Suns waive guard Cole Anthony, opening roster spot
Phoenix waived guard Cole Anthony on Friday, ESPN's Shams Charania reported. The Suns acquired Anthony and Amir Coffey from the Bucks.
Watch: Reacting to the Phoenix Suns signing Dillon Brooks to a 3-year, $73 million extension | 9 mins
The Phoenix Suns waived guard Cole Anthony on Friday, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported.
It opens a roster spot that Phoenix could utilize to standardize one of their two-way players, with Jamaree Bouyea and Isaiah Livers the top options.
The Suns acquired Anthony and Amir Coffey from the Milwaukee Bucks before the Feb. 5 trade deadline in exchange for Nick Richards and Nigel Hayes-Davis.
Phoenix made the trade to duck under the luxury tax, getting off Richards’ $5 million contract. Coffey has lately been in the rotation due to injuries to Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks, but Anthony never joined the team.
Anthony, a 25-year-old combo guard, was drafted No. 15 overall by the Magic in 2020 and played his first five seasons in Orlando, where he averaged 12.5 points per game and made 125 starts in 320 games.
In June, he was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies for Desmond Bane, along with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, four unprotected first-round picks and a 2029 first-round pick swap.
Anthony was waived by Memphis via a contract buyout and signed with the Bucks.
Anthony averaged 6.7 points and 3.5 assists on 42.4% shooting in 15.1 minutes per game (35 games) this season for Milwaukee.
Related
Clint Capela claps back at Deandre Ayton for recent stray
Suns acquire Cole Anthony from Bucks, trade Nick Richards to Bulls
Grades and reaction: Suns fare well in 3-team trade involving Cole Anthony
Dillon Brooks to sign extension with Suns, becoming long-term piece
NFL OL Andrus Peat, brother of Koa, announces retirement
Suns reveal 2026 preseason schedule
Comments
3 Comments
So apparently they see more in Bouye than Anthony, (even if Livers gets contract, Bouye plays same position as Anthony) which I’m ok with as Bouye hasn’t been bad in spot minutes. But neither would be a factor in playoffs (if we get healthy soon enough to stay in it).
An independent website wrote this about Cole Anthony:
"On his bad days, Anthony would dribble until his palms were orange, using entire possessions to look for his shot. On his good days, he would make them. But when he would miss most of them, as was the case all too often, Anthony’s potential usage as a sixth man-type microwave scorer was undercut by his own overconfidence He combined LaMelo Ball’s shot selection with Lonzo Ball’s shotmaking, and was a liability more often than he was a boon."
Cole's best season came as the best player on a 22-60 Magic team.
Suns had zero use for him and yes Jamaree Bouyea is so much better.
To what end? We aren't a playoff team and it would only take minutes away from our young guys.