The risk has outweighed the reward in Michael Beasley’s contract, but it would be unlikely for the Suns to get out of his contract based on his recent arrest unless they just eat $9 million.

Beasley’s arrest on suspicion of marijuana possession early Tuesday in Scottsdale is not a misstep that could allow the Suns to escape the three-year, $18 million contract they gave him last year. Any punishment for his latest police case is far away, with charges, convictions and appeals potentially dragging it out, and subject to the NBA collective-bargaining agreement, which puts first-time violators in a marijuana program, fines second-time violators and gives a five-game suspension to third-time violators.

If the Suns are not able to get out of the contract because of this case or Scottsdale police’s investigation into an allegation of sexual assault, the Suns could cut ties with Beasley with a “stretch provision” allowed under the current CBA for a player signed after July 1, 2011.

Reported by Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic

Forward Michael Beasley, who vowed when he joined the Phoenix Suns a year ago that his marijuana problems were in the past, has been arrested by Scottsdale police after they found what they believe to be marijuana in his car.

Beasley was arrested early Tuesday following a traffic stop, according to Officer David Pubins.

An officer found three cigarettes suspected to contain marijuana in Beasley’s Mercedes after smelling marijuana during the stop, Pubins said.

Beasley was released after being cited for investigation of one felony count each of marijuana possession and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Reported by the Associated Press

Alex Len isn’t the only Phoenix Suns center struggling with foot problems.

Suns starting center Marcin Gortat returned to the U.S. on Thursday to undergo medical tests on his right foot, according to EuroBasket 2013’s website. Gortat had been working out with Poland’s national team as they prepare for the EuroBasket 2013 tournament, which starts Sept. 4 in Slovenia.

The six-year NBA veteran took a leave of three weeks from the Polish team. He is expected to return in time for the tournament to start.

Reported by Andrew Gilstrap of Arizona Sports

USA Basketball today officially announced that it has agreed to relocate to Tempe, Arizona, as part of a $350 million development project. USA Place, LLC, has been selected to develop a new national headquarters and training center for USA Basketball on a 10.5-acre site located next to Arizona State University’s Tempe campus on land owned by ASU at the southeast corner of Mill Avenue and University Drive.

In addition to the USA Basketball headquarters and training center, USA Place will also include a 4,500-seat event center, as well as a 330-room Omni Hotel and 30,000-square-foot conference center, 500 luxury apartments, 160,000 square feet of retail and up to 200,000 square feet of office space, including the new home for Arizona Interscholastic Association events.

USA Basketball’s Board of Directors approved the relocate at a Board meeting on July 25.The $350 million mixed-use commercial development plan is subject to Tempe City Council and Arizona Board of Regents final approval of development agreements.

“This is an exciting and an incredible opportunity that offers nothing but positives for USA Basketball,” said USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo. “USA Place will offer USA Basketball an excellent site for the development of its office headquarters, a training center and event center that will provide the organization with a first-class site for hosting junior level events and will allow USA Basketball to continue to evolve.

“The new USA Basketball headquarters and training center will be first-class, state of art facilities, something I know we will be very proud of.”

The Indiana Pacers announced Saturday they have acquired veteran forward/center Luis Scola from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for forward Gerald Green, center Miles Plumlee and a future No. 1 draft pick.

The 6-9, 245-pound Scola, a native of Argentina, played five seasons with the Houston Rockets and last season with the Suns. He has career averages of 14.2 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. The 33-year-old Scola is a regular member of Argentina’s national team, having won a gold medal in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

“I’m very, very excited to play for the Pacers,” said Scola. “They are one of the top three teams in the NBA with a good shot to win a championship. I think it’s a great team and this is a great opportunity. I can’t wait.”

“Luis will be a very important asset to our team and to our bench,” said Pacers President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird. “He has NBA experience, international experience and is the type of player that will fit in nicely on our roster. I want to thank Gerald and Miles for their contributions. They had tough years last season, but worked hard, never complained and contributed to the great chemistry our team had. I think Gerald and Miles will be solid additions in Phoenix and we wish them well.”

