” It may seem like a minor swap to some, but not to me. ” On TwitterMagic Johnson endorsed moves made by the Suns yesterday that could bring “ depth to the roster of finalists on their way to returning to the NBA Finals.
Like last season, the Suns decided to call on Torrey Craig, recovered this time in exchange for Jalen Smith and a future second round of Draft, who join Indiana. Like the former Lakers legend, Monty Williams also believes his return will add consistency on the Phoenix wing.
“ We liked him last year, I really liked him from the start. He was part of our program“, deliver the technicianspecifying that the GM James Jones, who consults him, and he think ” a lot to alchemy before aiming at a player. With Torrey Craig, the “role player” par excellence, who does not make noise and concentrates on obscure tasks, especially in defense, the beautiful alchemy of the Suns is not likely to be called into question.
In their maneuvers, the Suns had to cut Abdel Nader and release Justin Jackson to also make room for Aaron Holiday. Jrue and Justin’s brother was averaging 6 points with the Wizards this season.
Monty Williams sees in him a ” tough young fullback. From what I’ve seen, he’s more ‘combo’ than leader, but I’m not sure because I haven’t seen him enough. His arrival could have an immediate impact as Landry Shamet (ankle) and Cameron Payne (wrist) are still in the infirmary.
“I hope he will have the opportunity to show what he can do on a regular basis”
The Suns made this acquisition from Washington in exchange for financial considerations. They had used the same process last season with the Bucks to recover Torrey Craig. This year, the price was a little higher with the sending of the 10th choice of the Draft 2020.
“ It’s a tough day compared to Jalen’s transfer”agrees Monty Williams. “We bond with all these guys emotionally. So as much as we are happy to have Torrey back, it was a complicated decision for us to make.“
All the more difficult since after an anecdotal rookie season, the 21-year-old former Maryland player had shown himself more this season, with a streak of four starts at 17 points and 9.5 rebounds on average, during the absences of Deandre Ayton and JaVale McGee.
But the Suns had decided not to activate his “team option” for the last year of his rookie contract, which made his future in Arizona extremely unclear anyway.
” To be honest, he was in a tough spot from day one.”remarks his former coach. “He started with the Covid, he missed the Summer League. He was in training camp two weeks after his draft. He never felt like he had the wherewithal to make the transition that most rookies need. I hope he will have the opportunity to show what he can do on a regular basis. I share this feeling with him.“
| Torrey Craig | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2017-18 | DEN | 39 | 16 | 45.3 | 29.3 | 62.9 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 3.3 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 4.2 |
| 2018-19 | DEN | 75 | 20 | 44.2 | 32.4 | 70.0 | 1.2 | 2.3 | 3.5 | 1.0 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 5.7 |
| 2019-20 | DEN | 58 | 19 | 46.1 | 32.6 | 61.1 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 3.3 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 5.4 |
| 2020-21 * | All Teams | 50 | 16 | 48.0 | 36.8 | 77.3 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 3.9 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 5.5 |
| 2020-21 * | PHX | 32 | 19 | 50.3 | 36.9 | 80.0 | 1.4 | 3.4 | 4.8 | 1.0 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 7.2 |
| 2020-21 * | MIL | 18 | 11 | 39.1 | 36.4 | 50.0 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 2.5 |
| 2021-22 | IND | 51 | 20 | 45.6 | 33.3 | 77.1 | 1.2 | 2.7 | 3.8 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 6.5 |
| Total | 273 | 19 | 45.7 | 33.1 | 69.2 | 1.1 | 2.4 | 3.6 | 0.9 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 5.5 | |
