The NBA trade deadline has passed and now comes buyout season. The Phoenix Suns need to keep an eye out for good fits. One has already come up.
The Phoenix Suns made a move the day before the deadline, turning Ryan Anderson‘s horrific contract into someone that can come and play in Tyler Johnson. It wasn’t the move you wanted but it wasn’t a bad one either.
The day of the deadline, they stood pat through all the madness. Now that the deadline has passed, it’s officially buyout season. The Suns need to keep a close eye on that to see if any players getting released during this period and throughout the end of the season may be good fits in Phoenix.
One name has already come up as the Los Angeles Clippers are waiving point guard Milos Teodosic. He’s 6-foot-5, weighs 195 pounds and is 31-years-old. He can play both guard positions but his craftiness and court vision make him a great fit at the point here and any improvement at that spot is welcome.
Through 60 career NBA games this season and last, he holds 42-38-81 shooting splits, making 1.6 threes per game to average 8 points, 4 assists and 0.4 steals in 21.4 minutes. That’s lowered a bit by him only getting 10 minutes of playing time in 15 games this season in a loaded Clippers backcourt. In 39 games last season, he had 42-38-85 shooting splits and made 2 threes per game while posting 9.5 points, 4.6 assists and 0.5 steals.
Teodosic is from Serbia, like head coach Kokoskov. He played for CSKA Moscow from the 2011-12 season through the 2016-17 season. In 331 games during that stretch, he held 45-40-88 shooting splits, made 2.1 threes per game and averaged 12.5 points, 5.4 assists and 0.8 steals in 25.5 minutes.
He is well decorated European veteran who is a six time All-EuroLeague selection and was the EuroLeague MVP in 2010. In 2016, he was voted the best player in the world not in the NBA by NBA coaches. Add in European Player of the Year as well and you start to see the buzz about him.
Igor has been high on him for a while. Kokoskov is the first European-born head coach in the NBA, has a lot of knowledge in the history of European basketball and believes with confidence that Teodosic is one of the greatest point guards in the history of Europe and a basketball legend. That definitely says something.
With Teodosic being a possible free agent before the summer before his option was picked up, Kokoskov talked on how he would have liked adding him to the team as he felt the point guard would help. Even though the season is lost now, one would have to think with him being available that Igor would still like to bring him onto the roster.
The Suns desperately need improvement at the point guard position. Fans have grown very frustrated with seeing Deandre Ayton in great position in the paint and no one looking to get him the ball. That would not be the case with Milos in town. He is the definition of facilitator and would get Deandre some great looks as well as the rest of the young players.
He is a very crafty passer and a lot of fun to watch. If nothing else, Phoenix should sign him for the rest of the season just to give fans a thrill and to help get the other guys in good position to score which would help their development as well. There will even be glimpses that give fans chills as they remember the Steve Nash days.
Teodosic is being waived and the Suns should already be looking at signing him.