Green was signed as a free agent in 2012 and played in 60 games for the Pacers, averaging 7.0 points per game with a single-game high of 34. Plumlee was the Pacers’ No. 1 pick in the 2012 draft (26th overall) out of Duke and appeared in 14 games averaging 0.9 points and 1.6 rebounds. He played in 15 games last season for the Pacers’ NBA Development League affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, averaging 11.2 points and 10.2 rebounds.

“The trade is consistent with our stated plan to continue to acquire young assets,” said Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby. “With this trade, we now have the potential for three first-round picks in the 2014 draft and five first-round picks in the next two drafts.”

“Although Luis’s time here in Phoenix was short, he certainly ingratiated himself to all of us in Phoenix with his hard work and professionalism. He will be an important contributor to a contending team in Indiana.”

“We are excited to add Miles and Gerald to our young core group of players,” said Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough. “Miles was one of the best players in the Orlando Summer League, and Gerald’s scoring ability and athleticism will help us as we continue to build a team that plays an exciting, up tempo brand of basketball.”

Plumlee, a 6-11, 255-pound center, was selected by the Pacers with the 26th overall pick (first round) of the 2012 NBA Draft and played in 14 games for a deep Indiana team that pushed the NBA Champion Miami Heat to a seven-game series in the Eastern Conference Finals. Earlier this month, he played on the Pacers summer league squad in Orlando and averaged 10.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.0 blocks while shooting 51.5 percent (17-33) from the field in 27.0 minutes.

A four-year collegiate performer at Duke University, Plumlee was a member of the Blue Devils squad that won three ACC championships and the 2010 NCAA National Championship. As a senior, he averaged 6.6 points, 7.1 rebounds and 0.9 blocks on 61.0-percent shooting in 20.5 minutes.

Green, a six-year veteran, was drafted by the Boston Celtics with the 18th pick (first round) of the 2005 NBA Draft out of high school after averaging 33.0 points, 12.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists. After doubling his production to 10.4 points and 2.6 rebounds in his second season with Boston, he was included in a multi-player trade for Kevin Garnett.

A 6-8, 210-pound small forward, Green owns career averages of 8.0 points and 2.3 rebounds in 272 games with Boston (2005-07), Minnesota (2007-08), Houston (2007-08), Dallas (2008-09), New Jersey (2011-12) and Indiana (2012-13). After a brief stint playing overseas in Russia and China, he returned to the states for the 2011-12 season and played for the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA D-League before being called up by the New Jersey Nets. Last season with the Pacers, he averaged 7.0 points in 18.0 minutes and came off the bench in the playoffs to average 6.1 points and 1.3 rebounds on 42.0-percent shooting in nine appearances.

The third-seeded Phoenix Suns fell to the top-seeded Golden State Warriors 91-77 in the inaugural NBA Summer League championship game.

Ian Clark led the Warriors in scoring with 33 points off the bench and won the Most Valuable Player award of the championship game. Clark averaged just nine points a game going into Monday’s contest.

The Suns were down only four going into the fourth quarter before the Warriors took control of the game.

Suns first round draft pick Archie Goodwin continued his good play in the summer league by leading the team with 18 points on 6-11 shooting.

Marcus Morris scored 17 points on 7-15 shooting with two three-pointers, while Markieff Morris added 10 points and seven rebounds, but shot 3-11.

Reported by Jeffrey Sanders of Arizona Sports

The Milwaukee Bucks have acquired two future second-round draft picks as part of a three-team deal involving the Los Angeles Clippers and Phoenix Suns, General Manager John Hammond announced today. As part of the trade, the Bucks re-signed free-agent guard J.J. Redick and dealt him to the Clippers, with Los Angeles sending Eric Bledsoe and Caron Butler to Phoenix in exchange for Jared Dudley. Both the Clippers (2015 or 2016 with protections; 2017 unprotected) and Suns (2014 from Toronto) will send a future second-round pick to the Bucks to complete the deal.

“The addition of a very dynamic young player in Eric Bledsoe and an All-Star veteran in Caron Butler is very exciting for the Suns,” said Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby.  “At the same time, we thank Jared Dudley, a consummate professional in every respect.  He takes our best wishes with him to the Clippers.”

“We are thrilled to add Eric and Caron to the Phoenix Suns,” said Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough.  “They were both key parts of the Clippers team that set a franchise record for wins last season and we are excited to add their athleticism, shooting, and leadership to our organization.”

