suns will attempt to re-sign the power forward this summer and that the interest was mutual, Gambadoro adds. Teletovic, who is earning $5.5MM on a one-year pact, has appeared in 75 games this season and is averaging 11.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 20.8 minutes per outing.
- Suns point guard Brandon Knight has been shut down the remainder of the season because of a sports hernia, Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic reports. Knight will get a second opinion this week to determine if surgery is needed for the injury, which has limited him to 52 games this season, Coro adds.
- Earl Watson has managed to get some defensive improvement out of the Suns since taking over as interim coach, writes Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. Under Watson, who has posted a 6-7 record after losing his first nine games, Phoenix has a defensive rating that is 12th best in the league over its past 10 contests. Before Watson arrived, the Suns were 29th in that category. “We have a lot we haven’t even touched,” he said.
A lack of “trust” was the issue that made Markieff Morris want to leave Phoenix, relays Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. Morris had been unhappy with the Suns since his brother Marcus Morris was traded to the Pistons last offseason. Markieff Morris finally got his wish to go elsewhere at the trade deadline when Phoenix shipped him to Washington. “I always felt free to play,” Markieff Morris said of his time with the Suns. “It was just tough to do certain things with no trust and play for people that you really don’t trust.” He refused to identify who it was that he didn’t trust but said he’s happy to be with the Wizards.
There’s more news out of Phoenix:
- The Suns appear serious about adding Bogdan Bogdanovic to the team next season, according to Adam Green of ArizonaSports.com. Bogdanovic has played overseas since Phoenix selected him in the first round of the 2014 draft. He spent this season with Fenerbahce Ulker, averaging 10.8 points and 3.2 rebounds per game in the Euroleague. “We’re going to go meet with Bogdan after the season; he does have ways to get out of his contract with Fenerbahce and come to the NBA,” Suns GM Ryan McDonough said of the 6’6″ swingman. “We’ll present a plan for him about how we kind of envision his role with the Suns.”
- Rookie Devin Booker has been the best part of another nonplayoff season in Phoenix, writes Dan Bickley of The Arizona Republic. The 13th overall pick in last year’s draft, Booker has been such a surprise that he might change the Suns’ long-term planning. Bickley speculates that Phoenix may make renewed efforts to trade point guard Eric Bledsoe or go back to a three-guard lineup. Booker remained patient as he waited for his opportunity with the Suns to arrive. “At the beginning of the season, I wasn’t playing at all,” he said. “I used that as motivation to stay in the gym, work on my game, attack what people thought were my weaknesses. … It’s unfortunate that a couple of injuries happened, but that opened up my opportunity to play. And once I got that chance, I never wanted to come off the bench or play limited minutes again. I would’ve never thought this would’ve come at such a young age. But this has always been my ultimate goal.”
If the Bucks are looking to make a splash in free agency for the second straight summer, Dwight Howard could be the player to target, writes Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. The Rockets’ center has expressed his intention to turn down a player option for next season worth $23.282MM and seek a maximum contract starting at about $30MM. Milwaukee was among the teams that expressed interest in acquiring him before last month’s trade deadline, and Howard said he was intrigued by the possibility. Bontemps believes Howard would be the kind of defensive anchor that Greg Monroe failed to become after he signed with the Bucks last offseason. Depending where the salary cap is set, Milwaukee could have more than $20MM to spend if it doesn’t re-sign Jerryd Bayless, Greivis Vasquez and O.J. Mayo.
There’s more news out of Milwaukee:
- Giannis Antetokounmpo could be in line for a maximum contract extension over the summer, Bontemps writes in the same piece. Coach Jason Kidd recently anointed Antetokounmpo as the Bucks’ starting point guard for next season, and the franchise could reward him with a max deal. At age 21, the third-year pro has blossomed in Milwaukee, averaging 18.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.9 blocks per game since the All-Star break.
- The Bucks had to make a choice last season between giving a long-term contract to Khris Middleton or Brandon Knight, according to Charles F. Gardner of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Milwaukee shipped Knight to Phoenix in a three-team trade in February of 2015 and re-signed Middleton at $70MM over five years. “We had a good time while we played,” said Knight, who on Wednesday returned to Milwaukee for his first game there since the deal. “I think we [the Bucks] were just scratching the surface. Who knows where we could have went to?”
- Wednesday marked the first game for Vasquez since November 27th, Gardner notes in a separate story. The backup point guard had surgery on his right ankle in December and was sidelined for 58 games. “You miss that many games, and the coach gives you an opportunity to play the game that you love, it means a lot to me,” Vasquez said. “It also shows what a class act this franchise is, because they’ve been with me the whole time.” Vasquez is headed toward free agency after earning $6.6MM this season.