REPORTS: Phoenix Suns NOT DONE Trying To Trade, Shopping Grayson Allen & Royce O’Neale

REPORTS: Phoenix Suns NOT DONE Trying To Trade, Shopping Grayson Allen & Royce O’Neale

The Phoenix Suns have changed a lot over the last couple of months. So, we’re tapping in with national NBA insider and reporter for Clutch Points. It’s Brett Single. Brett, how you doing? I’m doing well. Just got back from Las Vegas. Obviously got a little bit of a tan out there in that 110 degrees sun. You guys are used to it. I’m not up in New Jersey, so it’s it’s kind of getting used to that and getting back in the feel of things, but free agency and trade season is winding down. We got a few more pieces to kind of figure out. Obviously, the Suns have been busy. They just bought out Bradley Deal and he’s heading in a new direction. Kevin Durant heading in a new direction. So, it’s a new era for the Phoenix Suns. Yeah, absolutely. Brett, I mean, obviously, it’s been a very busy summer for the Suns. So, let’s get right into the first big move, the Kevin Durant trade. Uh, what did you think of the return that they were able to get out of that and and moving on from the big three era, you know, two and a half years after it started? Yeah. So, we kind of did a lot of reporting of that at Clutch Points of it being the Jaylen Green package for the Houston Rockets. So, that was really the centerpiece of it all of could the Suns get a better deal. There was talk of the Minnesota Timber Rules possibly offering Rudy Gobear there and a package that seemed to be pretty decent if it if it was truly Rudy Gobear, Dante Danchenzo, draft pick and Terence Shannon. Then, so the Suns ultimately went a different direction. They went with the Houston Rockets package. they get back Jaylen Green who in my mind is kind of like a draft in a way because this is a young player that already comes with experience. He’s only 22 23 years old and a guy that you can build with next to Deon Booker for the foreseeable future and if things don’t work out he’s still young enough and dynamic enough for you to be able to move and possibly get other assets back whether it’s draft picks other young talent down the road. So I like the package a lot. Dylan Brooks is a guy that can come in and really help them set the tone defensively because that’s an area of issue for them over the last few years. And we’ve seen Dylan Brooks and Deon Booker go at it at times, but I think that they’ve kind of hashed all that out and they’ll be the best of friends now that they’re on the same team competing in the West. But the big storyline to me of the Suns off seasonason and with the Kevin Durant trade is how much younger this team got. And they did it not necessarily by acquiring draft picks, but getting the rights to some of these guys this year. I mean, we just mentioned Jaylen Green. They go and get Kaman Malawatch with the 10th pick. They add Kobe Brea in the second round, who has been one of the summer league standouts. So, they’ve just gotten a lot of guys to fill gaps over the next few years that they can spend time developing. And they got significantly younger doing so without having to really wait and see what these draft picks would turn into. They went out and got the guys that they saw could help them right now. So, when you say that Jaylen Green is more like a draft pick and the potential, all that’s fascinating, but when it comes to being on the court with Devin Booker, I think there are some pretty legitimate questions on if their play style can overlap. How different do you see that being than the iteration of the back court that we just saw in Phoenix with Devin Booker and another score first guard and Bradley Beal? Well, I think that Jaylen Green’s a little more dynamic than Bradley Beal. Obviously, that’s no disrespect to Beal and what he’s been able to accomplish over his career as an all-star with the Washington Wizards, but Jaylen Green’s a guy that can push the pace in transition and when Devin Booker’s off the floor, he can really take command of the offense. He showed the ability to grow as a passer in Houston. Don’t necessarily know if he’s going to be utilized that much as a passer uh in Phoenix this year with a whole new system. Jordan Hawk coming in and looking to implement a a new two guard lineup there, especially coming off of what he’s done in Cleveland with Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell, their two guards that are really reliable in terms of having the ball in their hands and looking to score first and we saw the ability of them being able to thrive. So, I think that we’re going to see something interesting there with Deon Booker taking more of a primary ball handling ability, being in quotes the point guard, per se, but there you you’re rolling out two shooting guards in that lineup. And that’s where those concerns lie. And that’s kind of what Suns fans and you guys have been talking about over the years with, well, you had Bradley Book, Bradley Beal, and Devin Booker. How’s that going to work? Because you have two ball dominant guards, they need the ball to be able to score. So, I think that it’s a little bit different in the sense that they can push the pace in transition and especially with this young lengthy lineup that the Suns are going to be able to roll out. I think that that’s really what we’re going to look to see and I I kind of look at similarities of the last few years with the Memphis Grizzlies when they first kind of were on the come up with John Morant and they had that fast young dynamic team. I think we’re going to see some inspiration there for the Phoenix Suns to kind of be that scrappy fast team that really looks to push things in transition. And then