Phoenix Suns Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Suns Sign Devin Booker

July 13th, 2015 at 3:16pm CST by Chuck Myron

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

The Suns have signed Devin Booker, this year’s No. 13 overall pick, to his rookie scale contract, the team announced. He’ll make nearly $2.128MM this coming season and a total of more than $9.985MM over the four-year contract if he signed for 120% of the rookie scale, as almost all first-round picks do.

The two-guard from Kentucky is an elite outside shooter, and his high basketball IQ will also help him, but a lack of an ability to consistently drive to the hoop and less than impressive defense figure to hold him back, as Charlie Adams of Hoops Rumors wrote in his prospect profile. He was nonetheless the 10th-best prospect in Chad Ford’s ESPN Insider rankings and came in No. 12 with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.

His official signing was a question of “when,” not “if,” but it indicates that the Suns may well be finished with significant free agent spending this summer, since formally bringing Booker onto the roster ups his cap hold by more than $300K. That’s not a significant amount of flexibility to sacrifice, but it’s nonetheless a move that many teams under the cap don’t make until their other major business of the summer is done, and that’s especially true once summer league is already well underway. Booker has been playing with Phoenix’s summer league team despite the lack of a signed deal.

Pacific Notes: Clippers, Suns, Kings

July 12th, 2015 at 9:01pm CST by Will Joseph

Austin Rivers did not take a “family discount” in agreeing to return to the Clippers and play for his father, Doc Rivers, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com reports. The two-year, $6.4MM deal, according to Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link), is comparable to what Rivers would have likely seen in terms of annual salary if he signed with another team, a league executive told Blakely.

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

By spending his summer in Phoenix instead of returning to his hometown of Birmingham, Eric Bledsoe is showing a full offseason commitment to the Suns, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic writes. Bledsoe has been working out at US Airways Center, has attended draft workouts and was part of the Suns’ recruiting group that pitched to LaMarcus Aldridge, Coro points out. Bledsoe’s name swirled in trade rumors when the team agreed to re-sign Brandon Knight, but Suns coach Jeff Hornacek later denied any talks. Bledsoe is set to make $13.5MM next season in the second year of a five-year, $70MM deal.
Vlade Divac, Kings vice president of basketball and franchise operations, acknowledged that the relationship between coach George Karl and center DeMarcus Cousins isn’t exactly great, but, while appearing on The Jim Rome Show on CBS Sports Radio, Divac said he expects both to be with Sacramento this season (story relayed by ESPN.com). “Well, I’ll be honest with you, it’s not pretty right now, but I’m focused on bringing a better team this year and I think I did a pretty good job in this free agency and now I’m going to be focused on the two of them,” Divac said.

Pacific Notes: Hibbert, Young, Brown, Davis

July 10th, 2015 at 9:23pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak said in an appearance on Time Warner Cable SportsNet that he had the Roy Hibbert trade lined up with the Pacers in advance of the start of free agency as a fallback in case the Lakers fell short with their primary free agent targets, notes Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). LaMarcus Aldridge, DeAndre Jordan and Greg Monroe all passed on the purple-and-gold, so Hibbert it is for the Lakers, who made his acquisition the last of their moves under the cap. That’s key, since it meant that the trade wouldn’t otherwise work unless Hibbert agreed to waive part of his 15% trade kicker. He wouldn’t have been allowed to waive it unless the Lakers were in such a position, but they were, and he gave back all but $78,185 of what otherwise would have been $2.3MM, according to Pincus (Twitter links).

Here’s the latest from the Pacific Division:

The 2018 first-round pick that the Kings owe the Sixers from this month’s three-player trade is protected only for the top 10 picks, according to salary cap expert Larry Coon (Twitter link). It’s unprotected for 2019. It’s possible that it’ll roll over to 2019 even if Sacramento’s pick ends up out of the top 10 in 2018 if the Kings have to send their 2017 first-rounder to the Bulls as part of a previous trade, Coon notes (on Twitter; also see RealGM).
The 2020 second-round pick that the Suns will receive from the Pistons as part of the Marcus Morris trade is Detroit’s own selection, according to RealGM.
Despite Nick Young reportedly being on the trading block, Kupchak said of the forward, “I do see him being a core player this year,” Mike Bresnahan of The Los Angeles Times tweets. The GM did stress that Young would need to show improvement on the defensive side of the game, Bresnahan adds.
Lakers second round pick Anthony Brown‘s contract calls for him to earn $700k for the 2015/16 season, $875k the second year, and $1MM in 2017/18, Pincus relays (Twitter links). The first two years of the deal are fully guaranteed, but the final season is non-guaranteed, Pincus adds.
Kings executive Vlade Divac said that Sacramento has had discussions with unrestricted free agent point guard Andre Miller, but the team is exploring numerous options, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee relays (Twitter link).
Brandon Bass‘ free agent deal with the Lakers is for two years and $6.135MM, and includes a player option for the second season, note Pincus and Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter links). Bass was signed using available cap space, which means Los Angeles still retains its $2.8MM room exception, Bresnahan tweets.
Kupchak said that if unrestricted free agent Ed Davis had waited one more day before signing a deal with the Blazers, the Lakers would have been able to re-sign him, Pincus tweets. Instead, Davis inked a three-year, $20MM pact with Portland.
The Warriors are considering promoting assistant Luke Walton to replace Alvin Gentry as the associate head coach on Steve Kerr‘s staff, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports (via Twitter).

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Central Notes: Love, Bucks, Morris

July 10th, 2015 at 8:15pm CST by Eddie Scarito

New Pistons forward Marcus Morris wasn’t initially thrilled with the Suns for dealing him to Detroit, Perry A. Farrell of The Detroit Free Press writes. “I wouldn’t say stunning, but in Phoenix, I would say I didn’t have a great opportunity,” Morris said today. “I kind of wanted to play with my brother [twin Markieff Morris] so much that I kind of took away from myself. I didn’t think I had an opportunity to get better. I don’t think I had the chance to grow as a player over there. I think the opportunity is here for me. Everybody knew how bad I wanted to play with my brother. Phoenix knew. For them to trade me without consent or telling me was like a slap in the face, because of the contract I took from those guys and the money I took from them. I’m happy to be here. I’m a Piston. I’m a Bad Boy. I’m ready to get started.”

Here’s the latest from the Central Division:

The future second-rounder going to Indiana in the Roy Hibbert trade is the Lakers’ 2019 pick, tweets salary cap expert Larry Coon. The Pacers also net a trade exception equivalent to Hibbert’s salary of more than $15.5MM, Coon points out, but that will vanish when Indiana’s deal with Monta Ellis becomes official, unless the Pacers can somehow turn the Ellis transaction into a sign-and-trade.
The second-round pick heading from the Mavs to the Bucks in the Zaza Pachulia trade is Dallas’ 2018 selection, and it’s top-55 protected, according to RealGM. The same level of protection is on the 2020 second-rounder Milwaukee gets from the Wizards in the Jared Dudley deal, as RealGM also reveals. Both swaps produced trade exceptions, notes Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link). The Bucks get one worth $5.2MM from Pachulia and another for $4.25MM from Dudley.
The salaries in Khris Middleton‘s five-year, $70MM deal with the Bucks fluctuate up and down from year to year, but the starting salary is $14.7MM, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
Kevin Love indicated that he and LeBron James had what Love termed, “an honest talk,” prior to Love deciding to re-sign with the Cavaliers, Tom Withers of The Associated Press writes. “He happened to be in Los Angeles the same time I was,” Love said of James. “So, we just talked everything out and a lot of stuff was very honest and we came to a really good place and we agreed on a lot of things, so I think that was also a very big deal when you’re talking to the best player in the world.“

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Heat Sign Amar’e Stoudemire

July 10th, 2015 at 4:41pm CST by Chuck Myron

FRIDAY, 4:41pm: The Heat have officially signed Stoudemire, the team announced. It will be a one-year deal worth $1.5MM, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today tweets. “We are very fortunate that a proven All-Star like Amar’e has chosen the Miami Heat,” said team president Pat Riley. “He is going to bring gravitas, leadership and a hardworking mentality to our team as we look to win another Championship in Miami.”

