Tragedy has struck Timberwolves big man Naz Reid and his family. His sister, Toraya Reid, was shot and killed Saturday in New Jersey, Eva Herscowitz of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. A New Jersey prosecutor charged Shaquille Green, whom the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said was in a relationship with Toraya Reid, with her murder.
Reid’s former teammate, Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns, was devastated by the news.
“Heartbroken. No words can ever take away the pain for my brother,” Towns tweeted. “Holding everyone close in prayer today.”
There’s little question who the most important Suns player is. Beyond recently extended All-Star guard Devin Booker, however, identifying the top talent on the current roster is more of an open question.
Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (subscriber link) tackles that question, ranking the five most important Phoenix players aside from the 6’5″ Kentucky alum. Second-year wing Ryan Dunn, new post-Durant trade additions Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks, and new centers Mark Williams and Khaman Maluach make the cut.
There’s more out of the Pacific Division:
With Jonathan Kuminga‘s negotiations in restricted free agency seemingly set to drag on into August, the Warriors forward will likely have his international commitments affected by the stalemate.
As Marc Stein of The Stein Line details (via Twitter), the ongoing talks between Kuminga’s representatives and Golden State are expected to prevent him from suiting up for the Democratic Republic of Congo in this year’s AfroBasket competition, which tips off on August 12 in Angola. Kuminga had initially been listed on the team’s roster ahead of the tournament.
The primary reported suitors for Kuminga at this juncture are a pair of the Warriors’ Pacific Division rivals, the Suns and the Kings.
While Phoenix has legitimate interest in Kuminga, it’s unclear whether the club has the sort of young talent or draft assets to get a deal done. John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Phoenix (Twitter link) reports that second-year Suns forward Ryan Dunn has never been discussed in trade talks and insists that he will not be included.
Andscape’s Marc J. Spears, meanwhile, hears that Kuminga is intrigued by the possibility of playing for the Kings.
“He wants to go (to Sacramento),” Spears said during an NBA Today appearance on Wednesday (Twitter video link). “The Kings are offering a starting spot, power forward, next to Keegan Murray, next to [Domantas] Sabonis. He’s talked on a zoom call with Scott Perry, the GM; B.J. Armstrong, the assistant GM; and also with their head coach [Doug Christie]. So he’s in, he wants to go there.”
Spears also shared some details on what a Suns offer for Kuminga might look like. “I heard they’re offering Royce O’Neale and four seconds and Nick Richards,” he said.
For what it’s worth, Phoenix only currently controls three second-round picks.
ESPN’s Shams Charania also appeared on NBA Today on Wednesday (Twitter video link) and suggested that Sacramento has been open to including a protected first-round pick in its sign-and-trade offer for Kuminga. Charania added that both the Kings and Suns have been willing to go up to about $90MM over four years for the 22-year-old. For now, Golden State has rejected sign-and-trade proposals from both teams.
“(The Warriors) want a good player, they also want an unprotected first-round pick, a good first-round pick,” Charania said. “The Sacramento Kings, I’m told, have actually offered a first-round pick in those conversations – it’s been a conditional first-round pick – as well as a potential rotation player. But the Warriors have wanted to the Sacramento Kings to give them an unprotected – fully – first-round pick.”
Phoenix doesn’t presently have the ability to trade a first-round pick.
Luke Adams contributed to this story.
The Suns are comfortable with their current roster, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic reports, though they must make at least one more move.
Aided in large part by the Kevin Durant trade and the buyout of Bradley Beal‘s contract, the Suns have dropped under the tax aprons and can now aggregate contracts in a trade, do a sign-and-trade and use mid-level exceptions. However, it’s unlikely they’ll make another significant move.
While Rankin confirms the Suns have some interest in restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga, they likely lack the draft capital and assets to pique the Warriors’ interest. Veteran free agents Russell Westbrook and Al Horford are not on their radar, Rankin adds.
Phoenix will have to add another player to the standard roster by the fall to meet the minimum of 14.
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
Suns sophomores Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro were able to build a special relationship with Kevin Durant during their first season in the league before he was traded to Houston, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic writes. Dunn said he loved playing with Durant and appreciated what he was able to learn from the future Hall-of-Famer.
“We built that relationship,” Dunn said. “I wish him the best in Houston. I’m excited to go compete against him and talk some smack to him now, but it’s someone I can always turn to and learn from, so I wish him the best as well.”
Both players are expected to take a major step up in responsibility this season after already being leaned on heavily in their first years in the league.
