Phoenix Suns Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacific Notes: Durant, Lakers, Kings Draft

June 1st, 2025 at 9:02pm CST by Eli Cohen

Kevin Durant is one of the biggest names to watch this offseason following reports that the Suns‘ 36-year-old star has likely played his last game in Phoenix. With that in mind, Arizona Republic’s Duane Rankin broke down six 2025 playoff teams who might make sense as Durant suitors, exploring how he would fit on each roster and what they could offer the Suns in a potential trade.

The first destination Rankin looked at is the Timberwolves, who reportedly had legitimate interest in Durant at the 2025 trade deadline. While Rankin says the Suns should be most interested in Julius Randle, his proposed deal includes Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley, and young depth like Rob Dillingham and Jaylen Clark.

Other trade options considered by Rankin involve a one-for-one trade with the Warriors for Jimmy Butler, a deal that lands the Grizzlies’ Ja Morant or Desmond Bane in Phoenix, two centered around young upside swings for either the Rockets’ Jalen Green and Jabari Smith or the Pistons’ Jaden Ivey, and a depth-replenishing trade with the Heat for Andrew Wiggins, Duncan Robinson, and Kel’el Ware.

While the Suns face cap-related limitations on any deal, Durant will undoubtedly have his share of suitors once the trade markets open.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

After rescinding their trade for the Hornets’ Mark Williams, the Lakers were stuck without a playable starting center in the 2025 playoffs. Going into the 2025/26 season, filling that hole will be priority one, especially given Luka Doncic‘s love of playing with a lob threat, writes Khobi Price of the Orange County Register. Price quotes general manager Rob Pelinka‘s address to the media following the season: “It would be great to have a center that was a vertical threat, lob threat, and someone that could protect the interior defensively… There’s also spread centers that can protect the rim. We’ll look at those as well. I wouldn’t want to limit the archetype, but we know we need a big man.” Price lists the Mavericks’ Daniel Gafford and the Nets’ Nic Claxton as prime trade targets, while the Hawks’ Clint Capela stands out as a top free agent option.
The Kings announced six pre-draft workouts for Monday, June 2nd, per Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee (via Twitter). That list includes Marcus Williams from USF, Alijah Martin out of Florida, Chibuzo Agbo from USC, Texas’ Arthur Kaluma, David N’Guessan from Kansas State, and Daniel Batcho of Louisiana Tech. While a majority of the candidates are big men, Williams and Martin are both 6’2″ well-rounded guards. Martin is the only ranked player on ESPN’s top-100 board from the group of candidates, coming in at No. 61, after averaging 14.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 36% from three.

Turkish Team Hopes To Sign Dante Exum, Vasilije Micic

June 1st, 2025 at 11:02am CST by Arthur Hill

Turkish powerhouse Fenerbahce is targeting two NBA players for next season, according to international basketball writer Zafer Ertas (Twitter link), who reports that negotiations have already begun with Dante Exum and Vasilije Micic.

Exum, who’ll turn 30 next month, will be an unrestricted free agent after spending the past two years with the Mavericks. He made a surprise return to the NBA in 2023 after spending the previous two years with FC Barcelona and Partizan Belgrade in the EuroLeague. He was a consistent rotation member as Dallas reached the NBA Finals during the 2023/24 season, appearing in 55 games and averaging 7.8 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 19.8 minutes per night.

Exum put up similar numbers this year, but he was limited to 20 games having missed the first 48 games of the season while recovering from wrist surgery and nearly a month down the stretch after breaking his hand. Injuries have been a constant for Exum, who was selected by Utah with the fifth pick in the 2014 draft, but was only fully healthy for his rookie season. He also spent time with Cleveland and Houston before leaving for Europe in 2021.

Micic isn’t officially a free agent yet, but the Suns are expected to decline their $8.1MM team option for next season before the June 29 deadline. The 31-year-old point guard made just five brief appearances after being acquired from Charlotte in early February.

Micic was named EuroLeague MVP with Anadolu Efes in 2021 and is a two-time league champion. He made his NBA debut with the Thunder last season, but was never able to establish a consistent role with any of his three teams. He has averaged 6.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 101 total NBA games.