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

THURSDAY, 10:53pm: The Heat are believed to be close to a deal with Amar’e Stoudemire, reports Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com, who cites sources (Twitter link). Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald confirmed through an associate of Stoudemire’s that it is indeed the case and that the 13-year veteran would like to play for the Heat, though that associate cautioned that a deal is not yet a given. The Happy Walters client won’t base his decision on money, Jackson hears, a plus for the Heat, who are limited to only their $3.376MM taxpayer’s mid-level exception and are poised to pay repeat-offender tax penalties this season unless they clear some of their salary commitments.

Stoudemire will meet with the Heat on Friday, as Frank Isola of the New York Daily News reported (on Twitter), and team president Pat Riley will take part, Jackson notes. Several other teams have apparently been in the mix for the big man, as the Clippers, Rockets, Mavericks, Lakers and Suns all reportedly expressed interest in him as someone who could shore up their respective benches.

Stoudemire didn’t want to go to the Clippers unless he could start, as Chris Broussard of ESPN.com reported, and it seems unlikely he’d start over Chris Bosh or Hassan Whiteside in Miami. Still, Stoudemire apparently had at least some level of mutual interest in the Clippers, as well as the Mavs, Lakers, Suns and Spurs. He was expected to speak with Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers this past weekend, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, who added the Pacers to the list of teams that Stoudemire was eyeing.

Western Notes: Aldridge, Chandler, Booker

July 9th, 2015 at 11:27pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Blazers executive Neil Olshey said the team found out LaMarcus Aldridge was signing with the Spurs after his second meeting with San Antonio on July 3rd, Mike Tokito of The Oregonian writes. Olshey also took offense to the suggestion that he and the Blazers were trying to hide Aldridge’s pending departure from fans and the media, calling it “patently false,” Tokito adds. “More than anything, what was the upside to lying? What? What did we buy? Five days of peace? I can guarantee you there was no peace,” Olshey said. “What was our motivation to lie for 96 hours? It wasn’t like there was some big season ticket holder push during that 96 hours. There wasn’t some sponsorship that was up, it wasn’t that we were recruiting some other free agents that were only going to come if LaMarcus was going to be here.”

Here’s more out of the Western Conference:

Olshey also fielded questions regarding whether or not the team considered trading Aldridge last season, Tokito tweets. The GM relayed that it would have been extremely difficult to trade Aldridge in final year of his contract, and that teams wouldn’t be willing to deal for the forward without knowing if he’d re-sign with them, Tokito adds.
The Mavericks have expressed interest in former Wizards big man Kevin Seraphin, Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops reports (Twitter link).
The Suns are thrilled with their signing of center Tyson Chandler to a free agent deal, Matt Petersen of NBA.com writes. “The first thing I think of when I think of Tyson Chandler is a winner and winning,” GM Ryan McDonough said. “His teams in New York won a lot. His teams in Dallas won a lot, including a championship. The World Championship [with USA Basketball] in Istanbul when I was there five years ago won the gold. He’s always won everywhere he’s gone.”
The Blazers have promoted Jim Moran to assistant coach to replace the recently fired Kim Hughes, Joe Freeman of The Oregonian tweets.
The Jazz are likely to keep Trevor Booker on the roster for next season, Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune relays (on Twitter). Only $250k of the $4,775,000 Booker is set to earn in 2015/16 is guaranteed.

Suns Sign Tyson Chandler

July 9th, 2015 at 2:55pm CST by Chuck Myron

JULY 9TH, 2:55pm: The deal is official, the team announced.

“Tyson Chandler will be a leader on and off the court,” president of basketball operations Lon Babby said. “His physical stature is matched by his immense presence as an individual of high character who is highly respected by the NBA community. It is an honor to welcome this NBA Champion and All-Star to Phoenix.”

JULY 1ST, 2:15pm: The Suns have agreed to a deal with Tyson Chandler, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter). It’ll be a four-year contract worth $52MM, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Chandler will attend the team’s pitch meeting with LaMarcus Aldridge, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link).

