Valley Suns
American professional basketball team of the NBA G League
The Valley Suns are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League and an affiliate of the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. Based in Tempe, Arizona and officially created on February 14, 2024, the team will play their home games during the 2024–25 season at Mullett Arena on the campus of Arizona State University.
History
On April 12, 2016, the Phoenix Suns announced that they had purchased the Bakersfield Jam and would be relocating the team to Prescott Valley, Arizona, rebranding the team to the Northern Arizona Suns.[2] On July 29, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Detroit Pistons announced that they had purchased the franchise from the Phoenix Suns (who were owned by Robert Sarver at the time) and that following the Northern Arizona team skipping out on the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season entirely, the Pistons would move that team to Detroit to play as the Motor City Cruise.[3] With the creation of the Rip City Remix, the affiliate of the Portland Trail Blazers ahead of the 2023-24 season, the Suns were left as the only team without a G League affiliate.[4] However, months after the NBA approved of Mat Ishbia's primary ownership of the Phoenix Suns after they previously suspended Sarver for the entire 2022–23 NBA season for very controversial things he did as an owner, Ishbia noted that bringing in a new G League team for the Suns as early as the 2024–25 season would be a top priority for him.[5]
On February 14, 2024, the Phoenix Suns announced that they acquired the right to own and operate their new G League affiliate in Phoenix, marking the first time all 30 NBA teams had G League affiliates.[6] The team revealed their name, logo, and arena on May 22.[7] An expansion draft was held on June 13, where the Suns selected 14 unprotected returning players, with two of them including former NBA champion Quinndary Weatherspoon and former Phoenix Suns player Théo Maledon.[8] On September 3, the G League announced the Valley Suns' inaugural schedule, with their opening game being on the road on November 8 against the Santa Cruz Warriors and their home debut being three days later against the Stockton Kings as a part of the newly minted Tip-Off Tournament.[9] A day after that, the Valley Suns made their first ever trade by trading a 2025 first-round pick in the 2025 NBA G League Draft to the defending champion Oklahoma City Blue in exchange for guard Jaden Shackelford.[10]
Current roster
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Affiliates
- Phoenix Suns (2024–present)
References
- ^ "Valley Suns Officially Introduced As Suns G League Affiliate Team". GLeague.NBA.com (Press release). NBA Media Ventures, LLC. May 22, 2024. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
- ^ "Phoenix Suns Buy Bakersfield Jam; Relocate Team to Prescott Valley, Arizona". OurSports Central. April 12, 2016.
- ^ Beard, Rod (July 29, 2020). "Pistons buy G League team to play in Detroit for 2021-22; Grand Rapids Drive mull options". The Detroit News. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
- ^ Rankin, Duane. "New Suns' G League team will play games in Phoenix area, sources say". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
- ^ https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/suns-to-launch-g-league-team-as-early-as-2024-25-season-mat-ishbia-says/
- ^ Schiffer, Alex (February 15, 2024). "Suns Get G League Team, Becoming 30th NBA Team to Have One". Front Office Sports. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
- ^ "VALLEY SUNS OFFICIALLY INTRODUCED AS SUNS G LEAGUE AFFILIATE TEAM". NBA.com. May 22, 2024. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
- ^ "Suns G League Team Lands Big Names in Expansion Draft". Inside The Suns. June 13, 2024. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
- ^ https://valley.gleague.nba.com/news/valley-suns-announce-2024-25-schedule
- ^ https://valley.gleague.nba.com/news/valley-suns-complete-trade-with-oklahoma-city-blue
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