The Phoenix Suns are reportedly finalizing a deal to sign veteran forward Thaddeus Young for the rest of the season, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Free agent F Thaddeus Young is finalizing a deal to join the Phoenix Suns, sources tell ESPN. More veteran, frontline depth for the Suns’ stretch and playoff run. Young has spent the past two-plus seasons with the Toronto Raptors. pic.twitter.com/Ilyq2leTx2
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 13, 2024
Phoenix had two open roster spots after acquiring Royce O’Neale and David Roddy in exchange for four players last week.
The Suns have been tied to Young for years now. He was waived by the Brooklyn Nets after being traded from the Toronto Raptors last week.
The 6-foot-8, 35-year-old is now in his 17th NBA season. He has not averaged double-digit points since the 2020-21 season after 12 straight seasons of doing so, but is still a productive role player.
Young averaged 5.0 points and 3.3 rebounds in 15.2 minutes per game in 23 contests for Toronto this season. He is also averaging 2.2 assists to 0.5 turnovers, a 4.4 assist-to-turnover ratio. In total, he spent 2.5 seasons with the Raptors.
For his career, Young has played in 1,162 regular season games, starting 726 of them and averaging 12.2 points on 50% shooting and 5.7 rebounds. His NBA journey has taken him to several teams: Philadelphia, Minnesota, Brooklyn, Indiana, Chicago, San Antonio and Toronto.
Players with 12.1+ PPG, 5.2+ RPG, 1.3+ SPG, 50.1+ FG%, 30.2+ 3P% all-time:
— Magic Johnson
— LeBron James
— Thaddeus YoungThe Suns got their guy. pic.twitter.com/ERbUzvWYm8
— StatMuse (@statmuse) February 13, 2024
Young brings a veteran presence and some lengthy defense to the Suns, but is not a 3-point shooter. At this stage of his career, he is basically a center, so now Phoenix has an option to use behind Jusuf Nurkić and Drew Eubanks depending on matchups.
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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
