One week after veteran Thaddeus Young reportedly agreed to terms on a contract with the Phoenix Suns, Young has finally put pen to paper and signed with the Suns for the remainder of the season.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Welcome to the squad, Thad! pic.twitter.com/F3rhjA3nV6
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) February 20, 2024
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) February 20, 2024
Young will wear No. 30 for the Suns.
“Thad is a highly respected veteran player who makes us a better team in our pursuit of winning an NBA Championship,” said James Jones, Suns president of basketball operations and general manager, in a press release. “Thad is extremely intelligent and plays with a competitive intensity. His size and defensive abilities add versatility to our roster.”
Phoenix #Suns officially sign Thaddeus Young
James Jones: “Thad is a highly respected veteran player who makes us a better team in our pursuit of winning an NBA Championship …” pic.twitter.com/lc6lRqiFBZ
— Brendan Mau (@brendan_mau) February 20, 2024
Young will reportedly be with the Suns on Thursday against the Dallas Mavericks, according to AZ Central’s Duane Rankin. It is unclear if he will make his debut then.
Thaddeus Young is expected to sign with Phoenix Suns within the next couple of days and be with the team for Thursday's game at Dallas Mavericks coming out of #NBAAllStar2024 break, sources inform @azcentral. #Suns
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) February 20, 2024
Phoenix had two open roster spots after acquiring Royce O’Neale and David Roddy in exchange for four players at the trade deadline.
The Suns have been tied to Young for years now. He was waived by the Brooklyn Nets after being traded from the Toronto Raptors at the deadline.
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. Young could play heavy minutes ahead of Eubanks depending on matchups, as the Suns have really bought into using small-ball lineups.
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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