like I mentioned with Jaylen Green, I still have hopes that he can be one of the best scorers in this league. I I was really high on him coming out of his draft and saying that he’s going to be a guy that could potentially lead the league in scoring one day. I still kind of believe that. And in the situation where you have Phoenix that needs a number two scoring accidental booker, he’s going to have plenty of opportunities to have the ball in his hands. He’s going to be the leader of that second unit. And obviously with his dynamic athletic abilities, I think that he can really thrive in Phoenix more than he did in Houston. You mentioned the team getting younger and and obviously the overhaul that this group has had like Jaylen Green, Mark Williams, those are young guys, established guys, what they were able to do in the draft. Just what are your opinions of kind of the way that the roster looked going from very talented but very old to now uh much younger, defensive minded, a lot longer but maybe not as talented. What What are you kind of looking for from the Suns this upcoming season? I expect big things from these rookies and I think that obviously a lot of them are developmental pieces and we can touch on the tough pick come on now watch. He’s going to be a guy that’s going to take time for him to reach his full potential but at the NBA draft combine he was the prospect that excited me the most. And I say that because not only his length and rim protecting abilities, but he can run the court a lot better than people give him credit for. He’s very very vocal on the court whether or not he’s actually playing or on the bench. I talked about a little bit at summer league and was tweeting it out that he was the the loudest guy on the court and he was sitting out one of the games on the bench and that just goes to speak about his character. He’s a team first player, just positive attitude, always has a smile on his face and I think that’s kind of the change that the Suns needed. They needed guys that want to be there and they want guys that want to develop in this system next to Deon Booker and truly believe in it and that’s the kind of player that they’re getting with Kaman Malawatch. So, I’m really high on him, especially if he can develop a perimeter shot. We saw flashes of it in some of those summer league games. And I think that we’re really going to see that be a point of emphasis during his rookie year. Can he stretch the court in those pick and roll situations, not only with Booker, and Jaylen Green, but another fellow rookie in Kobe Brea? I think that he’s going to get a lot of playing time early on in his young career. And we’re talking about a guy that if if there’s any player in summer league that mimics Deon Booker, it’s Kobe Brea. and he was getting to that mid-range area, pulling up like a young Devin Booker when he first entered the league. He’s one of the best three-point shooters from this draft class. I I think that he’s going to surprise a lot of people and I would not be shocked if he ended up being an all rookie type player. You mentioned change and that feels like it’s been the biggest theme for the Suns for a long time now has just been change, but those changes that they’ve been made, they’re now in the past. Do you feel like there’s still more to be done for Phoenix this off season? I do. And the the motto has been changed and the way that they’re doing it is moneywise. They’re trying to free up their books long term and really only have Devin Booker be that guy with long-term money that they’re committed to. And when we look at their cap sheets, well, Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neal are still there. They’re part of that old regime we could say for the Phoenix Suns of them in their contending status and looking to go all in with Kevin Durant, Bradley Gil, Deon Booker. Those two guys were there to kind of be the glue and hold things together and be those secondary role players to push them over the edge. Well, not that the Suns aren’t in a contending status. We’ll wait and see what this team looks like this year, but they’ve taken a step back. There’s no doubt about that. And they’re focused on the future and how to build the best team possible around Devin Booker. So, what does that mean for those guys like Grayson Allen or Royce O’Neal? Well, talk coming out of summer league over the last few days has been that those are two players that they’re actively chatting about on the trade market. They’re talking with teams about what they could get for Grayson Allen, who still has three more years left. Royce O’Neal still has three more years left on a on a significantly lesser contract than Grayson Allen. And that’s kind of where I’m at with seeing where interest is around the league. I think that there’s a lot more interest in Royce O’Neal than Grayson Allen. And that’s purely from a contractual standpoint because teams can absorb that $10 million contract. There’s teams out there that have player exceptions that they can fit Royce O’Neal into if they wanted to this offseason. Grayson Allen $16 million and that contract I believe next season goes up to 18 million. Kind of a harder sell and you’re going to have to try to get creative with how you’re going to move that type of player if you are to unload Grayson Allen from the Phoenix Suns roster. So that’s kind of where we’re at right now. are still waiting and seeing what teams are actually interested in him and what his market would look like and what return the Suns could possibly get. But I have heard that Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neal are both on the trade block. The Suns aren’t necessarily done making moves just yet and they