Month: January 2025

Cardinals’ Klayton Adams hired as Cowboys OC

The Dallas Cowboys are hiring Arizona Cardinals offensive line coach Klayton Adams as their new offensive coordinator under first-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Adams met with Dallas in person on Friday after interviewing virtually with the team recently, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler adds the Cardinals were bracing to lose Adams to either the Cowboys or New Orleans Saints.

The coach came to Arizona in 2023 as part of the new regime under general manager Monti Ossenfort and head coach Jonathan Gannon.

He’s helped in the development of young players like 2023 first-round pick Paris Johnson Jr. and second-year pro Isaiah Adams.

His work within the trenches aided in Arizona’s run game that came in seventh in the league behind 144.2 yards per game. It was eighth in touchdowns with 18.

Klayton Adams marks latest Arizona departure

Adams isn’t the only Arizona assistant that’s been in the news this hiring cycle.

Before his move to Dallas, Arizona watched former inside linebackers coach Sam Siefkes head to Virginia Tech as their new defensive coordinator.

Arizona also reportedly moved on from defensive line coach Derrick LeBlanc after two seasons on the job.

Offensive coordinator Drew Petzing meanwhile interviewed with the Chicago Bears for their open heading-coaching job before the team landed on former Detroit Lions OC Ben Johnson.

Quarterbacks coach Israel Woolfork also had some interest from Chicago after they reportedly requested an interview with him for its OC job before inking Declan Doyle.




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Jimmy Butler trade rumors: Pelicans getting involved?

The New Orleans Pelicans are reportedly interested in trading for Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler as they try to get off Brandon Ingram’s contract, according to The Stein Line’s Marc Stein and Yahoo! Sports’ Jake Fischer.

New Orleans has been navigating its own trade scenarios for Ingram after the Pelicans — like Miami with Butler — were unable to reach an extension agreement with the former All-Star this past offseason. Sources told The Stein Line that the Pelicans, after Ingram’s $36 million expiring contract had been discussed by rival teams in various trade proposals designed to help facilitate Butler’s Miami exit, decided to approach the Heat themselves about swapping Ingram for Butler.

Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro, however, says that does not mean the Pelicans want to land Butler thanks to two big caveats, the first being that Butler does not want to go to New Orleans.

The second stems around New Orleans trying to get out of the luxury tax.

It also doesn’t help that New Orleans is a dismal 12-36. Only the Utah Jazz (10-36) sport a worse mark in the Western Conference standings.

Butler is making $48.8 million this year compared to Ingram’s $36 million mark.

Along with the Pelicans, the Milwaukee Bucks (Khris Middleton), Sacramento Kings (De’Aaron Fox), Chicago Bulls (Zach LaVine) and Suns (Bradley Beal) are among the teams with big enough contracts that could help in facilitating a Butler trade.

The latest reporting from Gambadoro, Stein and Fischer comes after multiple reports earlier this week indicated the Heat are reportedly dropping their asking price and was circling back on trade talks with teams that include the Suns.

A big reason for that was Butler’s third suspension coming down after walking out of practice following word of his benching.

Golden State Warriors a potential landing spot for Jimmy Butler?

The Warriors could be a potential landing spot for Butler, according to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps.

Bontemps adds the Heat’s dropped asking price for Butler in addition to the potential pairing with star Stephen Curry could be enticing for Golden State.

The Bradley Beal hangup remains

Beal continues to be the biggest blocker to any Butler-Suns deal thanks to his no-trade clause and $110 million left on his current deal after this year.

We saw an example of that on Monday when it was reported that the Suns guard would not waive his no-trade clause in a potential trade that would ship off Beal to the Chicago Bulls.

According to The Athletic’s Fred Katz, Beal does not want to play somewhere cold or on a team with a losing record.

The Heat also don’t seem keen on adding Beal, as ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported Friday despite their willingness to take players with future money on their contracts.

The stalemate with Beal hasn’t stopped the Suns from looking at other avenues, too, with Windhorst adding Phoenix has been working for weeks on two-, three-, four- and five-team trade concepts to land Butler.

