The Valley Suns have completed a trade with the Austin Spurs, acquiring the rights to Phoenix native and former Paradise Valley star Paul Watson.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!In exchange, the G League Suns traded away the returning player rights to Matt Lewis and Lindell Wiggington, who were both among 14 players selected in the team’s expansion draft back in June.
Here is more on the trade from the team press release:
“The Valley Suns, the NBA G League affiliate of the Phoenix Suns, announced today that the team has acquired the returning player rights to guard Paul Watson from the Austin Spurs in exchange for the returning rights to Matt Lewis and Lindell Wiggington.
“Watson averaged 14.5 points and 4 rebounds in 31 regular season games (27 starts) during the 2023-24 season with the Austin Spurs. A Phoenix native, he holds career averages of 10.9 points and 4.6 rebounds in 165 games (125 starts) over five seasons in the G League and has appeared in 45 NBA games (five starts) with Atlanta, Toronto and Oklahoma City.
“As the Valley Suns embark on their inaugural season, tickets to the Valley Suns home opener on November 11 at 7 p.m. against the Stockton Kings at Mullett Arena can be purchased on the Valley Suns website. To learn more about season memberships and group packages, email tickets@thevalleysuns.com or call (602) 379-8000.”
Watson played at Paradise Valley High School from 2009-13, leading the school to the 2012-13 Div. II state championship in his senior season. He would then go onto play four years of college basketball at Fresno State, winning the 2013-14 Mountain West Freshman of the Year. He averaged 10.1 points and 4.4 rebounds across 135 career games for the Bulldogs before going undrafted in 2017.
We’ve received the returning player rights to guard Paul Watson from the Austin Spurs in exchange for the returning player rights to Matt Lewis and Lindell Wigginton. pic.twitter.com/cYzv8B62DO
— Valley Suns (@GLeagueSuns) October 14, 2024
The Phoenix Suns have two players on their roster from Arizona: rookie big man Oso Ighodaro and guard TyTy Washington Jr.
Ighodaro went to Desert Vista High School, while Washington attended Cesar Chavez and AZ Compass Prep.
“There are so many kids in Arizona who love basketball and it’s a little bit slept on. A lot of talented kids come out of Arizona. To be that example of me and TyTy both coming from Arizona, you can do it. Just go about things the right way and give them somebody to look up to,” Ighodaro said at Suns media day last month.
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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
