The Phoenix Suns waived guard Vince Carter and power forward Gani Lawal today, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. Waiving Carter was expected since the Suns now owe him only a $4M buyout instead of the $18M he would have otherwise made this season, and he was clearly not in the team's plans.
Waiving Lawal is slightly more surprising, as he was the Suns highest draft choice last season, albeit only the 46th pick overall, and was reported to be making progress playing in Poland this fall after an injury-shortened rookie season in which he tore his ACL after seeing only two minutes of action as a Sun.
Lawal has fine athleticism, but is very raw with almost no offensive game except for dunks and putbacks. Additionally, Markieff Morris was selected by the Suns with a lottery pick this past June, pushing Lawal to 4th team PF behind Channing Frye, Hakim Warrick and Morris. Lawal averaged 16.5 points and 11.7 rebounds per game for Zastel Zielona Gora of the Polish league, on 62.7% FG shooting and 56.1% FT shooting.
Carter's stay in Phoenix was disappointing, as the one-time star never found his fit after the December, 2010 trade from Orlando. He produced inconsistently, disappearing altogether for stretches before head coach Alvin Gentry benched him in favor of Jared Dudley. Carter averaged a career low 13.5 points per game in his 51-game Suns career, shooting only 42% from the field and making 36% of his 3s.