Beal’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, being the father of Suns CEO Josh Bartelstein in addition to Butler and Heat president Pat Riley being at odds have only added to the saga.

“Everything about this negotiation has been too personal,” said an executive from one of the teams that has been involved in the expansive talks. “It was hard enough to find a way, but that aspect has made it harder.”




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Former Arizona Coyotes franchise has fans vote on team name

The former Arizona Coyotes franchise, now the Utah Hockey Club, has chosen three names for fans to vote on for their permanent team name.

Not making the list is the fan favorite “Yeti” or “Yetis” name. The Utah Hockey Club filed for a trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, according to The Associated Press, that was rejected on Jan. 9. The “Yeti” name in relation to the hockey team would have confused the majority of people with the Yeti brand. Thus, Yeti and the Utah Hockey Club could not reach an agreement of coexistence with branding and merchandising.

The final three names up for consideration were Utah Mammoth, Utah Hockey Club and Utah Wasatch.

After Wednesday night’s first day of voting, Utah decided that the Wasatch name was not as popular to the crowd as they thought.

On Thursday, the team announced that they would be switching the option of Utah Wasatch to Utah Outlaws after the first round of voting.

For the next three home games (voting started on Wednesday night against Pittsburgh) fans at the Delta Center can vote on their favorite name on an iPad. The next three home games are on Jan. 31 versus Columbus, Feb. 2 versus St. Louis and Feb. 4 versus Philadelphia.

The initial thought to use the Wasatch name was to still get across the idea behind the fans’ wishes of the Yeti, a mythical creature that lives up in the Himalayan mountains. The Wasatch Mountains run along the east side of the Salt Lake Valley.

“We wanted to honor this idea people had for a mythical snow creature like the Yeti and bring a very Utah-centric approach to it,” Smith Entertainment Group executive Mike Maughan said in an article by AP’s John Coon. “Because we have the Wasatch Mountains, because we have the Wasatch Front, we have so many different iterations or ways we can do it. We wanted to honor the sentiment of one of those top names of the last iteration (of fan voting) while also including a Utah-centric version of it.”

A unique feature is that when fans click to vote on their favorite name, it will reveal logos, jerseys and branding for that particular choice.

The permanent team name will be revealed ahead of the Utah Hockey Club’s 2025-26 home opener.




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Teams expect Suns to trade Jusuf Nurkic

The Phoenix Suns are expected to use one of their three first-round picks acquired in the recent Utah Jazz trade to entice a team to take on center Jusuf Nurkic, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Bobby Marks reported.

Nurkic, who has one season and $19.4 million left on his contract, has not played since Jan. 6, before the Suns added center Nick Richards via a trade with the Charlotte Hornets on Jan. 15. Nurkic recently said he has no relationship with head coach Mike Budenholzer, adding more public clarity about his dissatisfaction with the team.

Shelburne and Marks also reported that other NBA teams have asked about the availability of stars Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. ESPN reported those teams have been turned down.

Durant’s contract ends following the 2025-26 season after he bypassed the opportunity to sign an extension in October. He is eligible to sign a two-year extension after this season.

Booker is nearing the Suns’ all-time scoring record. Team sources told ESPN that Booker has not given any indication that he’d want to leave Phoenix if the current situation does not pan out and that all inquiries about Booker won’t be fielded.

The Suns currently have three first-round picks in their arsenal after trading their 2031 first: the lowest of Cleveland/Minnesota in 2025, and the lowest of Cleveland/Minnesota/Utah in 2027 and 2029.


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Will the Phoenix Suns make trades to save?

Since Mat Ishbia took on ownership of the Phoenix Suns, he’s been apt to spend. Setting aside the not-very-memorable releases of Nassir Little and E.J. Liddell last offseason, cap-saving moves haven’t happened in the Valley too often.

Trading for Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler presumably comes with a contract extension to follow, and that obviously does not bucket into the “saving money” category, either.

