Kyle Lowry, Chris Paul, Monte Morris potential targets for Suns?

The Warriors face their own predicament, having already agreed with Paul to move back his contract’s guarantee date for the final year and $30 million on his deal. What big swings are still out there, as Golden State has also put Andrew Wiggins on the trade block, according to league sources. The options range across a spectrum of upside, from sending out picks for Brandon Ingram to potentially acquiring one with Zach LaVine, sources said. But if no deal emerges, and the Warriors indeed lose Klay Thompson as Golden State and league personnel currently believe will occur, the Warriors are considering their best options, sources said, with the full mid-level exception that can become available to Golden State. -via Yahoo! Sports / June 30, 2024

Any possible PG13 trade between the Warriors and Clippers was always going to be complicated, but Warriors executives thought they’d solved the puzzle. From what I’ve heard, some combination (but definitely not all) of Wiggins, CP3, Jonathan Kuminga or Moses Moody plus one future first-round pick were put into discussions with the Clippers. -via New York Times / June 30, 2024

Golden State is operating in the marketplace as a full nontaxpayer midlevel exception team for the first time in approximately a decade due to the anticipated departure of Thompson and the potential departure of Chris Paul’s $30 million non-guaranteed deal, league sources said, which sheds $73.2 million from its books. -via New York Times / June 29, 2024

Toronto wanted Giannis Antetokounmpo, and were one of the few teams in the league with the guts to select a skinny 6-foot-9 kid playing second-tier Greek league basketball. But they didn’t have a pick in the 2013 NBA draft, and they couldn’t find a seller. There is footage of Ujiri trying to reclaim what the Raptors had given up prior to his regime. A brief glimpse of the Raptors’ draft room in 2013, Ujiri working the phones, just weeks into the job, with Oklahoma City for the 12th pick—a pick that was once theirs. It was a top-three-protected pick traded to the Houston Rockets as part of a deal that would land Kyle Lowry, who would one day be heralded as the greatest Raptor of all time. The pick was immediately rerouted to Oklahoma City in the infamous James Harden trade. Sam Presti calls back. The Thunder are keeping the pick. The light in Ujiri’s eyes dims a bit. “No deal,” he tells his crew. The entire room seems to think it’s Giannis that OKC is taking. “It might be [Steven] Adams, though,” Ujiri notes. He’s right, though it doesn’t mean much. Toronto’s other possible deal for Minnesota’s 14th pick falls through; they’re left to watch as Antetokounmpo lands in Milwaukee at 15. -via The Ringer / June 30, 2024

Ira Winderman: Heat annonce Kel’el Ware will wear No. 7, which is interesting because Kyle Lowry had asked Goran Dragic’s permission before taking it, which now means we know Dragic’s Heat number will not be retired. -via Twitter @IraHeatBeat / June 26, 2024

ClutchPoints: Draymond Green: “Who’s the greatest Raptor of all time?” Nick Nurse: “Kyle Lowry.” Do you agree? 🤔 (via @TheVolumeSports) pic.twitter.com/Dp16010g6F -via Twitter @ClutchPointsApp / June 20, 2024

John Gambadoro: With free agency opening up tomorrow and the Suns in need of a point guard a couple of names to keep an eye on are – Monte Morris and Aaron Holiday. Kris Dunn makes a lot of sense just not sure if he is gettable. -via Twitter / June 29, 2024

Rivalries can only be forged when the fire burns hottest. For years now, the Denver Nuggets and the Minnesota Timberwolves have been circling that fire, each run-in seemingly throwing another shovel full of coal into the furnace. Over the last six years, the temperature has gradually increased, starting in 2018 when the Timberwolves beat the Nuggets in a win-and-you’re-in Game 82 to snap a 13-season playoff drought. Denver returned the favor last spring, beating the Wolves in the first round of the playoffs en route to its first NBA championship. In between those two high-stakes matchups, a peculiar cross-pollination has occurred. Two years ago, the Timberwolves surprised the NBA by luring Tim Connelly away from the Nuggets to be their new president of basketball operations. He joined an organization that already had head coach Chris Finch and assistant coach Micah Nori, both of whom previously worked under Michael Malone in Denver. This season, Connelly acquired Monte Morris, once a popular Nuggets role player, in a deal with the Detroit Pistons in February. -via The Athletic / May 3, 2024

Omari Sankofa II: Marcus Sasser said Monte Morris, Taj Gibson and Cade Cunningham taught him tips and tricks this season as far as helping his game translate -via Twitter @omarisankofa / April 15, 2024