Phoenix Suns Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Western Notes: Morris, Jones, Leonard

December 30th, 2015 at 11:26am CST by Eddie Scarito

Suns power forward Markieff Morris apologized to his teammates and the coaching staff and was allowed to return to the team after serving his two game suspension for throwing a towel at coach Jeff Hornacek during a game last week, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic relays. “We kind of put it out there what we wanted from him, what we expected,” Hornacek said. “He’s been good for us in the past. We want him to get back to playing like he did last year. It’s been a struggle this year. We basically tried to get a feel if he was good for that. He said he wanted to get back and help his teammates and help us win.”

”We definitely had a successful meeting and I’m just happy to be back,” Morris said. The forward also indicated that he regretted the comments he made over the summer regarding his desire to be traded, Coro notes. “I could’ve did that different based on the fans,” Morris said. “I think I owe the fans an apology for saying some of the stuff I said. They deserve better.”

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

Wolves point guard Tyus Jones is hopeful that his time spent in the D-League this season will translate into more minutes at the NBA level, writes Kent Youngblood of The Star Tribune. “You do go down there trying to prove a point,” Jones said. “Trying to make a statement. I think I played pretty well down there.” The rookie is averaging 24.7 points and 5.0 assists in six contests for the Stampede this season.
After re-signing with the Spurs this past offseason, small forward Kawhi Leonard has taken on an increased role in San Antonio’s offense, much to the delight of coach Gregg Popovich, writes Fran Blinebury of NBA.com. “He’s a lot more demonstrative scoring-wise,” Popovich said. “When he gets the ball, he tries to make opportunities for himself. I don’t have to call his number. In transition offensively, he’s looking for situations where he can post up. Mismatches more. Those are probably the main things. More aggressive offensively and understanding that he can do some things that people can’t guard very well. And yeah, there’s been a incremental increase in the volume of his language.”
The Kings need to suspend center DeMarcus Cousins for his latest outburst that resulted in his ejection from Monday night’s contest against the Warriors, Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee opines. Voisin believes that the organization needs to stop treating Cousins with kid gloves and force him to mature, and she also believes that any suspension should be initiated by the organization and not the league if it is to truly register with the big man.

Pacific Rumors: Bledsoe, Karl, Clippers

December 29th, 2015 at 7:40pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The loss of Eric Bledsoe to a season-ending knee injury has forced Suns coach Jeff Hornacek to make several adjustments to his rotation, Greg Esposito of the team’s website reports. Brandon Knight has taken over the role as the main floor leader with Ronnie Price and Bryce Cotton backing him up. Rookie Devin Booker gets the nod at shooting guard, with Sonny Weems and Archie Goodwin in reserve, Hornacek told Esposito. The Suns nearly upset the Cavaliers on Monday and Hornacek felt his new backcourt played reasonably well in Bledsoe’s absence. “Without Eric in the game, it was a little different,” Hornacek told Esposito. “We had gone over a few plays that might be good for the guys. I thought they really came out and executed it. Defensively, we gave up a lot of 3-point attempts that we need to get better at. Some of it was closing out that we need to get better at.”

In other news around the Pacific Division:

Kings coach George Karl has found it difficult to connect with his players and is frustrated by their lack of consistency, according to Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee. Karl can no longer be as fiery as he once was because of the way current players react, so he has tried to appeal to them in other ways, Jones continues. “Just tell stories,” Karl told Jones. “You try to bring up situations. My explanation the last couple of weeks is just trying to explain to them how difficult this league is, how tough it is to be successful in this league.”
The Clippers used a three-guard alignment against the Wizards on Monday and coach Doc Rivers liked the results, Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times reports. Rivers played reserves Jamal Crawford, Pablo Priogioni and Austin Rivers during the first half and the Clippers extended their lead. His son’s versatility allows the three-guard set to work, according to the coach. “The reason we get away with it is because Austin can guard the one, two or the three,” Doc Rivers told the assembled media. “We just put him on them and then we put Pablo on the second-best guy and put Jamal on the third guy. And so it works for us.”
Chris Paul is impressed how the Clippers are playing without Blake Griffin, according to Robert Morales of the Long Beach Press-Telegram. The Clippers won their first two games after Griffin suffered a partially torn quad tendon. “I just think we’re fighting,” he told Morales. “We know we’re a big man short and so everyone knows that they have to be involved in the game.”

