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The Phoenix Suns announced today guard Brandon Knight has chosen to change his uniform number and will now wear No. 11.
Additionally, the team has announced uniform numbers for the team’s 2016 NBA Draft acquisitions: Dragan Bender will wear No. 3, Marquese Chriss will wear No. 0 and Tyler Ulis will wear No. 8.
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The Phoenix Suns have reached an agreement with interim head coach Earl Watson to retain him as the 17th head coach in franchise history.
“Earl did a very good job with our team last season after taking over as interim head coach during a challenging time for the organization,” said McDonough. “Earl’s natural leadership qualities and his ability to connect with and motivate our players have stood out throughout his time here in Phoenix. We are excited to see what he can do with a healthy roster after having a full offseason to prepare.”
First named interim head coach on Feb. 1, Watson compiled a 9-24 in 33 games after taking the reins, including wins in three of the team’s final four games by averaging 115.0 points over those final four contests. The Suns ranked second in the NBA in rebounds per game after Watson took control and were one of the league’s most improved defensive teams over the season’s final month, allowing 5.1 fewer points per 100 possessions in the team’s final 16 games than in their first 66.
Watson originally joined the Suns as an assistant coach in the summer of 2015 after working the 2014-15 season as an assistant coach with the Austin Spurs of the NBA Development League. Watson became a coach following a 13-year NBA career as a point guard in which he appeared in 878 career games with Seattle/Oklahoma City, Memphis, Denver, Indiana, Utah and Portland from 2001-2014. Watson averaged 6.4 points, 4.4 assists and 1.0 steals for his career, posting highs of 10.7 points and 6.8 assists with the SuperSonics in 2007-08. At 36 years old, Watson is currently the youngest head coach in the NBA.
The NBA Development League, the Phoenix Suns and the Town of Prescott Valley, Ariz., announced today that the Suns have acquired the Bakersfield Jam and are relocating the team to Prescott Valley. The Suns become the 15th NBA team to own and operate its NBA D-League affiliate.
The team will be known as the Northern Arizona Suns and will play a 24-game home schedule at the 5,100-seat Prescott Valley Event Center (PVEC) beginning with the 2016-17 season.
“Today’s announcement is exciting not only to have the Phoenix Suns join the ranks of NBA D-League owners, but also to welcome Prescott Valley to the NBA D-League family of communities,” said NBA D-League President Malcolm Turner. “I’m looking forward to watching the Northern Arizona Suns take the court in November.”
The Bakersfield Jam has served as the Suns’ single-affiliate NBA D-League team the past two seasons, with the NBA franchise running basketball operations. The Suns will now assume business operations for the organization, with the new team serving as an extension of the Phoenix Suns’ brand in northern Arizona.
“We are thrilled to bring professional basketball to the Town of Prescott Valley,” said Suns President Jason Rowley. “In addition to the basketball advantages of our D-League affiliate being close to home, today’s announcement creates endless opportunities to strengthen the connection with our fans in northern Arizona.”
Suns interim head coach Earl Watson and assistant coach Nate Bjorkgren both began their coaching careers in the NBA D-League, while six members of the current Suns team have NBA D-League experience. The team has assigned 15 players to the NBA D-League since 2001.
“We’re happy to have an organization the quality of the Phoenix Suns in our community and region,” said Prescott Valley Mayor Harvey Skoog. “It’s an exciting thing to bring the Suns’ brand and legacy to Prescott Valley.”
Launched in 2001, the NBA D-League has expanded from an eight-team league to a record 22 teams for the 2016-17 season. All 19 teams for the 2015-16 season were singly affiliated with an NBA parent club, a first for the NBA D-League, and the three teams joining the NBA D-League for 2016-17 are owned by the Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets and Chicago Bulls.
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Phoenix Suns guard Brandon Knight had surgery yesterday to treat a sports hernia. The surgery was performed by Dr. William Meyers in Philadelphia.
In his fifth NBA season and first full season with the Suns, Knight averaged a career-high 19.6 points in addition to 5.1 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 52 games, one of just 10 players in the NBA to post at least those averages in each of those categories.
Knight has already begun rehabilitation and will return to Phoenix next week.
The 2015-16 NBA regular season ends Wednesday. With a 21-58 record, the Suns were one of the biggest disappointments in the entire league this season and didn’t come close to qualifying for the playoffs.
The Phoenix Suns today signed forward/center and Phoenix native Alan Williams to a multi-year contract. Williams initially signed with the Suns on March 8 and made his debut with the team last night at Utah.
Williams, who went undrafted in 2015, played earlier this season with Qingdao DoubleStar of the Chinese Basketball Association where he led the league with an average of 15.4 rebounds in 35 games this season, in addition to scoring 20.8 points per contest. Williams played with Houston at NBA Summer League 2015, averaging 20.5 points and 11.8 rebounds in four games with the Rockets in Las Vegas. He earned All-NBA Summer League Second Team honors with his top performances including a 22-point, 21-rebound game against Philadelphia on July 17 and a 27-point, 10-rebound game against the D-League Select team on July 10.
