The Suns violated league rules related to the timing of free agency discussions and have been forced to forfeit a 2024 second-round pick, the NBA announced Wednesday in a press release.
As we relayed earlier Wednesday, the league was investigating possible early contact with free agent Drew Eubanks, the former Portland center who signed a two-year, minimum-salary contract with Phoenix in July. According to Wednesday's announcement, the league did find that the Suns engaged in discussions involving Eubanks before free agency began.
Eubanks’ agreement with Phoenix was reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic at 5:05 pm Central time on June 30, five minutes after free agency officially opened.
The Suns issued the following statement (via X) in response to the NBA’s ruling:
“We are disappointed with the results of the NBA investigation. If there was a violation, it was inadvertent. We are focused on complying with league rules and competing at the highest level every year. With that being said, we accept the penalty from the league and are focused on looking forward to this season.”
The Suns have traded away all of their own future second-round selections for the next seven years (picks in 2031 and beyond aren’t yet moveable), so they’ll surrender Denver’s 2024 second-rounder, which they acquired from Orlando in July.
Phoenix’s will receive San Antonio’s second-round pick in 2024 if it falls between Nos. 50-54. Otherwise, the club won’t have a second-rounder until 2026, when it will receive either the Pistons’, Bucks’, or Magic’s pick (whichever is least favorable). The Suns have also traded away either their first-round pick or swap rights on their first-round pick for the next seven drafts.
This is the fourth consecutive year that at least one team has had a second-round selection rescinded for free agency gun-jumping. The NBA penalized the Bucks in 2020 (for Bogdan Bogdanovic), the Heat and Bulls in 2021 (for Kyle Lowry and Lonzo Ball, respectively) and the Sixers and Knicks in 2022.
Philadelphia was forced to forfeit two future second-round selections for early contact with both P.J. Tucker and Danuel House, while New York gave up a single pick for talking to Jalen Brunson before free agency began.
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