Micic has also reportedly received interest from Real Madrid, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Crvena Zvezda and Olympiacos. A story last week indicated that he wants to be paid five million euros ($5.685MM), which is a pricey sum for a EuroLeague team.

Latest On Suns’ Head Coaching Search

May 31st, 2025 at 3:19pm CST by Luke Adams

The Suns have now completed in-person interviews with Sean Sweeney, Jordan Ott, Johnnie Bryant, and Chris Quinn as they evaluate candidates for their head coaching vacancy, according to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link). Marc Stein (Substack link) confirms Gambadoro’s report, noting that those interviews took place this week and were run by new general manager Brian Gregory.

Thunder assistant Dave Bliss remains under consideration for Phoenix’s head coaching job as well, but with Oklahoma City headed to the NBA Finals, the Suns haven’t been able to bring him in for an in-person meeting. An interview with Bliss would probably have to take place in OKC, Stein notes.

Sweeney, Ott, Bryant, Quinn, and Bliss were identified earlier in the week as the remaining contenders for the Suns’ open position. One subsequent report indicated that Suns assistant and former NBA head coach David Fizdale was also still in the mix, but neither Gambadoro nor Stein mentions him, so that report remains unconfirmed.

It’s believed that the Suns will pick a smaller group of finalists – likely just two candidates – who will meet face-to-face with team owner Mat Ishbia next week, Stein reports.

According to Stein, Suns star Devin Booker has “had a level of involvement” in this stage of interviews, which backs up the club’s repeated assertions that its plan is continue building around Booker going forward. While all three Phoenix stars have been the subject of trade speculation in recent months, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal are considered far more likely to actually end up on the trade block this summer.

Speaking of Durant, the fact that the Suns are trending toward hiring a first-time head coach has only increased the league-wide belief that KD is a strong candidate to be dealt this offseason, Stein writes. However, he cautions that Durant may not actually reach the trade market until there’s clarity on whether Giannis Antetokounmpo wants to stay in Milwaukee or seek a change of scenery.

Wolves Rumors: Durant, Ownership, Connelly, FAs, Conley

May 30th, 2025 at 2:43pm CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves and Suns both operated above the second tax apron during the 2024/25 season, which means it would have been extremely difficult for the two teams to construct a trade that sent Kevin Durant to Minnesota at the February deadline. Still, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on the latest episode of the Hoop Collective podcast that the Wolves made a real effort to land the star forward four months ago (YouTube link; hat tip to RealGM).

“It became clear to me in talking to the parties involved just how serious the Wolves were about trying to trade for Kevin Durant at the trade deadline,” Windhorst said.

Windhorst goes on to acknowledge that the pre-deadline Wolves weren’t playing as well as they eventually performed down the stretch and in the first two rounds of the playoffs, so their level of interest in Durant may not be the same this offseason as it was at the time. And even with some money coming off their books this offseason, a deal for a player earning $54.7MM would be tricky to pull off.

Still, Windhorst notes that president of basketball operations Tim Connelly has a history of taking big swings on the trade market, making the Wolves a potential team to watch if Durant is on the trade block.

“I’m not arguing that Durant’s going to end up in Minnesota,” Windhorst said. “I’m just saying, if you look at Tim Connelly, he made the big (Rudy) Gobert trade. He made the big Julius Randle and (Donte) DiVincenzo trade. He’s shown the propensity to make big deals.”

The Timberwolves plan to be aggressive in building their roster around Anthony Edwards this offseason, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, who writes that the new ownership group led by Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez has put together a “deep-pocketed group” of partners and would be comfortable continuing to pay luxury tax penalties going forward.

