Phoenix Suns Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Fischer’s Latest: Tucker, Suns, Warriors, Mavs, Blazers, Graham

January 17th, 2024 at 12:28pm CST by Luke Adams

After being traded from Philadelphia to the Clippers earlier this season, veteran forward P.J. Tucker is a “strong” candidate to be moved again ahead of the February 8 deadline, says Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.

According to Fischer, Washington is viewed as a potential trade destination for Tucker, who would likely be bought out if he’s sent to the Wizards. In that scenario, the Suns and Bucks would be among the teams expected to pursue the 38-year-old on the buyout market, Fischer adds.

Tucker is earning $11MM this season, with an $11.5MM player option for 2024/25, so unless he gives up a significant portion of his remaining money in a buyout agreement, he’d still have a real impact on his team’s salary cap for next season. With that in mind, the Wizards (or another trade partner) would presumably want a solid asset or two as a sweetener to take on his contract, especially if they’re also giving up a rotation-caliber player in the process.

Here’s more from Fischer:

The Suns are one of the more active teams on the trade market and have explored what a package that includes Grayson Allen and Nassir Little could bring back, Fischer reports. Those efforts are complicated by the fact that Phoenix’s draft assets consist of just four second-round picks, according to Fischer, who points out too that Allen has been arguably the team’s most important players outside of its three stars.
Although the Warriors and Mavericks have displayed interest in Raptors forward Pascal Siakam, Golden State has shown little desire to part with either Jonathan Kuminga or Moses Moody, Fischer writes. As for the Mavs, they’ve been linked to many forwards, per Fischer, including Andrew Wiggins, P.J. Washington of the Hornets, and former Mav Dorian Finney-Smith, now a member of the Nets.
Jerami Grant is the sort of player who would appeal to teams like the Mavericks and Kings, but the Trail Blazers aren’t expected to seriously consider offers for the veteran forward, according to Fischer. Portland guard Malcolm Brogdon, on the other hand, is viewed as a more viable trade candidate.
In addition to veterans like Doug McDermott and Cedi Osman, who were previously identified as trade candidates, guard Devonte’ Graham is another Spurs player who is available via trade, sources tell Fischer. Graham has been out of San Antonio’s rotation all season and has a $12.1MM cap hit for this season, with a $2.85MM partial guarantee for 2024/25, so he presumably won’t have positive value.

Rotation Taking Shape With Big Three Healthy

January 15th, 2024 at 1:44pm CST by Rory Maher

The Suns‘ “big three” rotation was slow to form with all three players dealing with various injuries in 2023/24, particularly Bradley Beal, who has been limited to 15 games thus far. However, in recent games, head coach Frank Vogel seems to have settled on a substitution pattern he likes, as Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic details.

Allen Could Be Key Bargaining Chip

January 14th, 2024 at 9:52pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Could Grayson Allen be the Suns’ best bargaining chip? Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes reported on TNT during Phoenix’s 127-109 road win over the Lakers that the Suns are more interested in acquiring an athletic wing player, rather than a point guard. Allen, who has an expiring $8.5MM contract, might be the only player the Suns could move and get that type of wing in return to help improve the team’s perimeter defense, according to Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic.

Trade Rumors: Suns, Biggest Needs, Warriors, Lewis, More

January 13th, 2024 at 11:13am CST by Earnest Marshall

Instead of focusing on acquiring a true point guard for their roster, the Suns are more interested in trying to bring in an athletic wing, NBA on TNT’s Chris Haynes said during a broadcast (via Inside The Suns).

“A lot of people will point to a point guard, but in talking with the Suns they believe that with Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, they feel like they need the ball in their hands. They feel like they don’t need another point guard that’s going to take the ball away [from their stars],” Haynes said during the broadcast.

It’s unclear what specific players the Suns are targeting but Haynes expects the market to heat up in the near future, which could provide some clarity.

“Obviously around this time of year, this is when things start to get serious,” Haynes said. “Right now teams are posturing — there’s not a whole lot of sellers right now, but I expect things to change over the next week or so. I think things will really get serious.”

