Suns push back Davon Reed’s guaranteed contract date
Jun 29, 2018, 11:07 AM
(AP Photo/Matt York)
The Phoenix Suns enter free agency with four players on non-guaranteed deals, giving them options in terms of entering Sunday’s free agency moratorium period with spending room.
But they apparently don’t feel it necessary to open up all the salary cap space possible, as 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station’s John Gambadoro reports that the team will push a decision on second-year swingman Davon Reed back to beyond the team’s NBA Summer League appearance, which begins for Phoenix on Friday, July 6, in Las Vegas.
Reed, 23, was taken 32nd overall in the 2018 NBA Draft. The Miami product, selected as a 3-and-D specialist, was slated to make $1.4 million next season, an amount that would have become guaranteed on Friday under the original terms of his contract.
Two years — one non-guaranteed and another as a team option — are left on Reed’s deal beyond 2018-19.
In Summer League, he could be fighting to remain under contract as the Suns have a loaded wing group that includes Devin Booker, T.J. Warren, Josh Jackson, Troy Daniels and Mikal Bridges.
Reed averaged 3.0 points and 1.9 rebounds per game in 2017-18 while shooting 29 percent from the field as a rookie. He missed most of the season due to a meniscus tear prior to the season and played in 21 games, averaging 11.5 minutes per outing.
Like Reed’s situation, point guard Tyler Ulis’ non-guaranteed contract had a deadline set for last Sunday that was pushed to Saturday by Phoenix. A decision on center Alan Williams’ $5.5 million non-guaranteed deal also remains on the clock and has a deadline set for Friday, July 6.
Keeping point guard Shaquille Harrison’s $1.4 million partially-guaranteed contract on the books does not need to be decided upon by the Suns until August 1 (only $50,000 is guaranteed then).