Here’s more on the Wolves:

The NBA’s Board of Governors is expected to vote to formally approve the Lore/Rodriguez ownership group sometime in late June, sources tell Krawczynski. The new owners plan to more aggressively invest in the business side of the franchise, Krawczynski continues, which includes making plans for a new arena.
Two team sources reiterated to The Athletic that there’s optimism about the Wolves’ ability to work out a new contract with Connelly, who has an opt-out clause in his current deal this offseason. According to Krawczynski, while Lore and Rodriguez are involved in major roster decisions, they trust Connelly to make the moves he believes are necessary. Connelly’s easy-going personality has “helped relax what could often be a nervous, downtrodden basketball operations department,” Krawczynski adds.
With Randle, Naz Reid, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker all potentially reaching free agency this summer (Randle and Reid hold player options), Krawczynski believes the likeliest outcome is that two of those three players will remain in Minnesota, with one of them departing.
Mike Conley spoke after the Wolves’ Game 5 loss on Wednesday as if he plans to return for his 19th season, but he’ll likely take on a reduced workload, so it’s crucial that the Wolves find another productive point guard, either in-house (ie. Rob Dillingham) or by bringing in a veteran, says Krawczynski. “I think my role is one that I’ve been willing to do anything,” Conley said. “Just play any amount of minutes, start, come off the bench. Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do. Whatever is best for the team.”

David Fizdale Reportedly Advancing In Suns’ Coaching Search

May 29th, 2025 at 3:05pm CST by Rory Maher

The Suns‘ search for a new head coach has reportedly advanced to a third round of interviews, which will be conducted in person after the first two rounds were primarily done via Zoom.

While initial reports indicated that Phoenix had trimmed the list of candidates down from nine to three or four, at least five finalists have been confirmed to have in-person meetings with the team’s brass. And now a sixth name has been added to that group.

According to Marc J. Spears of Andscape (Twitter link), David Fizdale is expected to have a third interview for the head coaching vacancy after spending the past two seasons as the Suns’ associate head coach.

Fizdale, who turns 51 years old next month, is a longtime NBA assistant who previously served as head coach of the Grizzlies and Knicks. Some “key Suns players” are in favor of Phoenix hiring Fizdale, sources tell Spears.

It has been six-plus weeks since Mike Budenholzer was fired as head coach after a disappointing season in which Phoenix went 36-46 and failed to make the play-in tournament. He had just wrapped up his first season with the Suns after signing a five-year deal in 2024.

The Suns have been taking their time to find a replacement for Budenholzer, in part because they are the only team actively searching for a new head coach. Owner Mat Ishbia said in a press conference shortly after the season ended that he wants to find a coach who will bring increased toughness to the organization.

International Notes: Maledon, Micic, EuroLeague, Williams-Goss, Kabengele

May 29th, 2025 at 11:28am CST by Luke Adams

Former NBA point guard Theo Maledon, who spent the 2024/25 season with ASVEL in France, is expected to sign a three-year contract with Real Madrid, according to Alessando Maggi of Sportando. While the team has yet to officially announce anything, Maggi reports that the two sides have finalized an agreement.

The 34th overall pick in the 2020 draft, Maledon appeared in 177 regular season NBA games across four seasons from 2020-24, spending time with Oklahoma City, Charlotte, and Phoenix. He averaged 7.8 points and 2.9 assists per contest and shot just 37.2% from the field, including 31.0% on three-point tries.

With Real Madrid looking to strengthen its backcourt for the 2025/26 season, former EuroLeague MVP Vasilije Micic is also said to be on the Spanish club’s radar, according to a report from Meridian Sport (hat tip to Eurohoops). The Suns hold a $8.1MM team option on Micic for next season, but he’s considered a strong candidate to return to Europe if that option is declined, which seems likely.

Here are a few more items of interest from around the international basketball world:

It has been an eventful week for the EuroLeague. Europe’s top basketball league has approved a plan to expand from 18 to 20 teams, according to Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com, who reports that Valencia Basket, Hapoel Tel Aviv, and Dubai Basketball are joining for the 2025/26 season, with ALBA Berlin departing for the FIBA Basketball Champions League. Meanwhile, EuroLeague reps also met with the NBA and FIBA this week in Geneva to discuss the NBA’s proposed European league, as Aris Barkas of Eurohoops details.
T.J. Shorts, Nikola Milutinov, and Tyson Ward headline the list of this summer’s top EuroLeague free agents compiled by Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops. While most of the players in Askounis’ top 10 will continue playing overseas, several of them figure to draw legitimate NBA interest.
Former NBA guard Nigel Williams-Goss, the No. 4 free agent on Askounis’ list, intends to sign a three-year contract with the Lithuanian team Zalgiris Kaunas, according to Urbonas. Williams-Goss had a brief NBA run, appearing in 10 games with Utah in 2019/20, but the 30-year-old guard has been thriving in Europe, winning a EuroLeague title in 2023 with Real Madrid and spending the past two seasons with Olympiacos.
Mfiondu Kabengele, a former NBA big man, reportedly has a two-year deal in place with Dubai Basketball. That news was reported by Chema de Lucas (Twitter link) and relayed by Sportando. Kabengele, who appeared in 55 games for the Clippers, Cavaliers, and Celtics in the NBA from 2019-23, spent this past season with Venezia in Italy and earned a spot on the All-EuroCup first team after leading the league in rebounding.

