Head West, young man. Althoff graduate Goodwin appears Phoenix-bound in NBA trade
Althoff Catholic High School graduate Jordan Goodwin appears on the move.
According to NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Phoenix Suns will send Chris Paul, Landry Shamet and additional draft picks to the Washington Wizards for Bradley Beal, Goodwin and Isaiah Todd.
Some of the Phoenix media, including Arizona Sports, view Goodwin as a essential asset for the Suns as they build pieces around the new coveted Big-3 of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and newly added Bradley Beal.
In 62 games played for the Wizards this season, Goodwin averaged 6.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game. Of note, he notched a career high of 22 points in the final game of the regular season in a loss against the Houston Rockets.
“Goodwin is the type of player that can develop into being a full-time starting point guard if (Suns head coach Frank) Vogel wants a distributor in the backcourt in addition to Devin Booker and Beal,” Bright Side of the Sun stated.
After bouncing around the G-League for a year, Goodwin finally got a chance to suit up consistently for the Washington Wizards in 2022-23.
He signed a two-way contract with Washington at the start of the 2022-23 NBA season which led to more time with a developing Washington squad in the Eastern Conference. While producing on the court, the Wizards converted his two-way contract into a three-year regular contract in February.
Goodwin’s contract has only $4 million on the books for the next two seasons along with a $2.1 million team-option in his final year. With a Suns team that has to adjust to the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, that contract is looking like a “team-friendly” deal for the near future.
As noted, Goodwin was signed to a two-way contract with Washington after spending the 2021-22 season with the Capital City Go-Go and participating in 2022 training camp with the Wizards.
Goodwin played in 46 games for the Go-Go, averaging 16.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. He earned a call-up with the Wizards in December 2021, appearing in two games. Goodwin played in four games with the Go-Go this season, averaging 19.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game.
“Jordan has worked extremely hard during his time with us and that has paid off both for him and for our team with this opportunity,” Wizards president of basketball operations Tommy Sheppard said in a statement in February. “He is a great example of our development program as well as the importance and impact of having the Go-Go as part of our organization.”
Goodwin, a 2017 Althoff graduate, averaged 19 points and nine rebounds in leading the Crusaders to a 32-2 record and the IHSA Class 3A state championship for the Belleville school.
He then went on to star at Saint Louis University where, as a senior, he averaged 14.5 points, 10.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 2 steals per game. Overall, Goodwin played in 114 games at SLU and finished with a career average of 12.8 points per game.
This story was originally published June 21, 2023 at 12:55 PM.