A 6-8, 260-pound post player, Williams completed a decorated four-year career at UC Santa Barbara in 2015. The Gauchos’ all-time leading rebounder (1,125) and second-leading scorer (1,732), Williams led the nation with an average of 11.8 rebounds in 2014-15 and ranked second nationally with 11.5 in 2013-14. He was named Big West Player of the Year after averaging a career-best 21.3 points in 2013-14 as he averaged 15.5 points in 112 career appearances.
Born in Phoenix, Williams attended North High School where he was a part of two state title teams and was named All-Arizona as a senior in 2011.
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Phoenix Suns center Alex Len’s emergence was so strong that he was one of only three official NBA Player of the Week candidates in the Western Conference last week.
Len did not win because of how great Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard played in an undefeated week but also because he shot just 38 percent from the field. Amid more opportunities, Len’s new experience with being the offense’s focal point will include missing shots that a 22-year-old center is expected to eventually make.
Entering Thursday’s game, Len was converting well when shooting close to the basket, going 13 for 16 on shots of 5 feet or less. Beyond that, he struggled in the paint from the 5- to 9-foot range, going 3 for 15, but his mid-range shooting was good (8 for 19). With his two-for-13 shooting in Thursday’s loss, Len has a 34.1 field goal percentage in the past six games.
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The Phoenix Suns today signed forward/center and Phoenix native Alan Williams to a 10-day contract.
Williams, who went undrafted in 2015, has most recently played with Qingdao DoubleStar of the Chinese Basketball Association where he led the league with an average of 15.4 rebounds in 35 games this season, in addition to scoring 20.8 points per contest. Williams played with Charlotte and Houston at NBA Summer League 2015, averaging 20.5 points and 11.8 rebounds in four games with the Rockets in Las Vegas. He earned All-NBA Summer League Second Team honors with his top performances including a 22-point, 21-rebound game against Philadelphia on July 17 and a 27-point, 10-rebound game against the D-League Select team on July 10.
A 6-8, 260-pound post player, Williams completed a decorated four-year career at UC Santa Barbara in 2015. The Gauchos’ all-time leading rebounder (1,125) and second-leading scorer (1,732), Williams led the nation with an average of 11.8 rebounds in 2014-15 and ranked second nationally with 11.5 in 2013-14. He was named Big West Player of the Year after averaging a career-best 21.3 points in 2013-14 as he averaged 15.5 points in 112 career appearances.
Born in Phoenix, Williams attended North High School where he was a part of two state title teams and was named All-Arizona as a senior in 2011.
Williams will wear uniform number 15. The Suns’ roster now stands at 15
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The Phoenix Suns waived guard/forward Sonny Weems today.
Weems, in his fourth NBA season, played in 36 games with Phoenix this season and averaged 2.5 points, 1.3 assists and 1.1 rebounds in 11.7 minutes. He originally was signed by the Suns last July.
The Suns’ roster is now just 13 players. According to Yahoo Sports, the team plans to sign Chase Budinger with one of those available spots.
The only thing worse than sharing a bad franchise record is owning it.
If the Suns lose Friday on the road against the Orlando Magic, it would give Phoenix 18 consecutive road losses for the first time in team history. It would also be the second-longest road losing streak in the league over the past five seasons. The 76ers lost their first 18 road games this season for a streak of 23 in a row dating back to the previous season.
The Suns are losing by an average of 20.7 points per game during their road losing streak that began after a Dec. 7 last-second Suns win at Chicago…
The Magic is coming off a 120-89 Wednesday home win against Chicago and an off-day Thursday while the Suns played in Miami.
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The Phoenix Suns today signed point guard Phil Pressey to a second 10-day contract. Pressey initially signed with the Suns on Feb. 20.
In four games with the Suns, Pressey has averaged 5.0 points, 6.0 assists and 1.0 steals, with one double-digit scoring performance (10 points vs. Brooklyn on Feb. 25) and one double-digit assist performance (10 assists at the L.A. Clippers on Feb. 22). An NBA veteran in his third season, he played in 14 games with the Philadelphia 76ers earlier this season before averaging 13.0 points and 6.4 assists in 25 games with the Idaho Stampede of the NBA Development League.
A 5-11, 175-pound guard, Pressey played in 139 NBA games (11 starts) with Boston and Philadelphia before joining the Suns. The 25-year-old played his first two seasons with the Celtics, averaging 3.1 points and 2.9 assists in 13.9 minutes in 125 games over 2013-14 and 2014-15. After going undrafted in 2013, Pressey recorded four double-digit scoring games as a rookie with Boston, including a career-high 20 points at Washington on Jan. 22, 2014. Pressey twice recorded his career-high of 13 assists in the 2013-14 season.
Originally the first GATORADE Call-Up in the NBA this season when he signed with Philadelphia on Nov. 4, Pressey averaged 13.0 points, 6.4 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1.7 steals in 25 games with Idaho after being waived by the 76ers on Dec. 4. His averages in assists and steals ranked fifth and 11th, respectively, among D-League leaders at the time he first signed with the Suns.