The Phoenix Suns have reportedly trimmed their roster down to the needed 15 players ahead of tomorrow’s 2 p.m. MST deadline with another cut today.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The team is “planning” to waive guard Keon Johnson, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnorowski.
The #Suns “planning” to use their last roster cut on Keon Johnson https://t.co/Jx8TqDXbr9
— Burn City Suns Talk 🎙️ (@BurnCitySuns) October 23, 2023
After Phoenix waived Ish Wainright on Thursday and with this move, they will have gone from 17 to 15 players on standard contracts.
The team still has one more two-way spot they could fill.
Johnson was acquired from the Portland Trail Blazers last month in the three-team deal between the Blazers, Suns and Milwaukee Bucks. The Suns sent away Deandre Ayton and Toumani Camara to the Blazers in this trade. In return, they received Johnson, Jusuf Nurkić and Nassir Little from Portland and Grayson Allen from the Bucks.
The 6-foot-3, 21-year-old Johnson performed alright in the preseason, and just two days ago coach Frank Vogel spoke very highly of his defensive ability.
These were Johnson’s stats for the preseason (in five games played):
Last season, the Tennessee product and 2021 first round pick averaged 4.7 points in 40 games. He was at Suns’ practice earlier today.
It was going to be tough for Johnson to get minutes on this team anyways. At his size, he didn’t prove to be a reliable player to take the ball up the court or knock down threes consistently. He also played behind a lot of guards in Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, Eric Gordon, Grayson Allen, Jordan Goodwin and others. His best attributes were his defense and athleticism.
We will see if the Suns decide to make anymore moves before their season opener on Tuesday. Bol Bol was another player many thought could be cut, but it looks like he will remain on the roster. Damion Lee, who is out for an unspecified time after undergoing right meniscus surgery, was also a candidate.
We broke down more of Johnson’s game in this video yesterday:
WATCH: Who Should the Phoenix Suns Cut? – Burn City Suns Talk Season Preview Pt. 1
The Full Suns’ Roster
Here is what the team’s roster now looks like (in alphabetical order):
- Grayson Allen (new, acquired in Ayton trade)
- Udoka Azubuike (new, two-way)
- Keita Bates-Diop (new)
- Bradley Beal (new)
- Bol Bol (new)
- Devin Booker
- Kevin Durant
- Drew Eubanks (new)
- Jordan Goodwin (new)
- Eric Gordon (new)
- Damion Lee
- Saben Lee (two-way)
- Nassir Little (new, acquired in Ayton trade)
- Chimezie Metu (new)
- Jusuf Nurkić (new, acquired in Ayton trade)
- Josh Okogie
- Yuta Watanabe (new)
Do you agree with waiving Johnson or should it have been someone else?
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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