Widely considered one of the best young guards in the NBA, and one of the league’s most highly sought-after players this offseason, Bledsoe is an athletic, two-way player entering his fourth NBA season.  Listed at 6-foot-1, the 23-year-old Bledsoe has a 78-inch wingspan and a 40-inch vertical leap.

Despite playing behind All-NBA First Team guard Chris Paul in 2012-13, Bledsoe averaged career highs scoring (8.5), rebounds (3.0) and steals (1.43) and added 3.1 assists in 76 appearances, 64 of which came in a reserve role.  In fact, the box-score-stuffing Bledsoe started 12 games a season ago and in those opportunities averaged 14.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.50 steals.  A high-level ball-handler who can create his own shot, as a starter Bledsoe averaged 4.1 free-throw attempts per game, which would have matched Suns guard Goran Dragic’s team-leading average from 2012-13.  Bledsoe is coming off a season in which he shot a career-best from both the field (.445) and three-point range (.397) last season.

Dudley, 28, appeared in 79 games (50 starts) for the Suns last season, averaging 10.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists. A San Diego native who attended Horizon High School, Dudley shot 39 percent from three-point range in 2012-13. He connected on 106 three-pointers last season, the third time in his career he has made 100 or more three-pointers in a season. The six-year NBA veteran brings career averages of 9.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 449 games (147 starts) for both the Charlotte Bobcats and Suns. He is also a career 41-percent shooter from beyond the arc and 80-percent from the free throw line. The former Boston College star was the 22nd overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Bobcats after earning Second Team All-American honors as a senior.

Redick, 29, averaged 14.1 points, 2.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 78 games (13 starts) last season with the Bucks and Orlando Magic. A veteran of seven NBA seasons, Redick has appeared in 424 career games (54 starts) and owns career averages of 9.4 points, 2.0 assists while shooting 39 percent from three-point range and 88 percent from the foul line. Redick was the 11th overall selection of the 2006 Draft by the Magic after a decorated four-year collegiate career at Duke that saw him named the 2005-06 AP, John Wooden and Naismith College Player of the Year.

Butler is a two-time NBA All-Star (2007, 2008) and former 20-point scorer who has averaged double-digit scoring in 10 of his 11 NBA seasons.  A 6-7, 217-pound small forward, Butler owns career averages of 15.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.46 steals in 730 games (697 starts) with Miami (2002-04), the LA Lakers (2004-05), Washington (2005-09), Dallas (2010-11) and the LA Clippers (2011-13).

A former 2003 All-Rookie First Team selection, Butler has made six playoff appearances in 11 career seasons.  The UConn product averaged better than 20.0 points in both 2007-08 and 2008-09, including a career-high 20.8 points in the 2008-09 season.  Butler is entering the final season of a three-year deal signed with the Clippers on Dec. 9, 2011.

The Phoenix Suns chose Ukrainian center Alex Len with the fifth overall pick in the NBA draft, passing on Nerlens Noel and Ben McLemore.

The 7-foot-1 Len, who just turned 20, played two seasons at Maryland. Last year he averaged 11.9 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. Len came to Phoenix but did not work out because he is recovering from a stress fracture in his foot.

Because of a couple of surprise picks ahead of them, the Suns found that Noel, the big center from Kentucky, and McLemore, the sharpshooting guard from Kansas, were still available.

Reported by Bob Baum of the Associated Press

The Phoenix Suns won’t have any problem drafting to meet a need. They have needs everywhere.

New general manager Ryan McDonough and new coach Jeff Hornacek brought in 74 players in preparation for their first draft.

With the exception of a few who were exempt due to injuries, the players went through strenuous workouts, usually in a 3-on-3 situation. Two of the players, shooting guard Ben McLemore and point guard Trey Burke, worked out individually at the insistence of their agents.

”You only draft 60,” McDonough said, ‘’so if nothing else, I guess we’re thorough.”

With a roster that compiled the second-worst record in franchise history, just about anybody they pick at No. 5 will help.

Reported by Bob Baum of the Associated Press

The Phoenix Suns today announced a series of moves within the team’s basketball operations department.  Pat Connelly has been named to the role of Assistant General Manager and Trevor Bukstein has been promoted to Assistant General Manager.  Ronnie Lester has been named a scout and Emilio Kovacic has been named International Scouting Consultant.  John Treloar will remain the team’s Director of Player Personnel; John Shumate and Bubba Burrage remain scouts.

