Phoenix Suns get back to work, mindful of trade deadline

PHOENIX — After seven days apart and a day before the team may part with a key piece or two or more, the Phoenix Suns reconvened for almost a two-hour practice Wednesday.

“It was a little rusty,” head coach Jeff Hornacek admitted. “I think guys did some work, but not a ton of it, so that’s kind of expected after having a week off. We did a lot of running, did some scrimmage and got it going. Hopefully, tomorrow we can be shorter and maybe not as much running but step up the contact and all that stuff and then they’ll be ready to go.”

All but one of the 15 players — forward Brandon Wright, who was having travel issues leaving the east coast — were present and accounted for at US Airways Center, meaning two things: 1) everyone behaved themselves during the extended All-Star break and 2) the trigger on any number of reported deals had yet to be pulled.

The NBA trade deadline is 1 p.m. Thursday.

With an embarrassment of riches in the backcourt, the Suns are often cited as a team willing to part with one of its point guards. Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas are the two most prominently mentioned.

Dragic is likely to opt out of his contract at season’s end and become an unrestricted free agent. Thomas, meanwhile, is one year into a four-year, $27 million contract.

The Suns had hoped to keep Dragic and then re-sign him this summer, but those plans presumably have changed with Dragic’s very public request following practice to be moved to another team because of his unhappiness and frustration with his role in the three-point guard system.

“As far as we’re concerned until the trade deadline comes and goes, he’s still on our team and if he’s still here after the trade deadline, then we expect him to play like a professional and lay it all out there,” Hornacek said.

“The coaches, we just go with what we have. We’re under the assumption he’s going to be here, so that’s how we practiced today and we’ll do that until it changes.”

After 54 games, the Suns (29-25) sit in eighth place, the last playoff spot in the Western Conference. They limped into the All-Star break losing five of six and have dropped seven of 10 overall.

Some good news: starting center Alex Len returned to practice after missing the last three games due to a sprained right ankle. He’s expected to play Friday when the Suns play at Minnesota.

“I think he feels good,” Hornacek said. “They did a lot of strengthening on it over the break, so I anticipate he’ll be fine.”

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