But if the Suns don’t land Butler as reportedly desired, could they swing deals that land somewhere in the zip code of sustainability?

ESPN’s Bobby Marks has two ideas that would give Phoenix a bit more flexibility moving forward.

Two trades that work

1) Phoenix receives:
P.J. Tucker
Bones Hyland

LA Clippers receive:
Jusuf Nurkic
2027 least favorable first of Cleveland, Minnesota, Utah

2) Phoenix receives:
Gary Harris
Cory Joseph
2025 first from Denver (if 6-30)

Orlando receives:
Grayson Allen
Monte Morris

Of course, Marks is wearing his own front-office executive cap in suggesting those moves. All of those players’ incoming salaries are either ending after 2024-25, come with team options or, in the case of Hyland, lead to restricted free agency.

The big picture is this: The two trades get the Suns under the first and second tax aprons. The second gives the Suns a first-round pick to use or trade this summer.

Among other things, getting under the second apron opens the door for the Suns to deal their 2032 first-round pick starting in June, unlocks the ability to aggregate salaries in trades and gives Phoenix potential access to a reduced $5 million midlevel exception (opposed to none at all).

Most importantly, combining these trades saves more than $200 million in salary and taxes next year, by Marks’ number-crunching.

With the Clippers-Suns prong of these proposed deals, Phoenix gets off Nurkic’s contract that pays out $19.4 million next season and returns a jumbo wing in Tucker, who has familiarity with Phoenix and Devin Booker. Hyland would give the Suns a wild card microwave scorer who might land on the opposite end of the point guard spectrum compared to pass-first starter Tyus Jones.

Marks’ second proposed trade seemingly sacrifices Allen’s and Morris’ productivity for two less-utilized players who are likely out of the rotation. Phoenix gets a draft pick that they sorely need that could help next year or in a trade.

Maybe Very, very likely, the Ishbia-led team won’t even consider operating like Marks. But in this exercise, it’s fair to wonder if we see the Suns finally shift that direction just a little bit if a Butler blockbuster isn’t in the cards.



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Suns fans could love Jimmy Butler trade, hate saga

In America, billionaires and NBA superstars usually get what they want in the end. And if Jimmy Butler finds his way to Phoenix before the trade deadline, it will be like Clint Eastwood walking into a Western movie.

It would be good, bad and ugly. Butler is exactly the alpha male the Suns need inside the locker room. He is exactly the kind of teammate that brings out the best in Kevin Durant. He is a basketball assassin, and Butler would deliver all the smoldering intensity and true grit the Suns frequently lack.

It would be terrible for the sport. Butler’s beef with the Heat is the latest chapter in the NBA’s player empowerment movement that prioritizes unwavering loyalty to selfish desires. Butler has blown up the Heat’s season because he knows a lucrative payoff awaits in Phoenix, the kind he might not get anywhere else. He wants a fistful of dollars and everything else is secondary.

Even if Butler and the Suns get over all the obstacles in their path, the deal might fail spectacularly. It might mark the end of an era that began with Devin Booker, Chris Paul and Monty Williams, just as the ill-fated acquisition of Shaq signaled the end of Steve Nash’s reign of dominance. Butler will be 36 in September, and as Charles Barkley sagely warns, old players don’t get better. They just get older and more injury-prone.

The smartest play might be another move around the margins. Like packaging some of the remaining assets for a lengthy wing with a fierce disposition. The Suns seemingly did a great job identifying Nick Richards as a solution to their center problem. They added a pair of promising rookies, including a new crowd favorite in Ryan Dunn. And the team’s brilliant first half against the Clippers shows how high the current group can fly when they’re passionate, locked in, trying hard, playing fast and passing with purpose.

Butler is a different animal. He represents more star power and a potential coup for Mat Ishbia, allowing him to replace the worst contract in the NBA (Bradley Beal) with one of the game’s best playoff performers. Butler would also deliver instant culture. Just like Chris Paul, but even more menacing and hardcore.

