Suns intend to waive former first rounder

The Suns intend to waive third-year shooting guard Keon Johnson as they deal with roster crunch, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Cutting the 21-year-old will help the team trim its standard roster to the required league maximum of 15 players, Woj adds. He was acquired in the club’s three-team deal with the Trail Blazers and Bucks that landed Jusuf Nurkic and Grayson Allen in Phoenix.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, Johnson had two years remaining on his deal, though his contract for the 2024-25 season was a team option. Should he clear waivers without being claimed by a rival team, Phoenix will be on the hook to the tune of a $2.8M cap hit.

The 6-foot-5 swingman out of Tennessee was selected with the No. 21 pick in the 2021 draft, and his rights were acquired by the Clippers ahead of his league debut. 

Across 77 career NBA games logged between L.A. and Portland, Johnson boasts career averages of 5.9 PPG, on .362/.343/.659 shooting splits, along with 1.8 APG, 1.6 RPG, and 0.6 SPG.