Suns to fully guarantee Davon Reed, plan to keep Shaquille Harrison

The Phoenix Suns decided to retain second-year guard Davon Reed after his string of impressive Vegas Summer League performances over the past week, reports 98.7 Arizona Sports Station’s John Gambadoro.

Additionally, the team plans to keep point guard Shaquille Harrison, who has a partial guarantee on his contract on Aug. 1, Gambadoro tweeted.

Reed, 23, was the team’s No. 32 overall selection in the 2017 NBA Draft. Known for his shooting and defense, the Miami product was slated to make $1.4 million next season, an amount that would have become guaranteed and had two years after that remaining on his contract. The Suns pushed back Reed’s guarantee date until after the Vegas Summer League, and Reed did all he could to perform well with his NBA future in mind.

Reed averaged 13.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists in five games in Vegas as Phoenix’s starting shooting guard, shooting 49 percent from the field.

“Their plan was to cut him before the Summer League,” Gambadoro said. “He impressed them to the point where he won a spot.”

In late August of last year, Reed underwent surgery on a torn meniscus. He wouldn’t make his NBA debut until Jan. 14 against the Indiana Pacers, playing five minutes in garbage time. Interim head coach Jay Triano said the team was waiting on Reed to look like he was 100 percent and in-the-know to the team’s systems before Reed would see real playing time.

Reed averaged 3.0 points and 1.9 rebounds per game while shooting 29 percent from the field in limited time as a rookie.

He played 17, 10 and 10 minutes from Feb. 7-12 before not playing in six consecutive games. After getting 16 minutes against the Thunder and shooting 1-of-7 two games later, Reed had his breakthrough game against the Hornets two nights later. He scored 16 points in 25 minutes, shooting 5-for-8 from the field and engineering a comeback with the second unit.

By the end of the season, Reed had played in just 21 games, averaging 11.5 minutes per outing.

With Reed back and Jared Dudley reportedly traded, the Suns’ wing rotation now consists of Reed, Trevor Ariza, Devin Booker, Mikal Bridges, Troy Daniels, Josh Jackson and T.J. Warren. No. 59 overall pick George King is also on a two-way deal.

At the point guard position, the Suns released Tyler Ulis and allowed Elfrid Payton to sign with the New Orleans Pelicans. Harrison would become the third guard on the team, likely behind Brandon Knight and rookie Elie Okobo.

In five games in Vegas as the starting point guard, Harrison averaged 12.2 points, 6.4 assists and 4.6 rebounds.

The 24-year-old signed two 10-day contracts with the team last season before signing a long-term deal in mid-March. His $1.4 million salary for the 2019-20 season would have become guaranteed on Jan. 10.

On a Suns team with little-to-no defense, Harrison stood out as a point-of-attack defensive presence. Per 36 minutes, Harrison averaged 2.4 steals a game along with 14.2 points. 5.7 rebounds and 5.2 assists.

“He was more of a lock than Davon because this kid is a poor man’s Marcus Smart defensively,” Gambadoro said. “He’s the best one-on-one defender on that team.”

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