Ishbia is a gift to Planet Orange. His willingness to outspend every problem is rare in sports and rare in these parts. He is unmoved by thorny financial complications that accompany high-priced teams, zigging when every other owner is zagging. To wit:

He assembled a Big Three at a time when the model had gone extinct. He’s taken a lot of criticism from experts and trolls alike. And his plan is to replace his current model with a better Big Three.

Other NBA owners don’t want Ishbia to succeed. They don’t want his plan to work because they don’t want to follow suit. They don’t want pressure from their fan bases to spend like the madman in Phoenix. They want rules against guys like Ishbia, and there is even chatter that the Suns’ hyperaggressive maneuvering might spawn more rules change, limiting what a new owner can do in the early stages of his tenure.

So much is on the line in the coming days. I want Butler in Phoenix because I love Butler’s on-court demeanor, and I saw how Booker and Durant shined at the Paris Olympics when they didn’t have to be leaders. But I hate everything this saga represents. And mostly, I want continuity and dependability and a team that’s fun to watch, not an organization that has brought in 26 new players after the acquisition of Durant, perpetually scrambling for pieces that work.

Choose well, Mat. The future depends on it.

Reach Bickley at [email protected]. Listen to Bickley & Marotta weekdays from 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. on Arizona Sports 98.7.



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Warriors to retire former Wildcat Andre Iguodala’s jersey

Former Arizona Wildcat and four-time NBA champion Andre Iguodala will have his No. 9 jersey retired by the Golden State Warriors on Feb. 23 following the team’s game against the Dallas Mavericks, the Warriors announced Tuesday.

Iguodala was a key member during the Warriors’ dynastic run of four championships in a span of seven seasons. He won the 2015 NBA Finals MVP as the Warriors beat the Cavaliers, 4-2. He averaged 16.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.3 steals in that series. He shot 52.1% from the field and 40% from the 3-point line.

For his career, Iguodala averaged 11.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.4 steals. He averaged 32.1 minutes across the span of 19 seasons and sits at 20th all-time in steals in NBA history at 1,765. Iguodala shot 46.3% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc.

Iguodala spent two years with Arizona, his freshman and sophomore seasons before declaring for the 2004 NBA Draft, where he was the ninth overall pick by the Philadelphia 76ers.

Iguodala played and started in all 30 games in his sophomore campaign. That year, the forward averaged 12.9 points, 8.4 rebounds and 4.9 assists as he shot 45% from the field, 31.5% from 3 and 78.8% from the free-throw line.

Iguodala was a 2002-03 Pac-10 All-Freshman and a 2003-04 All-Pac-10 First Team member. He is also an Arizona men’s basketball Ring of Honor member.

Iguodala was a freshman when the Wildcats made the Elite Eight in 2003, falling to Kansas 78-75.

Iguodala’s son, Andre Iguodala II, narrated the Warriors’ tribute video announcing the jersey retirement on X.

“You’ll be the last Warrior to wear number nine. Our name lives forever,” Iguodala II said.



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Suns assign rookie Oso Ighodaro to G League

The Phoenix Suns assigned rookie center Oso Ighodaro to the G League Valley Suns on Tuesday, the team announced.

Ighodaro has a path to everyday playing time in the G League after his NBA minutes have decreased since the addition of center Nick Richards via trade with the Charlotte Hornets.

Richards is five games into his Suns tenure, during which Ighodaro only averaged 7.3 minutes over the first three and did not play in the most recent two contests.

Veteran Mason Plumlee has been Phoenix’s primary reserve big, having played 40 minutes over the last two games. Day 1 starter Jusuf Nurkic has been removed from the rotation, but he sits in as a third option with Ighodaro playing for the Valley Suns.

The rookie has averaged 3.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 0.9 stocks (steals and blocks) in 16.1 minutes per game in 36 appearances so far. He has shot 55.8% from the field and 54.3% from the free-throw line.

Per 36 minutes, his averages increase to 8.4 points and 7.9 rebounds.

The Suns drafted Ighodaro out of Marquette with the 40th overall pick in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft, their second selection after Virginia forward Ryan Dunn (No. 28). Ighodaro is a Valley native who attended Desert Vista High School.

The Valley Suns are in their debut season and play their home games at Arizona State’s Mullett Arena. Their leading scorer is guard and fellow Valley native TyTy Washington (20.5 PPG), who is on a two-way contract along with Jalen Bridges and Collin Gillespie.

Their next home game is Friday at 7 p.m. MST against the San Diego Clippers.

The NBA Suns return to action on Wednesday at Footprint Center against the Minnesota Timberwolves with tip-off set for 7 p.m. MST.



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Suns find progress, show same warts in win over Clippers

PHOENIX — Aesthetically pleasing wins aren’t coming anytime soon for the Phoenix Suns, but the sooner they show progress through their mistakes like Monday’s 111-109 win over the Los Angeles Clippers, the closer they will be to achieving those in the future.

And with that said, the Suns putting together more high-level stretches still qualifies as a success even when mixed in with the maddening lows, especially when they hold on for a win. They’ve now won nine of their last 12 to improve to 24-21.

Phoenix played its best first half in weeks to lead by 13 before giving up a 20-6 run in the third quarter filled with nasty turnovers that let the Clippers back in the game and eventually lead. The Suns fought back on two different occasions to take the advantage back to double digits, going up 13 with 5:08 to go, a push-back element worth noting that will be crucial to possess over the next two months.

But watching the Suns attempt to close out a game continues to be like the person that is slipping, and while attempting to recover, keeps repeatedly slipping as they frantically try to regain their balance. Some nights, the Suns are able to stay on their feet, exhale and walk away like nothing happened. Other nights, they fall flat on their face.

Everyone who has watched the Suns the past season-plus has developed an intuition for when the slip begins. The importance of a possession to end in either a stop or a score is amplified because of the looming presence of the game snowballing.

The second of those stretches came over 3:40 of the final frame, a 16-4 collapse the Clippers scored on seven straight possessions during to get within one with 40 seconds remaining.

Phoenix then generated free throws for Bradley Beal off a double-team on Kevin Durant, and once Los Angeles’ Norman Powell was fouled with 19 seconds left down three, it would come down to whether the Suns could execute enough with the free-throw shenanigans. Powell missed his first to make it easier on Phoenix, who wrapped up the win.

This was the type of performance from Devin Booker when he is the complete catalyst, the guy we recognize. He amounted to 26 points, seven rebounds, eight assists and two turnovers in 39 minutes, with several hockey assists too that punished the Clippers’ defensive scheme.

Los Angeles (26-20) has oddly built up an elite defense via giving up lots of 3s. It gives up the third-highest 3-point frequency, per Cleaning the Glass. But because it denies most of them coming from the corner, the Clippers give up the third-lowest shooting percentage on those, making the trade-off worthwhile.

Phoenix, however, has good enough shooters that above-the-break triples become more problematic and it sure was early. The Suns began the game 10-of-15 from 3 to go up 10, and four of those makes actually came from the corners because of the Suns’ strong ball movement.

Booker was the tip of the spear in this, which is always when the Suns are at their best. Booker has infamously annihilated Lue’s defenses in two separate postseasons, so there’s some familiarity there too that probably helps.

The Suns were relentless in targeting James Harden to put him on the ball at the beginning of most of these possessions, the free switches L.A. bizarrely gives up. Phoenix triggered its passing all night off the Clippers’ rotations to go 22-for-47 (46.8%) from 3-point range. The 14 in the first half tied a season high, as did 22 overall.

“We generated open looks all game,” Durant said. “It felt like we could have made 10 more 3s with all the open looks we got.”

Tyus Jones (5 3PM), Booker (5 3PM), Grayson Allen (4 3PM), Durant (4 3PM) and Royce O’Neale (3 3PM) accounted for 21 of those.

“Keep shooting it,” Booker said of reaching 47 attempts. “Everybody shot it well tonight but still encouraging if we come out and shoot blanks, still have to get ’em up. … The recipe is out there. I’m not saying shoot all 3s — I know people are having a hard time adjusting to that. But good ball movement also usually leads to a 3 too.”

The Suns gave up 24 points off their 17 turnovers but were able to balance that out enough with 18 points off the Clippers’ 15 turnovers. Phoenix winning second-chance points 18-14 is a nod to the energy that was there all night.

Clippers center Ivica Zubac finished with 25 points, 16 rebounds and four assists while Norman Powell added 23 points, five rebounds, two assists and four steals. Those two are what continue to elevate L.A. beyond just relying on two stars. This was just a solid Harden performance and Kawhi Leonard couldn’t finish the game after reaching 28 minutes with 5:32 remaining.

Suns center Nick Richards has no doubt played well through five games but he also has a ton to pick up on over the next few weeks that will truly determine how impactful he can be. That issue was on display when he didn’t close the game, putting Mason Plumlee on the floor for the majority of the fourth quarter, and Richards only played six minutes in the second half.

Playing in a losing situation as a more inexperienced player like Richards did in Charlotte to begin his career was more about building up the right habits as opposed to the air-tight execution that turns average teams into great ones. There are tiny details way above our pay-grade in this space that coaches are constantly reinforcing to Richards through a game, with a test like the Clippers providing good minutes to work through it.

That’s things like screening angles, timing on his rolls, the precise positioning of his drop defensively and much more. Plumlee has that stuff down as a long-time veteran so he rightfully had the trust of the coaching staff for crunch time. Richards had a handful of mistakes in his first shift that included three turnovers and two fouls, but through that, made a few energy plays. While that’s not going to offset the negatives, he will have to stick with it through his high motor as the intricacies begin coming more naturally.

O’Neale started in place of Ryan Dunn (left ankle sprain). Bradley Beal remained in a role off the bench.



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Jimmy Butler suspended indefinitely by Heat

The Miami Heat have suspended Jimmy Butler a third time after he walked out of shootaround Monday when informed he would come off the bench behind Haywood Highsmith, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

“The Miami HEAT are suspending Jimmy Butler without pay effective immediately for an indefinite period to last no fewer than five games,” the team said in a statement.

“The suspension is due to a continued pattern of disregard of team rules, engaging in conduct detrimental to the team and intentionally withholding services. This includes walking out of practice earlier today.”

Butler was coming off his second suspension — the first was for seven games and the second for two. He received the second suspension because he missed a team flight to tip a two-game road trip.

“We have suspended Jimmy Butler for two games for a continued pattern of disregard of team rules, insubordinate conduct and conduct detrimental to the team, including missing today’s team flight to Milwaukee,” the team confirmed in a statement about the second suspension.

What happened before Jimmy Butler’s first and second suspensions by Heat?

The Heat left for Milwaukee around 2:15 p.m. Wednesday. That departure time is earlier than Miami leaves for most of its trips, and it’s unclear if that was a factor for Butler.

The dates for the scheduled games on this Heat road trip coincided with a padel tournament in Miami, one that listed Butler as an honorary chairman and co-captain. Butler’s coffee company, Big Face, was also involved with the event. But it was not known if that had anything to do with him missing the flight to Milwaukee.

Butler ended up attending that event and meeting with reporters.

“I love this city with everything that I have,” he said this weekend at the padel tournament that he co-chaired.

The NBA’s trade deadline is Feb. 6.

Butler was banished for seven games earlier this month, costing him about $2.4 million in salary.

He returned last week and played in each of the last three Miami games, averaging 13.0 points in 29.3 minutes. But he was notably detached from the team during timeouts and breaks in play.

Butler wants a trade — reportedly favoring the Phoenix Suns as a landing spot — and Miami is trying to comply.

But moving Butler and his $48.8 million salary this season is likely going to be more complicated that it would have been in past seasons, largely because of the league’s aprons — salary levels installed as part of the new collective bargaining agreement that restrict the ways bigger-spending teams can make certain moves.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.



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