Suns Pare Down List Of Coaching Candidates To Five

May 28th, 2025 at 7:00am CST by Dana Gauruder

May 28: In addition to confirming Quinn, Bryant, Ott, and Sweeney as finalists, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link) reports that Bliss is moving to the next round of interviews as well.

Gambadoro confirms that the Suns are advancing five candidates to the final round of the search process, with Bliss still in the mix (Twitter links).

May 27: The Suns have whittled their list of candidates for their head coaching job.

According to Phoenix radio reporter John Gambadoro (Twitter link), there are four finalists for the position, with Heat assistant Chris Quinn and Cavaliers assistants Johnnie Bryant and Jordan Ott among that group.

The Arizona Republic’s Duane Rankin, citing multiple league sources, also hears that Quinn and Ott are among the likely finalists along with Mavericks assistant Sean Sweeney, with Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori also a possibility.

Sweeney is headed to Phoenix for an in-person interview on Wednesday, Gambadoro confirms (via Twitter).

The Suns are looking to replace Mike Budenholzer, who only lasted one disappointing season on the job. Budenholzer was hired after Frank Vogel, another coach with a championship on his resume, was let go after one season.

The Suns are the only team in search of a head coach. Gambadoro reported on Sunday that Phoenix’s brass had already conducted second interviews with nine candidates for the position, mainly via Zoom. Suns assistant David Fizdale, Pelicans assistant James Borrego, Nets assistant Steve Hetzel and Thunder assistant Dave Bliss were the other reported candidates.

Stein’s Latest: Suns’ HC Search, Giannis, Bucks, Sixers

May 26th, 2025 at 1:46pm CST by Luke Adams

While it remains unclear which head coaching candidates will advance to the final round of the interview process for the Suns, Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link) says there are “rumbles in coaching circles” that Mavericks assistant Sean Sweeney and Heat assistant Chris Quinn made strong impressions during the early stages of Phoenix’s search.

As Stein notes, it’s also worth keeping an eye on the Michigan State alums in the candidate pool, since Suns owner Mat Ishbia values ties to his alma mater, as evidenced by the fact that he named fellow Spartan Brian Gregory the team’s new general manager earlier this spring. Cavaliers assistant Jordan Ott and Nets assistant Steve Hetzel both attended Michigan State, according to Stein, who singles out Ott as a name to monitor.

The expectation is that the Suns will narrow their pool of candidates to about three finalists, Stein reports.

Here are a few more items of interest from Stein’s latest Substack article:

As the Bucks try to convince Giannis Antetokounmpo to continue his career in Milwaukee, one factor they’re emphasizing is the ability to continue competing in a weakened Eastern Conference, Stein writes. Although Milwaukee has been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for three consecutive years, the path to the NBA Finals still looks much clearer in the East than in the West, especially given the injury-related uncertainties surrounding would-be contenders like Boston and Philadelphia, Stein adds.
The Bucks also hope that Doc Rivers‘ ongoing presence helps strengthen their case to Antetokounmpo, who is believed to have a “strong working relationship” with the veteran coach, Stein writes.
Stein confirms prior reporting from his Stein Line colleague Jake Fischer, writing that the Sixers want to add a “dynamic young talent” to their roster and therefore won’t be inclined to trade the No. 3 overall pick if it would mean trading out of the draft or moving down more than a few spots in the lottery.
In case you missed it, Stein also identified a few veteran point guards who might be targets for the Mavericks this summer. We have the full story on that here.