“He was such a great teammate, great leader for us,” Ighodaro said about Durant. “It was great just to be able to say I was his teammate and learned a lot from him, me and Ryan. Talked to him a little bit since he’s left. I wish nothing but the best for him.”
We have more on the Suns:
The NBA has officially revealed its All-Rookie teams for the 2024/25 season (Twitter links). The First Team is made up the top two picks in the 2024 draft, a pair of Grizzlies, and this season’s Rookie of the Year, while the Second Team is heavy on centers.
A panel of 100 media members selected the All-Rookie teams, with players earning two points for a First Team vote and one point for a Second Team nod. The 10 players who made the cut, along with their corresponding point totals (Twitter link), are as follows:
Stephon Castle, Spurs (200 points)There are no real surprises on the First Team. Castle was the recipient of this season’s Rookie of the Year and was also the only player to be unanimously selected to the First Team, but fellow Rookie of the Year finalists Risacher and Wells weren’t far behind him. Edey and Sarr played significant roles for their respective teams and also finished in the top five in Rookie of the Year voting.
Among the members of the Second Team, Ware and Buzelis finished sixth and seventh in Rookie of the Year voting, while Missi, Clingan, and Carrington became starters for their respective teams in their first NBA seasons.
Carrington just narrowly edged out Jazz guard Isaiah Collier, who received one First Team vote and 50 Second Team votes for a total of 52 points. Carrington technically showed up on fewer overall ballots, but gained the slight edge because he was selected to the First Team by three voters (he was named to the Second Team by 47).
A total of 23 players showed up on at least one voter’s ballot, with Jazz forward/center Kyle Filipowski, Pistons forward Ron Holland, Lakers forward Dalton Knecht, and Suns wing Ryan Dunn rounding out the top 15 vote-getters — they, along with Collier, would’ve made up a hypothetical All-Rookie Third Team if the league recognized 15 players like it does for All-NBA.
All-Rookie is one of the few awards that doesn’t require players to meet the 65-game minimum and certain minutes-played thresholds. Risacher, Edey, Ware, Buzelis, and Clingan each would have been ineligible for consideration if that rule applied to All-Rookie voting.
2:49 pm: In addition to officially promoting Gregory and moving Jones to an advisory role, the Suns have also named Oronde Taliaferro as assistant GM and announced that CIO Paul Rivers will now have basketball operations responsibilities, confirming the changes in a press release (Twitter link via Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports).
“Brian has been a valuable member of our front office, playing an integral role in drafting and developing our young players,” said Ishbia. “I am excited for him to step into the role of general manager. He is a brilliant basketball mind, and he will transform and elevate our team.”
2:37 pm: The Suns are making a major change to their front office, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, who reports that vice president of player programming Brian Gregory will become the team’s new head of basketball operations, with an official title of general manager.
Sources tell Charania that former NBA veteran James Jones, who has been the Suns’ GM since 2019, will become a senior advisor in Phoenix.
Gregory, 58, played four years of college basketball in the late 1980s before transitioning to coaching. He had two different stints as an assistant at Michigan State — the second overlapped with Suns owner Mat Ishbia‘s time with the Spartans, Charania notes.
After 13 years as an NCAA assistant, Gregory landed his first head coaching job with Dayton back in 2003, remaining with the Flyers until 2011, when he was hired away by Georgia Tech. He stayed with the Yellow Jackets until 2016, when he was let go, serving as a special a consultant to Michigan State’s Tom Izzo during the ’16/17 campaign. Gregory was head coach of South Florida from 2017-23.
It’s a rapid rise for the longtime coach, who was hired by the Suns last June. Gregory has been credited for drafting Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro in 2024, according to Charania, and has been in charge of college scouting and the pre-draft process this year, per Jake Fischer (Twitter link).
According to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link), Josh Bartelstein will remain in his role as CEO. Gregory will report directly to Ishbia, Gambadoro adds.
Marc Stein first reported that Gregory could be in line for a promotion.
Despite having the NBA’s highest payroll, the Suns are coming off a disastrous season, finishing with a 36-46 record and not even making the play-in tournament. That led to the firing of head coach Mike Budenholzer, who had four years left on his contract.
Mike Budenholzer is out as head coach of the Suns, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
Budenholzer’s firing was widely anticipated after Phoenix fell far short of expectations despite a payroll approaching $400MM between salaries and tax penalties. After a fast start, the Suns stumbled to 36-46 record and failed to reach the play-in tournament.