We have more trade rumors from around the league:

Staffers from The Athletic pooled together to break down what all 30 teams in the league should be targeting at the trade deadline. The article mostly focuses on archetypes of players, with Doug Haller agreeing with the notion the Suns need another perimeter defender. Some writers gave specific trade targets for teams, with Andrew Schlect identifying Utah’s Kelly Olynyk and Brooklyn’s Royce O’Neale as two targets who make sense for the Thunder.
In the same article, The Athletic’s Anthony Slater writes the Warriors have “poked around” the center market and could dangle Chris Paul‘s expiring salary. Slater also believes Andrew Wiggins is more likely to be traded at the deadline than Jonathan Kuminga.
A trade involving Pelicans guard Kira Lewis Jr. to avoid the luxury tax feels “inevitable,” according to The Athletic’s William Guillory. While that’s speculation, it has been obvious for months that such a move makes sense. If the Pelicans do move on from Lewis, they should target shooting in return, Guillory writes. Otherwise, he expects New Orleans to have a relatively quiet deadline unless something changes in the next few weeks.
Some recent acquisitions haven’t panned out the way teams may have thought when signing or trading for them, and those teams could look to move said players. The Athletic’s Jay King and Jared Weiss write the Celtics could use another option on the wing since Oshae Brissett hasn’t taken a stranglehold on a rotation spot. Signing Shake Milton hasn’t panned out for the Timberwolves‘ bench, Jon Krawczynski writes, and the team needs more bench scoring as a result. Other recent acquisitions who haven’t quite played up to expectations and could be on the move or supplanted, per The Athletic’s staffers, include the Clippers‘ P.J. Tucker and Jock Landale of the Rockets.
The Wizards have a number of players who could appeal to contending teams, according to The Athletic’s Josh Robbins, including Tyus Jones, Delon Wright, Danilo Gallinari and Mike Muscala. Robbins writes the goal in any trade, along with obtaining first-round picks, should be to get young prospects who haven’t been able to crack rotations on other teams.

Medina Story On Beal Has Quotes From KD, Vogel, Others

January 12th, 2024 at 9:49pm CST by Rory Maher

Suns guard Bradley Beal had his best game of the season during Thursday’s victory over the Lakers in Los Angeles, recording 37 point (on 14-of-21 shooting, including 8-of-10 from deep), six rebounds and four assists in 32 minutes. In a story for Sportskeeda, Mark Medina describes Beal’s transition to Phoenix, writing that the three-time All-Star has drawn rave reviews for fitting in so well with the team, despite dealing with injuries for much of 2023/24. “Brad is one of the best players in the world,” Kevin Durant said. “To see an opportunity to see that close up and see a guy every day and see who he truly is as a player and then you come out there and get moments like that, that’s always fun. I enjoy seeing my teammates cook like that. We’re going to need more from him because that ignites the bench and it ignites the crowd, even if we’re on the road.”

Kevin Durant Clarifies Comments On Draymond Green

January 10th, 2024 at 10:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Suns star Kevin Durant clarified that he intended “no ill will” when he said last month that he hopes Green “gets the help that he needs” following “incident after incident,” per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.

Kevin Durant Disputes Claim He’s Frustrated By Suns’ Situation

January 10th, 2024 at 3:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Appearing on ESPN’s NBA Countdown ahead of the Suns‘ Christmas Day game against Dallas, Adrian Wojnarowski said that star forward Kevin Durant had been frustrated by the situation in Phoenix, citing Bradley Beal‘s repeated injury absences and an “underwhelming” supporting cast as factors.

Speaking this week to Melissa Rohlin of Fox Sports, Durant dismissed that reporting and expressed a distaste for the speculation it generated.

“I don’t want to get traded,” Durant said. “I’m not frustrated because Brad was injured. I wasn’t frustrated because of the role players on the team. That s–t really was ignorant to me, you know what I’m saying?

“It’s like, yeah, we lose a game – you think I’m supposed to be happy after we lose a game? You know what I’m saying? I’m not frustrated with the whole situation. I may be frustrated at the moment, at a bad play or a tough stretch. But nah, I enjoy the grind.”

It’s worth noting that Wojnarowski didn’t suggest that Durant’s frustration with the Suns’ slow start would lead to a trade request or that the former MVP was doubting Phoenix’s championship upside. Based on Woj’s comments, it sounded as if Durant was frustrated by the circumstances that resulted in Phoenix’s big three rarely playing together early in the season and by the team underperforming relative to its expectations.

However, that NBA Countdown segment led to speculation about Durant’s future in Phoenix, with pundits and other members of the media weighing in with their own thoughts on the subject. For instance, Rohlin notes that a tweet by former NBA guard Brandon Jennings calling for KD to leave the Suns gained plenty of traction on social media.

