The Phoenix Suns have already made a move before training camp even opens, waiving Jordan Schakel from his Exhibit 10 contract as the roster starts to take shape.
According to Keith Smith, Schakel is expected to land back with Phoenix’s G League affiliate, the Valley Suns, for the upcoming season. That keeps him in the organization even though his path to the NBA roster was always going to be steep.
Schakel’s NBA resume is brief. He went undrafted in 2021, then spent two seasons in the league from 2021-23 with the Washington Wizards. His big-league experience amounts to six games and an average of six minutes per outing.
At 6-foot-6 and 200 pounds, Schakel has built his reputation elsewhere. He’s known as one of the best shooters to come out of San Diego State after topping 1,000 career points in college. Since leaving Washington, he’s bounced between G League stops with Golden State and Boston’s affiliate, and he most recently played overseas in Germany.
For Phoenix, the move makes sense given how crowded the backcourt already is. Devin Booker, Jalen Green, Collin Gillespie, Luke Kennard and Jordan Goodwin are among the guard options ahead of him, leaving little room for Schakel to crack the main rotation.
Still, the Suns appear to want him available for the Valley Suns, where he can provide value as a G League piece. In his most recent G League run in 2024-25, Schakel averaged 9.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 25.4 minutes, according to the team’s official record books.
Phoenix’s preseason schedule is right around the corner, with the first game set for Monday, Oct. 5.
Media Day comes earlier, on Monday, Sept. 28.
In Other News...
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The next move is not obvious, and that is what makes this worth watching. The Suns are considering whether to add a free agent center, but they may also give the group some runway and revisit the market in January after seeing more from their young bigs and getting a better read on the roster. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Suddenly Had A Frontcourt Problem They Couldnt Ignore
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For Phoenix, the timing matters as much as the addition itself. The Suns are counting on Khaman Maluach and Oso Ighodaro to carry most of the center minutes, but injuries can change that picture fast, especially when a team is already trying to build out its interior depth. Reaths arrival at least keeps the Suns from having to lean too heavily on the same two names, and it raises the next question the team will have to answer as the frontcourt picture settles: how much more of the season will it need to cover there, and by whom? [Read more 🡒]
Suns Expansion Draft Debate Already Puts Phoenix Roster Priorities On Display
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What makes the exercise interesting is how many Suns pieces are already tied to that window, which means the decision is less about short-term patchwork and more about projecting who still matters several years from now. Of course, it is all speculative at this stage, and future performance, injuries and roster turnover could reshape everything by the time any expansion format becomes real. [Read more 🡒]