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

The Mavs and Bucks seemed like the teams with the best shot at the Jeff Schwartz client initially, but they faded, which was seemingly a positive sign for the Lakers and Clippers, who were other reported suitors. Instead, the Suns swoop in and score one of the league’s premiere defensive centers. Chandler, who turns 33 in October, no doubt saw the Suns’ renowned training staff as a draw, though that’s just my speculation.

Dallas wanted to bring back Chandler if it missed out on DeAndre Jordan, as Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com reported this spring, but that won’t be happening now, applying greater pressure on the Mavs to reach a deal with Jordan. The Suns are using most of their cap space on Chandler, so a pursuit of Aldridge or any other marquee free agent will be difficult barring a salary-clearing trade. Phoenix is also re-signing Brandon Knight to a five-year, $70MM deal using his Bird rights.

Spurs Sign LaMarcus Aldridge

July 9th, 2015 at 2:39pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

JULY 9TH, 2:39pm: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.

JULY 4TH, 11:21am: The Spurs and unrestricted free agent LaMarcus Aldridge have reached an agreement that will bring the talented forward to San Antonio, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter links). The arrangement will be for four years, and approximately $80MM, Wojnarowski notes, almost assuredly a max deal. The pact also includes a player option for the final season, the Yahoo! scribe relays.

The deal between San Antonio and Aldridge brings his nine year career with the Trail Blazers to a close. The 29-year-old appeared in 71 games for Portland during the 2014/15 campaign, averaging 23.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in 35.4 minutes of action per contest. His shooting numbers last season were .466/.352/.845. Aldridge’s career numbers through 648 games, all with the Blazers, are 19.4 PPG, 8.4 RPG, and 1.9 APG, with a slash line of .485/.276/.796.

The departure of Aldridge doesn’t come as surprise to the Blazers, who were informed by the forward on Friday night that he had narrowed his choices down to either the Spurs or the Suns, Wojnarowski tweets. A source told David Pick of Eurobasket.com as early as Wednesday that Aldridge would sign with the Spurs and turn down the hard-charging Suns (Twitter links), though he continued to take meetings in the days that followed. Aldridge had two sit-downs with the Lakers, and also met with the Heat, Rockets, Raptors, and Mavs during the free agent process. He cancelled a scheduled meeting with the Knicks, who never appeared to be serious contenders to land the big man.

Aldridge’s signing will have an impact outside of lining the forward’s pockets and giving the Spurs a new star to pair alongside Kawhi Leonard, who reached an agreement on a five year, estimated $90MM contract of his own with the team on Wednesday. Popovich, who has mulled calling it quits when Tim Duncan decides to hang up his sneakers and retire, is now looking to coach for the four remaining years on his contract, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets. San Antonio is now aggressively pursuing unrestricted free agent David West as it reloads for 2015/16, tweets Wojnarowski.

Phoenix is likely heartbroken over missing out on the star forward, as it had reportedly made a strong impression on Aldridge, and he would have been the star the team so desperately seeks to acquire. The Suns would have instead focused on trying to convince Kevin Love to come to Arizona if Aldridge had simply stuck to his pledge of a year ago to re-sign with the Blazers, Jake Fischer of SI Now relays (via Twitter). Love has reportedly agreed to a five-year deal for about $110MM with Cleveland. While the agreement cannot be finalized until July 9th, it would indeed have been a shocking turn of events for Love to spurn the Cavs for the Suns, so Phoenix will have to settle for Tyson Chandler as its lone coup on the big man market.

Lakers, Suns Talk To Cavs About Brendan Haywood

July 9th, 2015 at 2:33pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Lakers and Suns are among the teams having discussions with the Cavs about trading for Brendan Haywood and his sizable non-guaranteed contract, according to Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio, writing for Amico Hoops. The Clippers are another, Amico writes, advancing earlier reports connecting the Cavs to Jamal Crawford. Cleveland had reportedly spoken a few days ago to the Nets about trading Haywood, and Anderson Varejao, to the Nets for Joe Johnson, but that conversation has since tailed off, and sources told Amico that Cleveland hasn’t offered Varejao to anyone in its most recent proposals. Haywood isn’t planning to retire if he’s waived, a source tells Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

