West Notes: Suns, Lakers, LeBron James, Thunder

Suns

If LeBron James were ever to seek a trade away from the struggling Lakers, and the Lakers were willing to go through with it, the Suns may be a destination that makes sense, a rival scout told Ric Bucher of Fox Sports.

“It’s the one place he’d be welcome with open arms,” the scout said, via Bucher. “In Phoenix, with LeBron, I think (Chris Paul) would finally get his ring.”

At this point, the Lakers may want to actually consider a trade of James and power forward Anthony Davis, the scout added.

“They need to think about moving LeBron and Anthony Davis,” he said, via Bucher. “They just have too many holes to fill.”

• We have more on the idea of the Lakers trading Davis in our latest video analysis. Check it out right here.
• Meanwhile, the Suns reportedly re-opened talks centered on Jae Crowder, with the Heat reportedly among those who are again interested. Check out the full post here.

Lakers

• The Lakers have known since the summer that the current roster isn’t capable of contending, per Bucher.
• While they were interested in swapping point guard Russell Westbrook to the Nets for Kyrie Irving during the offseason, the Nets never engaged, Bucher reported.

• One rumor making rounds among league GMs over the summer was a swap of Davis for Kevin Durant, though it seems it was exactly that — a rumors. “Who would do that? All parties involved,” an Eastern Conference GM said, via Bucher.

Thunder

• Second-year guard Josh Giddey became just the second player to record a triple-double in each of his first two games at Madison Square Garden, per Thunder per. The other was legendary center Wilt Chamberlain in 1968.
• The Thunder surprised the Knicks in that game, despite the fact the Knicks scored a franchise-record 48 points in the first quarter. Giddey finished with 24 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds in OKC’s 145-135 win.
• Also in that game, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander recorded 37 points. “It’s great playing with him,” Giddey said of SGA, via Clemente Almanza of USA Today. “I think our chemistry is going to continue to grow and hopefully we can be a hell of a backcourt for a long time.”