still want to create flexibility for themselves moving forward. Oh, that makes sense. It makes sense to shop those guys, especially as you mentioned part of the old regime, useful role players that could potentially have value depending on the team and and the contract like you were talking about. Brett, we’ve also heard Jonathan Kaminga’s name come up. What have you been hearing on your end in terms of the Sun’s interest there? Well, Kaminga’s situation is very interesting in general because this all dates back to even before last off season when the Golden State Warriors were first looking to get him on a rookie scale extension. He wanted in that 30 to $35 million range. They weren’t willing to offer more than 25. So he goes into the final year of his rookie deal kind of still searching for his role because him and Steve Kerr had batted heads before. There’s been talk about him not fitting into the system. Kerr has been on the record of saying he doesn’t even think that Jonathan Kaminga fits into what they’re doing. So when you have a coach that says that about a player and you have a player that is 22 years old and sees himself as a star in this league, those two roads are going opposite directions. And it seems weird to say that that the Warriors and Kaminga could still reunite on a new deal. But that’s kind of where we’re at in the offseason because there hasn’t been as robust of a market as many projected for Kaminga. There was talk of the Miami Heat being a team interested in him, but they went a different direction. The Chicago Bulls have still been brought up as a sign and trade destination for Kaminga, but they’re dealing with their Josh Giddy drama in restricted free agency. So until that gets figured out, it’s hard to see them really going all in for Jonathan Kaminga. There’s been interest from the Sacramento Kings, but now they’re hardcapped at the First Apron, and for them to go out and get a player like Kamiga, they’re gonna have to move a significant salary like a Malik Monk or a Demar De Rozan just to do so. Now, there’s rumors of the Phoenix Suns being interested in Kamiga, which really shouldn’t be news to any of us because Kamiga was a name that was brought up at the trade deadline for the Suns when they were first looking to trade Kevin Durant. And in that three team proposed trade that we reported on at Clutch Points, it was Kevin Durant going to the Golden State Warriors. Jimmy Butler was going to go from the Miami Heat to the Suns. And then you had a bunch of pieces going back to the Suns. You had Jonathan Kaminga. You had potentially Moses Moody from the Warriors going back to the Suns with draft picks as well. So it it shouldn’t shock anybody that Ma Matt Ishbia and the Suns are interested in Jonathan Kaminga. He’s a young dynamic player with length and that’s what we just talked about of what this offseason was for the Suns. It was about getting quicker, getting younger, and adding guys that can do a little bit of everything on the court. That’s Jonathan Kaminga’s skill set. You put the ball in his hands, he’s going to find a way to get to the bucket and score, and there’s still a lot of untapped potential there that won’t be found at Golden State. Can a team like Phoenix potentially unlock him with their dynamic young guys? I think that it would be a good fit with the way and the direction that this team is going. But it all comes down to money because Jonathan Kaminga and his camp are still holding firm on that $30 million per year mark that’s been latest coming out of summer league. The Warriors don’t really want to go higher than 20 million now. So, it’s kind of a holding pattern and until there’s real value for the Warriors out there in potential sign and trade scenarios, they’re not just going to give them up. And that’s been the case ever since the trade deadline, ever since last offseason when the Los Angeles Clippers wanted Jonathan Kaminga when the Warriors were inquiring about Paul George. So it all goes back to them not wanting to sacrifice value. The Warriors still have leverage here since Jonathan Kaminga is a restrictive free agent. They can kind of pick and choose. And that’s why we’re we’re kind of in a holding pattern. This could really hold out until the dog days of August. And until something gets done there, it’s really hard to project what other moves the Warriors are going to make. But in terms of the Suns and the Jonathan Kaminga stuff, it is real. Those rumors have been out there and we’ll see what happens. The what I reported the other day is that the Warriors don’t have interest in Grayson Allen, which shouldn’t shock anybody because of that contract size. But could they potentially be interested in a guy like Royce O’Neal who would fit their small ball style? He could be a good complimentary player to Draymond Green and what is presumably Al Horford who’s likely going to the Warriors as well. So we we’ll wait and see what happens there, but there is interest from the Suns brass on Jonathan. Brett Seagull, national NBA insider and reporter for Clutch Points, taking some time post summer league to join us here at PHX Suns. You can follow him on socials at Brett Seagull NBA. Thank you so much, Brett. Absolutely, guys. You take care. Have a good one. [Applause] [Music]

The Phoenix Suns might not be done making done this offseason, ClutchPoints NBA insider Brett Siegel joins PHNX Suns to discuss the status of Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale with the organization, if they would be interested in trading for Jonathon Kuminga and what his biggest takeaways were from NBA Summer League and seeing No. 10 pick Khaman Maluach in person.

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