International Notes: Jokic, Bogdanovic, Valanciunas, Micic, Hayes-Davis, Biberovic

May 26th, 2025 at 9:20am CST by Arthur Hill

Serbian basketball federation president Nebojsa Covic is counting on having a full team for this year’s EuroBasket tournament, including Nuggets star Nikola Jokic and Clippers guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, according to a BasketNews report. The Serbians have never won the gold medal in the event, but they would be among the favorites if all their stars are available.

The event will take place from August 27 to September 14, which Covic believes will give everyone plenty of time to recover from the rigors of an NBA season.

“I expect us to have a complete squad. I think that those constant questions about Jokic playing can create an unhealthy environment. We are all working on having a complete squad ready,” he said. “NBA stars like Nikola Jokic and Bogdan Bogdanovic now have three months of rest after the seasons they had and that were very demanding.”

Jokic was one of the stars of last year’s Summer Olympics in Paris as Serbia captured a bronze medal and narrowly missed defeating the United States in the semifinals. He has been representing his country in international competitions since 2013.

There’s more international news to pass along:

Kings center Jonas Valanciunas speculated about finishing his career in the EuroLeague as he attended the league’s Final Four in Abu Dhabi, BasketNews relays in a separate story. It won’t happen for a while, as Valanciunas has two years remaining on his current contract. “I want to play in the EuroLeague, I want it for this atmosphere,” he said in an interview with SPORT24. “I want to play basketball, I want to enjoy this atmosphere.” Valanciunas played four seasons in Lithuania before coming to the NBA in 2012.
Suns guard Vasilije Micic wants five million euros ($5.685MM) to play in Europe next season, according to Alessandro Maggi of Sportando. Phoenix holds an $8.1MM team option on Micic for 2025/26, but that’s likely to be declined because he barely played after being acquired from Charlotte in February. Micic has received interest from Hapoel Tel Aviv and Crvena Zvezda, but Maggi states that not many European teams can meet his salary demand.
After capturing the EuroLeague title over the weekend, Fenerbahce is preparing for the possible loss of Nigel Hayes-Davis and Tarik Biberovic to the NBA, per Aris Barkas of Eurohoops. Hayes-Davis, 30, had brief stints with three NBA teams during the 2017/18 season, while Biberovic, 24, is a draft-and-stash prospect who was selected by Memphis in the second round in 2023. “There is serious interest in Tarık and Nigel from the NBA,” Fenerbahce general manager Derya Yannier said. “I don’t know what will happen over there. These are factors that could actually weaken our hand and prolong the process during the summer. Even before they leave, it’s difficult to have a clear view in terms of budget and roster planning.”

Western Notes: Shannon, Murray, Hetzel, Jokic

May 25th, 2025 at 9:53pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Rookie Terrence Shannon Jr. has earned more playing time in the Western Conference Finals after his performance in Game 3, according to Timberwolves coach Chris Finch. Shannon delivered 15 points in 13 minutes as Minnesota blew out Oklahoma City, cutting the Thunder’s series lead to 2-1.

“I’ve been wrestling with getting another guy in the rotation,” Finch said, per Cassidy Hettesheimer of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “A guy that could stretch the floor in transition, be a downhill player, got a good body, physicality. … We kind of knew coming into the game that we were going to get to him. You’re definitely going to see him more.”

We have more from the Western Conference:

Even though Keegan Murray took a step back in his third season, signing the Kings forward to a rookie scale extension would probably be a wise move this offseason, Spotrac contributor Keith Smith writes. Murray can play either forward spot and he could handle a bigger offensive role. A five-year contract in the $130-140MM range feels like the sweet spot for both parties, in Smith’s estimation.
Nets assistant Steve Hetzel is one of many candidates for the Suns’ head coaching job, a search that has moved into the next phase. Hetzel has also been an assistant with Detroit, Charlotte, Orlando and Portland and is known for his calm, unflappable demeanor, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic writes.
Nikola Jokic needs to hold the Nuggets’ management more accountable if they want to keep him there, Mark Kiszla of the Denver Gazette writes. Jokic is eligible for a two-year extension this offseason but he ought to decline it and force ownership and the front office to improve the roster, in Kiszla’s view.