NBA Rumors: Suns Thought D'Angelo Russell Would Be Bad Influence on Devin Booker

Devin Booker is the face of the Phoenix Suns, and the team is reportedly protecting him at all costs. 

According to the Arizona Republic's Duane Rankin, the Suns sat out the D'Angelo Russell sweepstakes because they didn't feel the 23-year-old All-Star point guard would be a "good influence on Booker off the court."

Rankin added that Booker had campaigned for the franchise to pursue "his close friend."

Instead, the Golden State Warriors are finalizing a sign-and-trade deal with the Brooklyn Nets to acquire Russell on a four-year, $117 million maximum contract, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Meanwhile, the Suns opted to pair Ricky Rubio at point guard with Booker—signing the 28-year-old to a three-year, $51 million contract, according to The Athletic and Stadium's Shams Charania.

ESPN's Zach Lowe added that the Suns' hesitation to commit to Russell may have been due to only having around "$14 million or so" in salary-cap space (h/t CBS Sports).

Russell spent the last two seasons with the Nets after spending the first two seasons of his NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers, who selected him second overall in the 2015 draft. 

The Ohio State product's Lakers tenure was a rocky one, primarily due to off-court behavior. Most infamously, Russell secretly recorded a conversation with then-teammate Nick Young in which Young admitted to cheating on his then-fiancee Iggy Azalea.

Once the video was leaked, the fallout was dramatic. At the time, ESPN's Baxter Holmes and Marc Stein reported that Russell's teammates no longer trusted him and were "isolating" him. 

After the Lakers traded Russell in June 2017, Magic Johnson commented on the move as the then-president of basketball operations. 

"D'Angelo is an excellent player," Johnson said at the time, according to Holmes. "He has the talent to be an All-Star. ... But what I needed was a leader. I needed somebody also that can make the players better and also that players want to play with."

Last week, Johnson told The Athletic's Bill Oram that Russell is "better now" and "more mature."

The Suns must not think so, even though Russell thrived in Brooklyn.

Phoenix choosing to mitigate any potential distraction to Booker isn't surprising, seeing as the Suns will go as far as the 22-year-old will take them.