Report: Terrence Ross to join Phoenix Suns after Orlando Magic buyout

Charles Barkley was very interested to see who his Phoenix Suns (31-27) were going to pursue once teams started buying out players after last Thursday's 1 p.m. trade deadline.

“They gave up a lot,” Barkley said on TNT’s Inside the NBA.

The Suns traded Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and Jae Crowder, who didn’t play a game for them this season, to Brooklyn, and Dario Saric to Oklahoma City in separate trades.

They got superstar Kevin Durant, T.J. Warren, who played his first five seasons in Phoenix, and Darius Bazley in return, but still had two roster spots left on its 15-man roster as of Friday.

That’s going to change.

ESPN is reporting the Suns will sign Terrence Ross once the Orlando Magic (23-34) buyout his contract.

Averaging 11 points for his career and eight this season, Ross hasn’t played since Jan. 21. The 6-6 wing can get off his own shot off the bounce, a critical skill for the playoffs.

Turning 32 years old Feb. 5, Ross scored 14 points against the Suns, going 2-of-3 from 3, in a win Nov. 11 in Orlando. He’s shooting 38.1% from 3 in 42 games (nine starts) this season after connecting on a career-low 29.2% of them in 63 games last season.      

The Suns have been without Cameron Payne (foot) and Landry Shamet (foot) for a month. Payne hasn’t played since Jan 4 at Cleveland while Shamet last saw action Jan. 16 at Memphis.

Phoenix plays its next game Tuesday against Sacramento at Footprint Center. The Suns have won 10 of their last 13 games.

Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

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