[RELATED: LeBron James To Re-Sign With Cavs]

Haywood’s contract, a vestige of the amnesty clause that’s worth a non-guaranteed $10,522,500 this coming season, has value to teams seeking to clear cap space or avoid luxury tax payments. Cleveland can use it in a trade that brings in as much as $5MM more, or $13,253,125 if that trade leaves the Cavs over the tax threshold. Those figures increase if Haywood is paired with someone else. Haywood’s salary becomes fully guaranteed if he remains on the roster through August 1st, so Cleveland has some time, but a limited amount of it. The 35-year-old center saw only 119 total minutes of action this past season, and, according to Amico, many around the league believe he’ll retire if he’s waived in advance of that August deadline, as seems most likely.

The Lakers appear to be using a large chunk of their cap flexibility to trade for Roy Hibbert, though they may send some salary to Indiana. The major stars are off the market, but the acquisition of Haywood, if executed with sufficient time left before August 1st, would give the Lakers another trade chip. The same would be true for the Suns, who reportedly agreed to trade Marcus Morris and two others to the Pistons in an ill-fated effort to clear cap room for LaMarcus Aldridge. Phoenix is also reportedly shopping Markieff Morris.

It’s unclear exactly what the Cavs are looking for in return for Haywood, though Amico speculates that a wing player would fit the bill, which makes sense, given the rumors linking them to Johnson and Crawford. It appeared earlier that they were looking for either a facilitating guard or a scoring point guard, but that was before they struck a deal with Mo Williams.

Want more piping hot rumors? Follow us on Twitter!

Follow @HoopsRumors

Pistons Acquire Marcus Morris, Bullock, Granger

July 9th, 2015 at 11:35am CST by Chuck Myron

JULY 9TH, 11:35am: The deal is official, both teams announced. It’s Morris, Bullock and Granger to Detroit for a 2020 second-rounder.

3:31pm: Detroit hasn’t made a final decision on Granger yet, but he’ll most likely be waived, Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press tweets.

JULY 2ND: 2:34 pm: The Suns and Pistons have agreed to a trade that sends Marcus Morris, Reggie Bullock and Danny Granger to Detroit in exchange for a 2020 second-round pick, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links). The deal would clear nearly $8.423MM in additional cap flexibility for Phoenix as it chases LaMarcus Aldridge.

Courtesy of USA Today Sports images

However, the Suns still have about $57MM in commitments against a cap projected between $67.1MM and $69.1MM, and with Aldridge, for whom Phoenix reportedly emerged as a strong contender, in line to make some $19MM on a max deal next season, it appears as though Phoenix still has more cap clearing to do, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe and Wojnarowski point out (Twitter link). Wojnarowski mentions Markieff Morris, who’ll make $8MM next season, and P.J. Tucker, who’s set for $5.5MM, as possible targets for other cap-clearing moves.

The trade with the Pistons by itself breaks up the Morris twins just months after they signed rookie scale extensions with designs on staying together. Marcus Morris instead ends up in Detroit’s frontcourt, as the Pistons use more of their cap space on complementary players after reaching agreement with Aron Baynes earlier today. The deal was made by Detroit to land Morris, who is expected to be the starting small forward next season, Ellis tweets. Morris appeared in 81 games last season for the Suns, including 35 as a starter, averaging 10.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.6 assists. His slash line was .434/.358/.628.

Bullock will compete for a roster spot with Cartier Martin, Quincy Miller, and Adonis Thomas, relays Ellis (Twitter link). He has never made more than 43 appearances in a season since entering the league with the Clippers, who selected him with the No. 25 overall pick back in 2013. Bullock appeared in 11 games for Phoenix after arriving via trade from Los Angeles, averaging 0.4 points and 0.9 rebounds in 6.8 minutes per contest.

Granger may not be thrilled with the trade, especially since it takes him away from the Suns’ vaunted training staff, who have been working 16.8 to get the veteran healthy and back on the court. The 32-year-old managed 30 appearances for the Heat last season, and zero with Phoenix after it had acquired him via trade. Granger’s career numbers are 16.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists, with a shooting line of .434/.380/.848.