Phoenix Suns Blog – Page 24 – NBA Blog

Suns meet with LaMarcus Aldridge

Every NBA team in need of a big-man with serious game is interested in Portland Trail Blazers free agent powe forward LaMarcus Aldridge. The Phoenix Suns are included in that mix. Here’s the Arizona Republic reporting:

The Suns’ Wednesday meeting with free agent LaMarcus Aldridge might have closed some ground in their chase for a much-needed star.

With an intricate plan in place for the first day of free agency, the Suns showed Aldridge what type of team that they envision being before they even met with him. The Suns opened free agency by adding veteran center Tyson Chandler with a four-year, $52 million agreement and by coming to terms to keep guard Brandon Knight on a five-year, $70 million contract.

Those were important to do first because Chandler and Knight were along for the ride when the Suns brought an eight-man contingent for a two-hour meeting with Aldridge, who is believed to be mainly considering San Antonio, Houston, Dallas and Phoenix.

The meeting was broken into segments, starting with Suns Managing Partner Robert Sarver meeting alone with Aldridge. President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby and General Manager Ryan McDonough had the next meeting.

We’re just one day into free agent negotiations and it’s already fascinating.

Report: Brandon Knight to re-sign with Suns

With free agent negotiations set to begin Wednesday, reports will start to trickle out regarding decisions various teams and players are making. Here’s a big one, from the Racine Journal Times:

Brandon Knight’s ship is about to come in.

Knight, whom the Milwaukee Bucks traded to the Phoenix Suns in February in a multiple-team deal, appears on the brink of signing a lucrative long-term contract to remain with the Suns.

I’ve been told by an NBA official that Knight, who’ll become a restricted free agent on July 1, will sign a five-year, $70 million contract with the Suns.

Knight, who is 23, was enjoying an All-Star caliber season – 17.8 points and 5.4 assists — before the Bucks surprisingly sent him to the Suns.

He then played 11 games for the Suns, averaging 13.4 and 4.5 assists. After suffering an ankle injury March 9, Knight missed 16 of the Suns’ final 17 games. He underwent minor arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle in April.

Grizzlies trade Jon Leuer to Suns for Andrew Harrison

The Memphis Grizzlies acquired the draft rights to Kentucky guard Andrew Harrison, who was selected with the No. 44 overall pick in the second round of the 2015 NBA Draft, from the Phoenix Suns for forward Jon Leuer, General Manager Chris Wallace announced tonight.

Harrison (6-6, 210) played two seasons (2013-15) at the University of Kentucky, averaging 10.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 28.6 minutes in 79 games and starting in all but one game in his tenure. His 298 assists rank 16th in the Wildcats’ record books and are the most for a two-year player in program history.

Playing alongside his twin brother Aaron Harrison, the 20-year-old averaged 9.3 points, 2.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 25.5 minutes in 39 games (all starts) while shooting .383 from three-point range as a sophomore last season, helping Kentucky become the first team ever to post a 38-0 record before falling to Wisconsin in the 2015 NCAA Final Four. The Wildcats’ win total tied the most in NCAA history.

As a freshman, the San Antonio native recorded 10.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 31.7 minutes in 40 games (39 starts), ranking third in UK freshman single-season history with 159 assists. He averaged 15.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists as a senior at Travis High School where he directed the squad to a state title in 2013.

Harrison is one of six Wildcats to be drafted in the 2015 NBA Draft, joining Karl-Anthony Towns (No. 1 overall), Willie Cauley-Stein (No. 6), Trey Lyles (No. 12), Devin Booker (No. 13) and Dakari Johnson (No. 48).

Leuer (6-10, 228) holds career averages of 4.6 points and 2.8 rebounds in 11.9 minutes in 186 games (18 starts) over four seasons (2011-15) with the Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers and Memphis Grizzlies. The 26-year-old registered 4.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 11.9 minutes in 131 games (six starts) during his tenure in Memphis.

The Long Lake, Minn. native was selected by Milwaukee in the second round (40th overall) of the 2011 NBA Draft after a four-year career at the University of Wisconsin.

Danny Granger exercises contract option to stay with Suns

Logical move, since Granger’s value is low right now

Danny Granger exercises option to stay with Suns

Phoenix Suns forward Danny Granger has exercised the one-year player option on his contract for the 2015-16 season.

Granger, a 10-year NBA veteran and one-time All-Star, was acquired by the Suns from the Miami Heat in a trade on Feb. 19, 2015. The 6-9 wing out of the University of New Mexico holds career averages of 16.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 586 games with the Indiana Pacers (2005-14), Los Angeles Clippers (2013-14) and Miami (2014-15).

Lon Babby will transition to position of Phoenix Suns Senior Advisor

The Phoenix Suns have announced today that President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby will be transitioning to the position of Senior Advisor as of August 1, 2015. At that time Ryan McDonough will lead the Basketball Operations Department from his position as General Manager with continued support from Assistant General Managers Pat Connelly and Trevor Bukstein. All three individuals will take on increasing responsibilities within the organization and are signed to multiyear contracts.

As Senior Advisor, Babby will provide strategic counsel and input to the Basketball Operations Department as well as to the entire Suns organization. He will continue to play an active role in contract negotiations and salary cap management. Babby will continue to be based in Phoenix and as part of his new role will spend at least 50 percent of his time working on Suns matters.

“I am grateful that Robert has accommodated my wish to reduce my work load, while remaining a vital part of the Suns organization. At this stage of my career, I welcome the flexibility that comes with this new role, a flexibility that will enable me to do other things that are important to me both personally and in the community. I feel particularly confident in making this transition because of the quality of leadership in place within the organization,” said Babby.