Connelly joins the Suns following seven seasons in the Washington Wizards organization, most recently as the Director of Player Personnel where he was one of the team’s top scouting sources of collegiate and international talent.

Similar to Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough, Connelly has worked his way through the ranks.  Before joining the Wizards, Connelly was a graduate assistant at Baylor University while earning a Master’s degree in speech communication (2004-06).  That followed a stint as an assistant coach of the Bright Bears in England during the 2003-04 season when he helped lead the club to a league title.

Also like McDonough, Connelly comes from a successful sports family; his brother, Tim, is the assistant general manager of the New Orleans Pelicans.  A native of Baltimore, Connelly earned an undergraduate degree in business from Mount St. Mary’s in 2002.

Bukstein, 31, has spent the last three seasons as the Suns’ Director of Basketball Administration, aiding Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby with interpretation and application of the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, salary cap management, and trade and contract negotiations.

Bukstein joined the Suns after six years as an athlete representation specialist at Williams and Connolly, LLP, where he assisted the sports law practice with its NBA, WNBA and MLB clients.  Bukstein earned his law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center and did his undergraduate work at the University of Michigan.

The Suns’ scouting staff will be buoyed by the addition of Lester, a standout college player whose NBA career led to a 24-year run in the front office of the Los Angeles Lakers.  A seven-time NBA Champion (one as a player, 1985; six as an executive, 1988, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010), Lester was a top talent scout for the Lakers from 1987-2001 before being named the team’s assistant general manager, a role in which he served for 10 seasons (2001-11).

A two-time All-American at the University of Iowa who finished his career as the program’s all-time leader in both points and assists, Lester was selected 10th overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1980 NBA Draft before a draft-day trade sent him to the Chicago Bulls.  Lester, 54, played the final two seasons of his injury-shortened career with the Lakers, winning the NBA title in 1985.

For six years, Kovacic has been the European General Manager of Synergy Sports Technology, a scouting service used by all NBA teams.  After stints as a player development coach in Europe, Kovacic joined the scouting ranks using an expertise established over a 20-year playing career, including 12 years as a professional in Europe.

A member of the international basketball community for more than 30 years overall, the 45-year-old Kovacic is a native of Zadar, Croatia.  As a freshman in college, Kovacic attended Grand Canyon University in Phoenix and under then-head coach and Suns Ring of Honor member Paul Westphal, won the 1988 NAIA Championship.  After transferring and graduating from Biola University in 1992, Kovacic was a member of the 1992 Phoenix Suns summer league squad.

The Phoenix Suns needed a new coach, and the guy they’ve hired is a better shooter than the actual players on the team.

Despite this, Jeff Hornacek is of course expected to just stay on the sidelines.

It was reported last week that Hornacek would become the team’s new head coach, and the move became official earlier today.

Full info on the Suns hire of Hornacek is here.

The Phoenix Suns appear close to hiring Jeff Hornacek as their head coach.

A person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Sunday that the Suns are in contract negotiations with Hornacek, although no deal has been finalized. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no public announcement had been made.

The comments came after azcentralsports, which includes the Arizona Republic, reported Sunday that Hornacek reached agreement on a three-year contract.

If all goes as anticipated, Hornacek would be introduced at a news conference Tuesday.

Reported by the Associated Press

In a Suns season that went very much wrong, Goran Dragic did a lot right.

He led the team in scoring (14.7), assists (7.4) and steals (1.6), setting career highs in each category. He also averaged a career-high 3.1 rebounds.

“I thought the first half of the season he probably was from about 15-20 in the rankings among point guards. I think he jumped probably close to top 10 in the last 41 games,” interim head coach Lindsey Hunter said following the season. “Hopefully that will catapult him to possibly being an All-Star.”

If Dragic can duplicate his second half numbers (16.1 points, 9.5 assists in 36 minutes per game) into the first half of next season, then yes, an NBA All-Star Game appearance may be in his future.

“Every player has his goals, including me,” said Dragic, who had 15 of his 20 double-digit assist games post All-Star break. “My goal is to someday hopefully play in an All-Star game. That’s my goal, so every season I try to get better and better.

