The Suns have agreed to a deal to sign former San Antonio Spurs forward Keita Bates-Diop to a two-year contract, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Free agent F Keita Bates-Diop has agreed to a two-year, $5M deal with the Phoenix Suns, co-head of @CAA_Basketball Austin Brown tells ESPN. Deal includes a player option. Bates-Diop will have a chance to earn a starting forward spot.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2023
Bates-Diop had been linked to the Suns for the past week. The 27-year-old stands at 6-foot-8, 229 pounds and proved last season he could be a reliable 3-and-D player.
Keita Bates-Diop is a really nice finisher with a massive 7’3 wingspan. Strong when posting up smaller guys and can finish at unique angles. Shot 39% on mostly open 3s and 42% on above-the-break 3s (interesting).
Really nice cheap dart throw at a rotation piece for Phoenix. pic.twitter.com/XaKqvQsSbp
— NBA University (@NBA_University) July 1, 2023
After shooting 30.9% from three in 2021-22, he increased his percentage to 39.4% this past season. In 67 games (42 starts), he averaged 9.7 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 1.5 APG and 0.7 SPG last season, all of which were career-highs except rebounds. His shooting splits were 51/39/79.
New Sun Keita Bates-Diop once had a game where he scored 30 points on 11-11 shooting pic.twitter.com/Ve9zBhLMSJ
— LEEZUS (@AndrewLeezus) June 30, 2023
Bates-Diop was drafted with the 48th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft out of Ohio State. He played his first two years with the Timberwolves, one season with the Nuggets and the last three with the Spurs.
He will have a chance to either be a reliable bench player or work his way up to being the fifth starter for the Suns, which will depend on how well he plays defense and spaces the floor.
See all the Suns free agent signings here:
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Brendan Mau is a college sports insider and general assignment reporter for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on Twitter via @Brendan_Mau