Managing Partner Robert Sarver on the transition: “Lon has served the Suns well for the last five years. I am pleased that he will remain with the Suns and continue to bring his expertise and value to the organization.”

Babby joined the Suns organization in August of 2010 after a storied 35-year career as a practicing attorney with DC-based Williams & Connolly, LLP. Named one of “Washington’s Top Lawyers” for sports and media law by Washingtonian magazine, one of the “20 Most Influential Agents” in the nation by Sports Business Journal and one of the 100 Most Powerful People in Sports by The Sporting News, the well-regarded player agent entered player representation in 1994. At that time, he had long been involved in sports representation on the team side, first with the NFL’s Washington Redskins (1977-84) and then MLB’s Baltimore Orioles (1979-94.)

Babby hired McDonough in May 2013 and the two, along with Head Coach Jeff Hornacek, orchestrated the biggest turnaround in the NBA in 2013-14 (from 25 to 48 wins). Following that season, McDonough was runner-up for the NBA Executive of the Year Award and Hornacek was runner-up for the NBA Coach of the Year Award.

Pondering some Suns draft prospects

Pondering some Suns draft prospects

It’s extremely hard to predict which exact players will get drafted by which exact teams, but knowing which players actually did work out for a team prior to the draft can provide a clue. Here’s the Arizona Republic pondering some Phoenix Suns draft possibilities:

There is the NBA trend of “stretch fours,” the tall power forward who can shoot 3-pointers proficiently to drag a big man out of the paint and create space for an offense.

The next level of that trend is to have a “stretch four” who also is a playmaker for when defenses chase him off the line.

Wisconsin’s Sam Dekker and Arizona’s Brandon Ashley are June 25 draft candidates for that job, and they participated in Wednesday’s Suns pre-draft workout. The Suns could consider Dekker at No. 13 and Ashley at No. 44, although he holds out hope to be a first-rounder.

As Ashley knows all too well from an Elite Eight meeting, Dekker showed the athleticism and shooting to be that type of player during the NCAA tournament. Dekker’s stock bolted to lottery range once the 6-foot-9 junior turned aggressive for a 19.2 tourney scoring average with 42 percent 3-point shooting.

Brandon Knight undergoes left ankle surgery

Brandon Knight undergoes left ankle surgery

Phoenix Suns guard Brandon Knight underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle yesterday.

The surgery was performed by Dr. Richard Ferkel in Los Angeles. Knight is expected to make a full recovery.

Knight averaged 17.0 points and career-highs of 5.2 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.4 steals this past season, one of just nine players in the NBA to post at least those amounts in each of those categories. A four-year NBA veteran out of the University of Kentucky, Knight played in 11 games with the Suns this past season after being acquired in a trade from the Milwaukee Bucks on Feb. 19.

Keeping Brandon Knight is priority for Suns

Keeping Brandon Knight is priority for Suns

The Phoenix Suns’ season is over. They finished 39-43 and failed to make the playoffs in a very tough Western conference. Here’s the Arizona Republic reporting on their roster situation:

The Suns’ changes will start with those already at the end, or potential end, of contracts.

Of the seven current roster players in that situation, the only three with a good chance of returning are Brandon Knight, Brandan Wright and Danny Granger.

Gerald Green, Marcus Thornton and Earl Barron will be unrestricted free agents on July 1, and Jerel McNeal will have to prove enough in NBA Summer League to convince the Suns to allow a late July contract guarantee kick-in.

The Suns’ desire to retain Knight is an obvious priority, given that they cashed in two big chips (the Lakers’ first-round pick and Tyler Ennis) to acquire him.

Because Knight is a restricted free agent, the Suns can control that situation by either matching an offer sheet to retain him or negotiating a long-term deal directly.

Suns sign Jerel McNeal through 2015-16 season

Suns sign Jerel McNeal through 2015-16 season

The Phoenix Suns have signed guard Jerel McNeal through the 2015-16 season. The Suns had previously signed McNeal to a 10-day contract on April 1.

McNeal, whose first name is pronounced Jah-rell, made his NBA debut with the Suns on April 2 and has appeared in four games with the team since initially signing.

In 27 games with the Bakersfield Jam this season, McNeal averaged 18.5 points, 4.6 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.1 steals. The 6-3 guard scored a season-high 40 points on 16-of-23 shooting for the Suns’ NBA Development League affiliate on March 7 at Austin.

A two-time NBA D-League All-Star, McNeal had previously signed with an NBA team during the regular season on two occasions though he made his debut with the Suns earlier this month. The 27-year-old spent 10 days with the New Orleans Hornets from March 9-19, 2011, and ended the season with the Utah Jazz from March 27-April 17, 2013. This was McNeal’s fourth career D-League season with Bakersfield (2012-15) and the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (2010-11) as he holds career averages of 18.7 points, 5.1 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.6 steals in 135 games.

Undrafted out of Marquette University in 2009, McNeal has participated in NBA training camps with the Los Angeles Clippers (2009), Houston Rockets (2010) and Toronto Raptors (2012) and has also played professionally in Belgium, Italy and China. McNeal played four seasons at Marquette (2005-09) where he remains the Golden Eagles’ all-time leading scorer (1,985 career points) and earned Associated Press All-America Second Team honors as a senior in 2008-09.

Alex Len undergoes surgery for broken nose

Alex Len undergoes surgery for broken nose

Phoenix Suns center Alex Len today underwent successful surgery to repair his broken nose. He is expected to be sidelined at least a week and will be re-evaluated next week.

The surgery was performed in Phoenix by Dr. Ryan Rehl. Len sustained the injury during the Suns’ game at the Portland Trail Blazers on March 30.

The second-year center is averaging 6.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 22.0 minutes in 69 games (44 starts) with the Suns this season.