Reported by Craig Grialou of Arizona Sports

Damon Stoudamire was one of most popular players in Arizona history — an electrifying, high-scoring guard with a cool nickname.

Now, Mighty Mouse is headed back to the desert.

The former Portland Trail Blazers point guard and Wilson High School graduate was hired as an assistant coach under Sean Miller on Friday, a move that’s sure to be a big hit with one of college basketball’s most fervid fan bases.

“We are thrilled to welcome back Damon Stoudamire to the University of Arizona to become a part of our coaching staff,” Miller said in a statement. “Damon is an immensely talented recruiter, and is also very comfortable teaching and coaching the game. More importantly, his credibility in all aspects of our game is unmatched — he simply has ‘been there and done that’ at the highest level. I believe strongly that he will be invaluable in helping many of our current and future student-athletes do the same.”

– Reported by the Associated Press

The Phoenix Suns have named Ryan McDonough the team’s general manager, it was announced today.  He will be introduced in a press conference on Thursday, May 9, at US Airways Center.

“Ryan distinguished himself among an impressive group of candidates for our GM position,” said Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby.  “His natural leadership and communication skills will serve the Suns well. And, his prodigious work ethic and ability to identify talent will enable us to take full advantage of the 10 draft choices, including six in the first round, that we have over the next three years.  We welcome his championship pedigree to our organization.”

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “Also among the finalists were Bucks assistant general manager Jeff Weltman and San Antonio Spurs assistant general manager Scott Layden. Weltman also was a finalist for the Suns position three years ago when Lance Blanks was hired as general manager.”

The 33-year-old McDonough is considered one of the game’s brightest young minds, who combines a tireless work ethic with an expertise in player evaluation honed over the past 10 years at virtually every level of an NBA franchise’s basketball operations.

McDonough joins the Suns after most recently serving the past three seasons as the assistant general manager of the Boston Celtics, where he assisted Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge on all basketball-related matters, while being principally responsible for the draft evaluation of college and international players.  He combines the experience of nearly a decade of in-person scouting of prospects across the globe with an understanding of advanced metrics and statistical analysis.  During his tenure with the Celtics, Boston made two appearances in the NBA Finals, and claimed the 2008 title.

McDonough joined the Celtics front office in 2003 as a 23-year-old special assistant to basketball operations, rapidly moving up the team’s ranks with increased responsibility at each stop, always with an emphasis in talent evaluation.  He spent four seasons as a special assistant, a role that included a great deal of video scouting work (2003-07), one season as director of amateur scouting (2007-08), one season as director of international scouting (2008-09), and two seasons as director of player personnel (2008-10) before his promotion to assistant general manager in Sept. 2010.

McDonough played a prominent role in the front office of a club that has kept a veteran-led roster in the playoffs the last six consecutive seasons thanks to an infusion of young talent acquired through quality late first-round draft picks and trades.  Included in that list are the draft-day acquisition of four-time All-Star Rajon Rondo in 2006, and the 2010 selection of Avery Bradley, who was one of the NBA’s most improved players in 2012-13.

A graduate of the University of North Carolina with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, McDonough grew up in Hingham, Mass., the son of the late renowned Boston Globe columnist Will McDonough, and the brother of ESPN broadcaster Sean and NFL player personnel executive Terry.

For a season and a half, Brown’s eyes widened when his play intensified for Phoenix. The topic of going from starter to bench fixture for two months also widens his eyes.

“I did what I needed to do as a starter and handled my business,” Brown said. “For some reason, they want to cut my legs from under me. I know I’m built for it. I did a great job of holding my composure and not letting it get to me to where I did something detrimental to my career. I showed a lot of character by sitting back while I was taken advantage of in a lot of ways. I’ve done everything asked of me in practice and made sure to show these people what time it is. It definitely hurts to sit on the bench, watching us lose night in and night out knowing I can help and being lied to. It’s been a crazy year. I’m just glad I made it through.”

Shortly after Lindsey Hunter became interim head coach, Brown moved to the end of the bench to create playing time for Wes Johnson, who is averaging 13.5 points as a starter. Brown made spot appearances in five of the past 27 games when Hunter was displeased with the team’s effort. Out of respect, Hunter said he would not use Brown in mop-up duty but also did not play him Saturday night when only nine other players were available at Minnesota.

