30 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists and 7 steals in a single game!

On February 21, Beijing time, the Phoenix Suns officially announced that the team officially signed Thaddeus Young. Although this news has been circulating for a while, it was officially announced today. Thaddeus Young was born on June 21, 1988 and is about to turn 36 years old. Before the trade deadline this year, he was sent to the Nets by the Raptors and was immediately cut.

Let's recap the Raptors-Nets deal: The Nets sent Dinwiddie to the Raptors in exchange for Schroder and Thaddeus Young. The Raptors cut Dinwiddie, who joined the Lakers, and the Nets cut Thaddeus Young, who joined the Suns. Some fans may be asking again: The Suns' salary exceeds the local tyrant line, can they still sign buyout players?

There are currently seven teams with salaries above the No. 1 local tyrant line ($173.46 million): Warriors, Clippers, Suns, Bucks, Celtics, Nuggets, and Heat. They can sign buyout players, but only buyouts with a salary below the mid-range ($12.5 million). Thaddeus Young's original annual salary was 8 million, which met the regulations.

Thaddeus Young has played in 23 games for the Raptors this season, starting six of them. He averaged 15.2 minutes per game, had 5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 0.8 steals, shooting 62.1% from the field, 16.7% from three-point range and 41.7% from the free throw line. Looking further back, in the 2022-23 season, he shot just 17.6% from three-point range.

Thaddeus Young is 2.03 meters tall and has an arm span of 2.12 meters, and his physical fitness is good, but his outside shooting ability has seriously declined in the past two years. In 2016-17, he shot 38.1% from three-point range, and in 2021-22 he still had 36.8%, but for some reason it suddenly dropped below 20%. Fortunately, Thaddeus Young's defense is more ferocious......

In the 2007 draft, Thaddeus Young was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 12th pick in the first round, and Durant was the star of the year. Who would have thought that after 17 years, the two would finally be able to play on the same team. In his rookie season, Thaddeus Young averaged 8.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1 steal per game, shooting 31.6% from three-point range, and was selected to the All-Rookie Second Team.

In his second season, he averaged 15.3 points and 5 rebounds per game, and in his third season, he averaged 13.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. In December 2011, Thaddeus Young signed a five-year, $43 million contract extension with the 76ers. On February 22, 2014, he scored 30 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists and 7 steals in a single game, becoming the first player since Olajuwon to put up such statistics.

In the summer of 2014, in the three-way trade between Love and Wiggins, Thaddeus Young was sent to the Timberwolves, played for half a year and then traded to the Nets. In the summer of 2015, Thaddeus Young gave up his player option to become a free agent, then signed a four-year, $50 million extension with the Nets. Looking back now, his decision was a bit hasty.

In the 2015-16 season, Thaddeus Young averaged 15.1 points, 9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game with the Nets. In the summer of 2016, the salary cap rose sharply, and if he hadn't jumped out of his contract, he would have gotten at least 70 million. In the summer of 2019, the Bulls signed Thaddeus Young for three years and $41 million. In the summer of 2022, the Raptors signed him for two years and $16 million.

In the 2020-21 season, Thaddeus Young won the NBA Best Fighting Award!I hope he can inject defensive vitality into this Suns team!Are you optimistic about Thaddeus Young's prospects in the Suns?