Pacific Notes: Morris, Pierce, Karl

December 29th, 2015 at 2:59pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Suspended power forward Markieff Morris could be allowed to return to practice with the Suns today after he meets with members of the front office, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reports. Morris has also been asked to apologize to his coaches and teammates, make a renewed commitment to the team for games, practices, weight-training sessions and treatment sessions and attend all NBA and Suns community appearances, a source close to the situation relayed to Wojnarowski.

Though Morris is expected to comply, the source also informed the Yahoo scribe that some within Morris’ camp are puzzled by the organization’s requests since the player already apologized via Twitter and sent an apologetic text to coach Jeff Hornacek, at whom Morris threw a towel during a game, prompting his suspension. Morris has also reportedly spoken with his teammates regularly during the suspension that cost him $145,455 in earnings, Wojnarowski adds.

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

Though Clippers small forward Paul Pierce hasn’t made up his mind about returning for another season or retiring after this campaign, he did drop a hint to which way he may be leaning after Monday’s contest in Washington D.C. when he popped into the Wizards’ locker room and told his former teammates, “This could be my last time in D.C. — as a player,” Ben Standig of CSNWashington.com relays (via Twitter).
Kings coach George Karl is attempting to motivate his team without resorting to the shouting and bluster that he became known for during his coaching tenure in Denver, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee writes. “Just tell stories,” Karl said when asked what tactics he’s utilizing. “You try to bring up situations. My explanation is the last couple of weeks is just trying to explain to them how difficult this league is, how tough it is to be successful in this league.”

Eric Bledsoe To Miss Remainder Of Season

December 29th, 2015 at 1:39pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Suns announced today that point guard Eric Bledsoe underwent successful surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee and he will miss the remainder of the season as a result. Initial reports predicted Bledsoe would be out of action for about six weeks, though that timetable may have been reflective of the team’s hope that Bledsoe’s surgery would remove the meniscus, which usually entails a shorter recovery time, rather than make an attempt to repair it, though that is merely my speculation.

Bledsoe, now in his sixth year in the league, was enjoying the best season of his career prior to suffering the injury. His 20.4 points, 6.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game are either tied with or exceed career highs. His absence is certainly a blow to the 12-21 team, and it could hasten the front office in pressing the reset button on its current rebuild. The Suns are eligible to apply for a disabled player exception with the loss of Bledsoe, which would be valued at $5.464MM, notes former NBA executive Bobby Marks (Twitter link). The team is not currently eligible to apply for a hardship exception, however.

The 26-year-old is in the second season of the five-year, $70MM deal he inked in 2014. This is now the second major knee injury that Bledsoe has suffered since arriving in Phoenix, with the point guard limited to just 43 games during the 2013/14 campaign, courtesy of a torn right meniscus. With Phoenix still owing the player $43.5MM over the next three seasons, the organization is certainly crossing its fingers that he can return to form.

Pacific Notes: Morris, Dudley, Rondo

December 29th, 2015 at 11:30am CST by Eddie Scarito

There is too much bad blood for Markieff Morris to thrive with the Suns in Phoenix, but there is belief that he can succeed elsewhere, like his brother Marcus is doing in Detroit, Chris Mannix of SI.com pass along (Twitter links). Mannix adds that several teams still really like the combo forward, especially because of his team-friendly contact.

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

Jared Dudley wishes he had played better during his lone season for the Clippers, J. Michael of CSN Mid-Atlantic writes. “How it ended with us, I can always say that’s the one team I played on I played really, really bad,” Dudley said. “Fans probably look at me, ‘Jared was a failure,’ which is very true. I was at that time. I’d be the first to admit it.”
The Rajon Rondo–Darren Collison pairing in the backcourt is starting to show improvement, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee observes. “For some reason, the first 10, 15 games, it just didn’t seem like it had much rhythm,” Coach George Karl said. “But it seems D.C. plays off the ball most of the time when that happens. I still like two guys who can run pick-and-rolls and pick and choose your opportunities with two point guards on the court.”

Chris Crouse contributed to this post.

Pacific Notes: Cousins, Morris, Nance Jr.

December 28th, 2015 at 4:27pm CST by Eddie Scarito

In an interview with Tzvi Twersky of Slamoline.com, Kings center DeMarcus Cousins said that he believes because he’s been on a struggling team for his entire career he doesn’t get the credit for being a tough leader the way that the Timberwolves’ Kevin Garnett has. “This is what I’ve come to conclude: Winning covers up everything,” Cousins told Twersky. “If KG was always losing and was the same person, they would think he was the worst guy ever. That’s basically the situation I’m in. Since I’m losing, no one loves a loser—everyone loves a winner. That’s how it goes. I don’t see a difference between me and Joakim Noah. If anything, I feel Joakim has more crazy moments than I do—but his is passion, mine are an attitude or anger problems.”