“I was told that it would change,” Brown said. “It’s one thing hoping. It’s another thing being told that and it doesn’t happen. I could see if we were winning, but we just won our first game in 11 games.”

– Reported by Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic

“We can’t just play the game and pick out the good parts of the game and say we play well for a quarter or two or three. If you don’t play well for 48 minutes, you don’t play well,” Luis Scola said following the team’s most recent loss Sunday against New Orleans.

He was just getting started.

“We just don’t know how to play well,” he continued. “We don’t know how to play basketball and that’s why we lose. Until we learn how to play 48 minutes of basketball, we’re not going to win games. I’m surprised we won (23) games playing this way. Many of the games we won, we did the same thing. We just overcame it somehow. I’m also surprised we didn’t fix it. We saw the problem pretty much the first week and we couldn’t fix it. It’s very frustrating. It’s a bad year.”

– Reported by Craig Grialou of Arizona Sports

The Suns marketers have stretched the usual Fan Appreciation Night into a Fan Appreciation Month.

The Suns players are unable to stretch a quarter or half that their fans appreciate into an entire game.

The Suns played their season’s best first quarter for a 37-23 lead Friday night. It was their highest-scoring quarter of the season. With a 64-55 halftime lead, the Suns had matched their best scoring half. Trying to stretch that effort for an entire game was like stretching gum too thin. The bubble popped.

The Suns rallied late but could not clean up the wreckage of a 10-turnover third quarter and lost 111-107 to Golden State at US Airways Center. The Suns are on a season-worst eight-game losing streak, their first one since the last Steve Nash-less team, and have matched the franchise record for consecutive home losses of six. By losing for the 12th time in the past 13 games, the Suns now have the NBA’s third-worst record (23-53)…

Beasley finished with 25 points, his second best total of the season, and his fourth consecutive double-digit scoring game, matching his season’s best streak.

“I just stopped listening to people,” Beasley said. “I’m doing what I know how to do. That’s really it. The more I listen to people, the more I got to think about. So, at times, it messes me up when I’m trying to think about a thousand things at once. I just stopped listening to people and just started trusting my instincts again.”

What people?

“Everybody,” Beasley said. “My friends, my family, my teammates, the coaches.”

– Reported by Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic

One of the best games of Goran Dragic’s career still wasn’t enough for the Phoenix Suns.

Instead, Deron Williams and C.J. Watson made a handful of crucial plays down the stretch and the Brooklyn Nets escaped with a 102-100 victory Sunday night.

Dragic fell a rebound shy of what would have been his second career triple-double with 31 points, 12 assists and nine boards. He was a point short of his career scoring high.

Dragic’s only career triple-double came with Houston two years ago and he knew he must have been close to one as this game progressed…

Brook Lopez added 20 points and Kris Humphries a season-best 17 for Brooklyn. Watson scored 12 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter for the Nets, playing without Joe Johnson, who bruised his thigh in Brooklyn’s loss to the Clippers in Los Angeles on Saturday night…

Wesley Johnson added 21 points - including 5 of 9 3-pointers - for the Suns, who were coming off consecutive blowout losses at home to Washington and Minnesota…

Dragic reached double digits in assists for a career-best fifth game in a row. His 11 double-digit assist efforts since the All-Star break are second only to Milwaukee’s 12 and Jennings has played one more game.

– Reported by Bob Baum of the Associated Press

If a magic number indicates the combination of game results a team needs to qualify for the postseason, is the same number for playoff contention elimination an “unmagic number?”

If it is, that number for the Phoenix Suns is one. A Suns loss or one more win by the Los Angeles Lakers would eliminate Phoenix from postseason contention for the third straight season. It’ll be the team’s first three-year postseason absence since the span from 1986 to 1988.

The Suns host the Minnesota Timberwolves Friday at US Airways Center, and they’ll be short-handed when they do. Center Jermaine O’Neal will miss the contest with a left calf strain and an illness and according to interim head coach Lindsey Hunter, swingman Jared Dudley will probably miss the game as well.

“I’m thinking both guys have the stomach flu or something,” he said.

– Reported by Vince Marotta of Arizona Sports