The NBA All-Star break is here, but the search for roster upgrades isn’t over for the Phoenix Suns yet. With one open roster spot remaining, there are several Suns buyout targets for the front office to consider.
Following the trade deadline move that shipped out Keita Bates-Diop, Yuta Watanabe, Chimezie Metu and Jordan Goodwin in a three-team deal for Royce O’Neale and David Roddy, Phoenix had two open roster spots. They reportedly filled one of those by agreeing to a deal with Thaddeus Young, which is expected to be finalized early next week.
minutes at the start of second and fourth quarters.
The Suns needed a playmaker who could stabilize the offense for those stretches, and according to The BBall Index, Wright ranks in the 90th percentile in assist points created per 75 possessions and the 96th percentile in passing efficiency. But they also needed someone who could play off the ball to allow Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal to cook, which is where Wright’s 44 percent shooting on catch-and-shoot 3s would’ve come in handy. Ditto for Wright’s rim pressure, as he placed in the 86th percentile in rim shot creation.
Defensively, how about a 6-foot-5 guard who ranked in the 99th percentile in steals per 75 possessions, 97th percentile in deflections per 75 possessions and 97th percentile in passing lane defense? Losing out on Delon Wright deprives the Suns of one of the only viable backup point guard options to hit the buyout market.
A few other noteworthy candidates are off the board now too. The Suns reportedly had interest in Danilo Gallinari, who’s on good terms with both Devin Booker and Jusuf Nurkic, but once they added Thad Young, Gallo was no longer an option. He wound up agreeing to a deal with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Killian Hayes — Hayes would be a David Roddy type of acquisition: a project who won’t help much this season, but could potentially be groomed into a rotation piece down the road. Maybe a change of scenery is what he needs after being waived by the Detroit Pistons. Unfortunately, unlike Roddy, Hayes wouldn’t be under team control for the next few seasons if he signed on. Unless he really wanted to be in Phoenix beyond this season, and unless the Suns really saw potential in him, this feels like a waste of a roster space in the context of this season’s aspirations.