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

It’s unclear if and when the Suns will look to trade disgruntled forward Markieff Morris, but there are a number of teams that are intrigued with the combo forward and his reasonable contract, Chris Mannix of SI.com relays (Twitter links). There is likely too much bad blood between Morris and the Suns organization for that relationship to be salvaged, but there is belief around the league that Morris can thrive in a different environment than Phoenix’s, Mannix adds.
The Lakers have moved rookie Larry Nance Jr. into the starting lineup thanks to his energy and versatility, but he’ll need to look for his shot more often if he wants to continue in that role, writes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. “I talked to him today that again when you have an open shot, you got to take the shot,” coach Byron Scott said. “[I told him] ‘You have a nice enough stroke’ and if he can make them on a consistent basis, the defense will start to respect him. But he moves the ball. That’s the only thing about Larry. He doesn’t take a lot of shots; he doesn’t even take the ones that are open. That’s one of the main reasons we changed the starting lineup – to get more ball movement.“

Jeff Hornacek On Hot Seat With Suns

December 28th, 2015 at 11:05am CST by Will Joseph

MONDAY, 11:05am: The Suns have officially announced the assistant coaching moves in a press release. “It is never easy to make changes to a coaching staff in the middle of a season but we feel Earl and Nate are ready to take the next steps in their careers and provide some creative ideas to our group,” said GM Ryan McDonough. “We thank Mike and Jerry for their contributions. They are both good coaches who made significant contributions to our team winning 87 games over the previous two seasons.”

11:10pm: The Suns are firing assistant coaches Mike Longabardi and Jerry Sichting, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, while Stein hears that fellow assistants Nate Bjorkgren and Earl Watson will take on more prominent roles (Twitter links). Hornacek’s future is still unclear, Wojnarowski says, though Stein suggests in a second tweet that the moves indicate the team is giving Hornacek another chance.

SUNDAY, 1:39pm: Jeff Hornacek‘s job as head coach of the Suns is under immediate threat because of the team’s 12-20 record and its recent 5-15 skid, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. With belief growing within the organization that the team is no longer responding to Hornacek, the organization is thinking about making a coaching switch, according to Stein. This is the final guaranteed season on Hornacek’s original four-year contract.

The Suns were viewed as having a strong chance to make the playoffs this season after solid campaigns in each of Hornacek’s first two seasons. Phoenix was one of the league’s most improved teams in 2013/14, Hornacek’s first year. The Suns went 48-34 that season yet did not make the playoffs. They were 39-43 last season and again missed the playoffs. The Suns’ signing of Tyson Chandler was thought to be a significant addition and one that would make the Suns a much better team, as Stein points out.

Things have not worked out that way, especially lately. The Suns’ loss to the Sixers on Saturday seems to have been especially tough for the organization to swallow, Stein writes. It was Philadelphia’s first road win since last March. What’s more, as Stein adds, it was the first game on the Sixers’ bench for former Suns coach Mike D’Antoni, who was hired recently by new Philadelphia chairman of basketball operations and former Suns owner Jerry Colangelo to serve as associate head coach to the Sixers’ Brett Brown. The timing of the news is also interesting because Eric Bledsoe will likely miss a significant amount of time with a knee injury, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic (Twitter link).

Hornacek’s agent, Steve Kauffman, reportedly engaged in an odd exchange on an online message board over the summer in which he denied that Hornacek declined to interview for the then-vacant head coaching position at Iowa State, his alma mater. Shortly before that, Hornacek expressed his commitment to the Suns when asked if he had interest in coaching the Cyclones.

Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround: 12/27/15

December 27th, 2015 at 11:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

The positive momentum the Suns gathered from nearly landing LaMarcus Aldridge this past summer was short-lived. Markieff Morris demanded a trade later in the offseason, and though he seemingly recanted that at the start of training camp, Phoenix has apparently engaged in serious talks about dealing him away, and coach Jeff Hornacek is reportedly in danger of following him out the door. Eric Bledsoe isn’t going anywhere, but it doesn’t look like he’ll be on the court anytime soon, as the initial belief is reportedly that he’ll be out until the All-Star break is through with an injured left knee.

