Jusuf Nurkic said that he has no relationship with Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer over the past two months, but the coach disagrees.

Amid the ongoing turmoil with the Miami Heat, Jimmy Butler is expected to be traded before the NBA deadline. The Phoenix Suns are one of the top potential destinations, but a legend believes the team’s immediate focus should be addressing a different issue first.

Speaking Wednesday on his Brian Windhorst and The Hoop Collective podcast (beginning at the 17:09 mark), ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst suggested that the Kings are not in the mix for Butler:

Suns center Jusuf Nurkic was unceremoniously benched.

Jusuf Nurkić and Mike Budenholzer aren’t in a good place.

The Phoenix Suns have four bigs on the roster, including newly acquired 7-footer Nick Richards. Nurkic was moved to the bench earlier this month.

Through conversations with Kings officials in recent weeks, Houston Rockets officials were aware of the increasing likelihood of a potential De'Aaron Fox trade away from Sacramento, especially as the prospect of the 27-year-old guard signing a long-term extension with the Kings became less and less plausible.

This mock trade has the Portland Trail Blazers reuniting with a former big man who is frustrated in his current role.

"The Suns are also exploring pairing one of the newly acquired first-round picks with Jusuf Nurkic to acquire a starting-caliber or high-level rotation player on the trade market, league sources told HoopsHype. "Nurkic is owed $18.13 million and has averaged 8.6 points and 9.2 rebounds in 23.7 minutes this season.

The Phoenix Suns are sending rookie big Oso Ighodaro to their G League team, the Valley Suns, the team posted on X Tuesday afternoon. Ighodaro is averaging 3.8 points on 55.8% shooting and 3.5 rebounds in 22 games this season.

The Suns are also exploring pairing one of the newly acquired first-round picks with Jusuf Nurkic to acquire a starting-caliber or high-level rotation player on the trade market, league sources