“The people that respond to that as if I said something, that’s really delusional to me,” Durant said. “Brandon Jennings can have his ideas and opinions, but to act like it came from me is the wildest part. I don’t talk to this guy. He’s got his own opinions on the league, which is fine. But the response to that was like I was saying it. Like, why are (people) even spending this much time worrying about … ‘Does KD deserve better? Or he doesn’t deserve better?’ Like, why are you even talking about this?”

The Suns have continued to play up-and-down ball since Christmas, with Durant missing a handful of games due to his own health issues last week. The team is currently 19-18, but Durant says he’s not discouraged by a first half showing that has Phoenix in play-in territory.

“I love that we’re struggling almost because we can learn from it and get better and move forward from it,” Durant said. “Obviously, I don’t love struggling. But I like finding good things out of winning basketball games. The more film we watch, the more pride we take. The tougher it is, the better we’ll become from it. That’s my mentality the whole time.”

After Durant and fellow stars Kyrie Irving and James Harden pushed to be traded out of Brooklyn, it’s perhaps no surprise that Durant’s feelings about his new situation are being closely monitored and being placed under a microscope. The 35-year-old tells Rohlin that he’s aware of that scrutiny and feels as though he can’t express run-of-the-mill frustration about losses since it will be blown out of proportion.

“Me talking about any frustration is going to turn into people thinking that I’m checked out or I’m trying to ask for a trade,” Durant said. “So, me saying that I’m frustrated, I don’t even want to talk like that. Like, I’m happy about everything.”

Suns Notes: Bol, Vogel, Allen, Durant

January 7th, 2024 at 1:27pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Suns head coach Frank Vogel has applauded reserve power forward Bol Bol for his recent output with Kevin Durant absent, per Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports (Twitter link). Bol’s play has been strong enough to yield meaningful rotation run even once Durant is back in the fold, Vogel suggested.

Since first entering the team’s lineup on New Year’s Day, Bol has been playing solid ball. Across just 16.4 minutes per night, the 7’3″ big man is averaging 9.7 PPG on an unsustainably excellent shooting line of .800/.750/.667, along with 5.7 RPG and 1.3 APG.

Unfortunately, Bol has been ruled out for Sunday’s game vs. Phoenix due to a right ankle sprain.

There’s more out of Phoenix:

The impact of veteran 3-and-D Suns swingman Grayson Allen on Phoenix this season has been remarkably seamless, Bourguet writes in a separate piece. Various injuries to the Suns’ three maximum-salaried stars have compelled the team to lean on Allen, who has already impressed Vogel. “I didn’t foresee the way he’s played for us this year,” the head coach admitted. “I think he’s exceeded all of our expectations from that standpoint.” The 28-year-old sniper is posting one of the top effective field goal percentages in team history. Across 30 contests, the Duke product is averaging 13.6 PPG on elite .509/.473/.891 shooting splits.
Although Kevin Durant did partake in a pregame shootaround Friday before ultimately sitting out the Suns’ victory over the Heat, Vogel told reporters that he was still feeling discomfort in his strained right hamstring, per Bourguet (Twitter video link). Vogel was quick to point out that the ailment is not a tear. Durant is now considered questionable to play on Sunday against the Grizzlies, Bourguet tweets.
Following that shootaround, Durant did seem to be taking the next step to a comeback, according to Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Rankin writes that, per Vogel, Durant had a “game intensity” workout Saturday. “His individual work, individual shooting he normally goes through, which is high intensity,” Vogel said. “Some strength work. He’s doing some stuff with the medical team.”

Bol Bol Takes Advantage Of Rare Opportunity

January 3rd, 2024 at 9:05am CST by Luke Adams

Bol Bol made just eight appearances and logged only 19 total minutes in his first 32 games with the Suns, but he finally got an extended opportunity in Monday’s win over Portland and took advantage of it, putting up 11 points and nine rebounds in 20 minutes. “I haven’t been able to show it, but I still have all the same confidence,” Bol said before the game, according to Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. “I know what I’m capable of doing when given a chance.” Head coach Frank Vogel told reporters after the victory that the team was “really happy” with Bol’s performance and hinted that his opportunities to play non-garbage-time minutes may be more frequent going forward.

Durant Won't Play Wednesday

January 2nd, 2024 at 9:38pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Suns star forward Kevin Durant didn’t play in the team’s victory over Portland on Monday and he’ll miss his second straight game on Wednesday. He’s listed as out due to a hamstring injury, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic tweets.