Suns ownership and management has been reluctant to fire Hornacek, but owner Robert Sarver and GM Ryan McDonough had one-on-one meetings with Suns players today to try to understand why the team has fallen to 12-20, a record that includes an ugly home loss to the Sixers on Saturday, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.

Assistants Mike Longabardi and Earl Watson are possible replacements if the Suns oust Hornacek, Wojnarowski writes. A source with ties to the Suns who spoke with Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck a few weeks ago speculatively predicted that the Suns would get rid of Hornacek and go after Warriors interim coach Luke Walton in the offseason (Twitter link). Morris is in the middle of a two-game suspension the team handed down after he threw a towel that connected with Hornacek during Wednesday’s game, though Morris says he didn’t mean to hit the coach.

It all leads to our question for the day: What do the Suns need to do to fix their issues? Should they fire Hornacek? If so, with whom should they replace him for the short term and long term? Should they trade Morris? If so, who or what should they realistically try to obtain in return? If they keep Hornacek and Morris, what’s the solution to their problems?

Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the matter. We look forward to what you have to say.

Eric Bledsoe Likely Out For Six Weeks

December 27th, 2015 at 7:49pm CST by Will Joseph

7:49pm: Bledsoe is expected to miss about six weeks, league sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, largely confirming what Windhorst reported earlier. Six weeks from today is February 7th, and the Suns play their final game before the All-Star break February 10th. The surgery will repair the meniscus, according to Wojnarowski.

7:26pm: Bledsoe will have surgery Tuesday to repair a torn meniscus in the knee, the Suns say, according to Windhorst and Coro (Twitter links). The team didn’t give a timetable and didn’t say whether the surgery would remove the meniscus, which usually entails a shorter recovery time than an attempt to repair it.

2:26pm: The initial belief is Suns point guard Eric Bledsoe will be out until after the All-Star break because of a left knee injury, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter). Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic first reported that Bledsoe will likely miss a significant amount of time (Twitter link). Bledsoe is set to have an MRI after leaving Saturday’s game against the Sixers, Coro adds.

Any time Bledsoe, Phoenix’s leading scorer, misses would be obviously be a significant blow to the Suns, who are already nosediving at 12-20. Bledsoe, in his sixth year in the league, is enjoying the best season of his career. His 20.4 points per game, 6.1 assists per game and two steals per game are each career highs.

The Suns made headlines during the summer when they re-signed Brandon Knight to a five-year, $70MM contract. Many at the time were skeptical that the backcourt tandem of Bledsoe and Knight would work, but it was recently beginning to show promise. There were also reportedly talks that Bledsoe was expendable after the Suns inked Knight, but those conversations seemed to disappear as the season drew closer.

Sixers Notes: Okafor, Hinkie, Colangelo, D’Antoni

December 27th, 2015 at 6:01pm CST by Chuck Myron

Jahlil Okafor‘s camp didn’t want him to end up with the Sixers before Philly drafted him in June, sources tell Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. GM Sam Hinkie wasn’t allowed to interview Kristaps Porzingis at his predraft workout in Las Vegas, Pompey also hears. An agent told the Inquirer scribe in October that he wouldn’t want his maximum-salary clientele signing in Philadelphia and would advise mid-tier clients to play for the Sixers only if the team offered to overpay them. It all points to Hinkie’s difficult dealing with agents, though the GM says to Pompey that new executive Jerry Colangelo is changing that.

“Yeah, he’s helped there, too,” Hinkie said. “I think he’s had lot of good advice and I had lots of questions there about ways in which we could do things better. And he’s helped on that front already.”

See more from Philly:

Colangelo implied that he doesn’t have as much power with the Sixers as some might assume, saying that this experience is different from his time with the Suns “because in the past, the buck always stopped with me,” notes Arizona Republic columnist Paula Boivin. Of course, Colangelo was in charge of the Suns as an owner, and he’s merely advising Sixers owner Josh Harris, so the comment isn’t necessarily about his role in Philly’s basketball operations.
Mike D’Antoni said he’s “happy as heck” to be back in coaching as the lead assistant for the Sixers, and referred to head coach Brett Brown as the top draw for him to come to Philly, observes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
Nerlens Noel explained some of the reasons why he’s such a fan of Sixers trade acquisition Ish Smith, who also played with the team at the end of last season. Brian Seltzer of Sixers.com has the details. “I think it’s his experience,” Noel said. “Him being as athletic as he is at the point guard position, and being able to create. Just a willing passer. He makes things a lot easier for the people around him. He makes them better.”