Suns players met with head coach Monty Williams and general manager James Jones when the allegations against team owner Robert Sarver broke early in November, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Although the players haven’t said much publicly about those allegations, they got information about the situation and discussed it internally during those meetings.
“We have a communicative group,” Suns star Devin Booker said. “We talk to each other a lot. We keep everything in house. It’s a tight-knit group. We speak on everything, and we share with each other how we feel about it, and nobody else finds out how we feel about things.”
The Sarver allegations could’ve become a distraction for a franchise that exceeded expectations in 2020/21 and got off to a 1-3 start this season, but the Suns have avoided letting that happen. They’ve won 12 consecutive games since the story broke, extending their overall winning streak to 14 games. They’ll be looking to push that number to 15 on Friday in New York.
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- After not signing a contract extension in the offseason, Suns center Deandre Ayton is focused on continuing to improve and expand his game as he nears restricted free agency. “I saw the flaws and the mistakes and stuff that I should’ve done in the playoffs and Finals, especially the Finals,” Ayton said this week, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. “I didn’t like the way I performed in the Finals. … Like I said from the beginning of the season, I’m trying to be more of a threat. … I’m trying to make a mark and trying to get used to certain things I wasn’t used to doing.”
- The Kings made a head coaching change on Sunday, but there’s no indication that a major roster shakeup is around the corner, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, who hears that guards De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton remain off-limits in trade talks.
- Lakers head coach Frank Vogel figures to face scrutiny if the team continues to struggle this season, but Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times preaches patience and thinks general manager Rob Pelinka should be careful about how he handles the situation. If Vogel were to be let go, there would be “no one left standing between Pelinka and the firing squad,” Hernandez writes, adding that Vogel is a defensive-minded coach who lost many of his best defenders in the offseason.
Lakers
Frank Vogel is not the problem, the solution is to trade away one of the all time greats
All time greats are too crowded because there is only one ball on the court
Nobody wants Westbrook so his contract is not getting traded. Lakers are not trading AD or Lebron so they have nothing of trade value but Tucker. That is why their hands are tied.
Melo is in the list of 76 all time greats
Yeah nobody wants Melo either
Howard is not at the bottom line of all time greats but he is closed to it
Nobody wants Howard like Westbrook.
Lakers need Melo more than any club trading for him. If lakers trade Melo its because they have no hope to make the playoffs.
If they made more of their shots none of you would be talking.
Lakers have nothing to trade, even THT doesn’t have much value to a rebuilding club as only next year he’s locked up – Arc is correct here
Fox keeps playing at this level and Sacramento won’t have to worry about keeping him off-limits.
I have no idea why the Kings would put Fox off limits in a trade for Simmons. Maybe that is why they are the Kings. I understand Haliburton would be off limits. Kings need to shake up the team and if that means Fox in a deal for Simmons they should do it.
Which of these great Kings guards would you rather have on your team if you could have them for their entire career, Tyrese Haliburton, Mike Bibby, Otis Birdsong or Tyreke Evans? Rank if possible
1.Bibby – Possibly one of the most underrated players of his generation (which was just loaded w Guards )
Dude had ice in his veins. Those King teams were probably some of the best teams to never go to a finals , albeit they got COMPLETELY robbed that game 6 vs Lal in 2002 by the refs and I say that as a Laker fan
Buddy Hield ($23M) for Kyle Anderson ($9.5M) and Dillion Brooks ($12.2M). Who says no? This allowed Sacramento to still try and go for playoffs while Memphis gets a shooter with Ja and JJJr. Maybe throw in a protected 2nd?
Brooks is a better player than Hield
Ayton contract
5 year max $173 million
4 year max $133 million
Why didn’t Suns give him 4 year Max?
Ayton would only sing for the 5 year max. Nothing else.
Suns didnt come close to $$ amount either, and they even tried to offer 3 yr extension. They are lame.
Didn’t know Ayton sang.
He has the voice of an angel
Love to see him on Dancing With the Stars.
After his detention With the Suns !
EXTENTION*
Ayton better hope he does not end up like Sexton.
Can someone explain to me why everyone is so high on Haliburton. Don’t get me wrong he could have a big future from what I’ve seen, but I haven’t seen enough from him to understand the hype and say “yes he is a star”. If I’m kings, if they can get Simmons and keep Fox, they should offer anything they have. No one should be off limits.
Well said!
So far Haliburton is just unwarranted hype & not much else, I would trade him more much less than Ben right now!
People can feed the fire. But Simmons is hands down one of the best PG in the league. Yes he can’t shoot(or has no confidence to shoot) but without embiid crowding the lane he should post a 20-10-10 avg. any team light at PG should be perusing. Not teams like GS and Kings who already have stars at the guard. Only risk is his attitude.
To say Halliburton is off limits for that type of prospect is a joke. Same joke when sixers made maxey and Ben off limits for Harden.
I know it was partially unrelated, but I heard someone imply Simmons was a bench level player earlier and needed to vent.
Suns winning streak ends tonight.
Been saying since after the draft. Best place for Ben is Sacramento. Sixers are fools.
Haliburton is the perfect PG for them.
Agree Al. But it won’t hurt us.
I saw a team playing well both ways. And a team still trying to find their way. Suns had 7 guys in double digit scoring. Plus played good team D. Reminded me of Knicks last yr. No one wanted to guard Book. It was a smack down. Hope they take it out on Hawks tmrw.
Suns looked good. See what they do against BKlyn.
Ben will be great fit for bulls.he can be bulls’s pf.but bulls have no assets for him except bulls let zach go but i dont want bulls do that.
The Lakers have no coaching. Nobody plays a role. It’s not basketball they’re playing down there. No passing. No movement. No defense. They suck. That’s the truth. And Vogel doesn’t do anything, or better said, can’t do anything to change that. They think they can simply work it out come playoff time. They can’t. Should have learned that from last year.