NBA Rumors: Latest on Devin Booker's Injury, Suns' Point Guard Search and More

The NBA rumor mill becomes more of a grab bag at this point on the hoops calendar.

Since rosters are largely settled ahead of the 2018-19 campaign, there's no telling what type of information will make up a news cycle during basketball's dog days.

Take the latest batch of rumors, for instance. We not only have the typical trade and free agency talk, we also have a rising star reportedly going under the knife and a faded star seeking a path back to the Association after last appearing there in 2014.

Devin Booker Having Hand Surgery, Out Indefinitely

Brandon Dill/Associated Press

For all the excitement the Phoenix Suns have generated this summer—drafting Deandre Ayton No. 1, trading for Mikal Bridges, signing Trevor Ariza—the identity of their most important player didn't change. Devin Booker is both their marquee name and their top talent, a franchise face by any measure.

He's also reportedly having hand surgery on Monday and is out indefinitely, per Arizona Sports 98.7 FM's John Gambadoro. The procedure is expected to cost him at least the start of training camp.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski has heard that Booker's recovery timetable will become clearer after Monday's operation. Booker initially jammed his right hand during a March practice, but surgery only became necessary once it "swelled up recently," a league source told Wojnarowski.

Booker, 21, has been Phoenix's top scorer each of the last two seasons. His 23.3 points per game are the 14th-highest over that stretch. He signed a five-year, $158 million max extension this summer.

Suns' Point Guard Search Expanding

Matt Slocum/Associated Press

Phoenix's point guard depth chart looked iffy at best before Brandon Knight was traded away. Now, the cupboard is virtually empty.

Rookies Elie Okobo and De'Anthony Melton—both second-round picks—are in the mix for the opening spot. Isaiah Canaan (career 36.9 field-goal percentage) and Shaquille Harrison (undrafted sophomore with 23 games under his belt) presumably comprise the rest of the competition.

To say this position needs attention would be a significant understatement. Then again, so would saying the Suns are attempting to address it.

They started off aiming high, with Gambadoro previously reporting they'd fallen short in attempts to trade for Damian Lillard, Kemba Walker and Terry Rozier. Their latest targets, again provided by Gambadoro, are a few tiers below the initial batch—Spencer Dinwiddie, Patrick Beverley and Cory Joseph.

Dinwiddie might be the most appealing of the bunch, as he's both the youngest (25) and most productive (12.6 points, 6.6 assists last season). Of course, he's also a 38.7 percent shooter for his career, so it's not like this trio is brimming with big-time ability.

Beverley is fine as a three-and-D option, but he's 30 years old and coming off knee surgery. Joseph is similarly pesky on defense, although he's a shakier shooter (career 32.9 percent) and mostly unproven as a starter (86 starts in 446 career games).

They'd still be upgrades over what the Suns have, but only if the price is right and Booker's injury doesn't prevent them from competing this season.

Andrew Bynum Comeback?

AJ MAST/Associated Press

File this in the #StrangeButTrue section—Andrew Bynum is apparently on the comeback trail.

The Athletic's Shams Charania shared the news:

This shouldn't be interesting.

Bynum hasn't logged an NBA minute since March 2014. For context, the All-Star Game rosters from his last season included Roy Hibbert, Joakim Noah, Chris Bosh and Joe Johnson. It's been a minute since we've seen Bynum and even longer since he was a hardwood force (he only played 516 mostly forgettable minutes after 2011-12). Last we'd heard, his knees were shot.

But...he's only 30 years old, younger than Mike Conley, Joe Ingles, Wilson Chandler and Wesley Johnson. Bynum's career per-36-minute averages include 16.2 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.2 blocks. Even in his injury-riddled 2013-14 campaign, those marks were 15.7, 10.1 and two, respectively.

Maybe there's a depth role out there in someone's frontcourt rotation. More likely, this comeback attempt never gets off the ground. Even if you set aside Bynum's baggage and all the time he's been away, you'd still be hard-pressed to find clubs seeking out centers who don't stretch the floor and struggle defending in space.

Another Reunion for Tom Thibodeau?

Ron Jenkins/Associated Press

Tom Thibodeau coaches the Minnesota Timberwolves. He used to coach the Chicago Bulls.

He was, apparently, a big fan of coaching the Bulls—or rather, coaching the players on those Bulls teams. Since grabbing Minnesota's coaching and front office reins in 2016, he's added three of the best players from his Chicago tenure: Jimmy Butler, Taj Gibson and Derrick Rose.

A fourth could be coming soon. Thibodeau reportedly met with Luol Deng on Sunday, per 1500 ESPN's Darren Wolfson.

Deng had a disastrous two-year tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers, playing just 57 games before having the final two seasons of his four-year, $72 million deal waived and stretched. When he had his chance in 2016-17, he flopped to the tune of 38.7 percent shooting and a 10.1 player efficiency rating.

That said, he more than held his own for the Miami Heat the year prior. Often utilized as a small-ball 4, he proved an expert off-ball cutter, serviceable three-point shooter and malleable defender, delivering positive box plus/minus marks on both ends of the floor.

In other words, if Deng lands in the Gopher State, don't assume he's only there to help complete Thibodeau's vision of coaching the Windy City Wolves.

Unless otherwise indicated, all stats are from Basketball Reference or NBA.com.