Budenholzer, a two-time Coach of the Year, was in his first season with the team after agreeing to a five-year deal worth more than $50MM last May. This marks the third straight offseason that Phoenix will make a coaching change since Mat Ishbia bought the team. The Suns parted with Monty Williams in 2023 and Frank Vogel in 2024.
The organization’s dissatisfaction with Budenholzer went beyond the losing record, sources tell Doug Haller, Sam Amick and Fred Katz of The Athletic. There were concerns about his ability to manage the locker room and his “contentious” relationship with Devin Booker and other players. While there’s heavy trade speculation surrounding Kevin Durant, the authors report that Suns management plans to rebuild around Booker and couldn’t envision “a productive path forward” with Budenholzer as head coach.
Haller, Amick and Katz note that Budenholzer inherited many of the problems that led to his downfall. Hefty salaries for Booker, Durant and Bradley Beal led to second-apron restrictions that limited the Suns’ ability to make roster moves. Budenholzer was left with a team short on defensive ability and toughness that ranked 27th in points allowed per possession.
The authors point out that Budenholzer used 35 different starting lineups and made rotation changes that sometimes led to confusion in the locker room. They cite examples such as rookie Ryan Dunn, who was benched for a while despite being the team’s best defender, and Bol Bol, who averaged 21 minutes during a 16-game stretch in January and February then barely got off the bench for the rest of the season.
Despite the coaching change, league sources tell Haller, Amick and Katz that no immediate moves are planned in the front office, although that could change as the offseason wears on. President of basketball operations James Jones will have his contract expire in June, and Ishbia is expected to consider replacing him. They add that it’s not clear what plans Ishbia has for CEO Josh Bartelstein.
Suns insider John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 tweets that Budenholzer’s dismissal is “just the beginning” and many more changes are coming to the organization. Gambadoro adds (via Twitter) that he doesn’t expect Michael Malone or Taylor Jenkins to emerge as serious candidates for the coaching job in Phoenix.
Bradley Beal is disappointed with the way things turned out for the Suns and understands that a lot of the blame is directed toward him, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Beal’s contract, which pays him $53.6MM next season with a $57.1MM player option for 2026/27, would be difficult to unload even if it didn’t include a no-trade clause. Phoenix would like to get rid of that financial burden to move under the second apron, but the front office couldn’t find a taker when it tried to move him before the deadline in hopes of landing Jimmy Butler.
Beal indicated at the time that he would veto a trade unless he was happy with the destination, which raised the ire of Suns fans. He also dealt with injuries that limited him to 53 games and lost his starting job for a while, saying he relied on faith to help get him through a difficult time. Despite the setbacks, he told reporters on Friday that he would be happy staying in Phoenix next season.
“I believe in what we got in there,” Beal said after the Suns snapped an eight-game losing streak. “Things happen. We didn’t have a good year. We couldn’t put it together like we wanted, but nobody hates the other man. Nobody dislikes anybody else. I love Phoenix. I love being here. Hopefully I can continue to be here, but I know (owner Mat Ishbia) is probably going to make some changes, but I enjoyed this group.”
There’s more from Phoenix:
The Suns are on the brink of elimination after losing their sixth straight game Sunday night in New York, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Phoenix is winless since Kevin Durant suffered a sprained left ankle last weekend, and although there’s hope that he can resume playing, it may be too late. At 35-43, the Suns would have to catch either Sacramento (38-40) or Dallas (38-41) to sneak into the postseason.
As Rankin describes, Sunday’s game was typical of the recent slide as Phoenix was competitive for much of the night but still found a way to lose. The biggest problem against New York was three-point shooting as the Suns, who rank third in the league in that category at 38%, were a dreadful 4-of-34 from beyond the arc.
Although their situation looks bleak, Devin Booker said the players can’t afford to lose their focus in the final four games of the season.
“Same approach, man. I keep saying for the love of the game,” Booker said. “You never play with this sport. This is our lives. Whatever the situation is, whether we’re in or out, we’re going to give it our all and do what we can do.”
Attention now turns to what the Suns will do this summer after a hugely disappointing season despite a payroll that tops $400MM with luxury tax included. Rankin expects another coaching change, even though Mike Budenholzer was just hired last May.
Trade speculation involving Durant has been steady for the last two months, and Rankin believes the focus should be on getting under the second apron so they’ll have more flexibility to remake the roster. He also notes that owner Mat Ishbia’s willingness to change coaches hasn’t extended to the front office where general manager James Jones and CEO Josh Bartelstein have kept their jobs despite not producing a contender.
There’s more on the Suns: