John Jenkins’ release is neither a surprise nor a roster-shaking move.
Although it could lead to one.
Granted John Jenkins only played a total of 13 minutes for the big club this season in four appearances (he scored 7 points, grabbed 1 rebound and dished out 1 assist), his release could mean a whole lot to the Phoenix Suns moving forward.
What this move does immediately for Phoenix is open up a roster spot providing flexibility for what fans believe to be an inevitability – a big trade. Jenkins’ contract would have been guaranteed for the rest of the season had his release not come today. It is thus no surprise that the Suns decided to not keep him along for the remainder of the year.
It should be noted that since his contract was not guaranteed, had the Suns made a trade earlier bringing in more players than they shipped out, Jenkins would have immediately been waived to make the roster additions fit.
If the Suns are to make any large trades, this was the first shoe that had to drop. With an open roster spot if/when the Suns trade Brandon Knight, they can receive two players in return to match his outgoing salary, instead of one. Had Jenkins’ salary been guaranteed at the time of a Knight trade, not only would he likely have to have been a part of the deal, but the salaries in return would have had to have been even larger to match the combined salaries of Knight and Jenkins, complicating matters.
