Ricky Rubio dished out 12 assists, scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds in a 103-101 loss to the Heat on Friday.

"The kid has something. He has that Steve Nash capability," Dwyane Wade said. "They've got a gem in him. He's going to be great for them."

Rubio left a lasting impression on the Heat.

"He's a handful on the pick-and-roll," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "At the end, we were forced to go bigger and switch just to get him out of that pulling trigger game and get us running around all over the place. He's a clever passer. Two or three times, he had me looking the wrong way."

The Phoenix Suns have signed Michael Redd, the team announced .

“Michael Redd has a proven pedigree as a first-rate NBA scorer,” said Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby. “He will work with our renowned training staff to get into basketball shape. When he is ready to play, Michael will be a welcome addition to our team.”

The Suns shot 41.3 percent from the field in a 104-83 loss to the Sixers, dropping their record to 0-2 on the season.

"We're not ready to panic or anything like that," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. "Am I disappointed? Sure, I'm disappointed. But you can't stay there. You don't have the time to linger in pity."

Steve Nash finished with 4 points on 2-of-11 shooting, one assist and six turnovers.

"I think it's a combination of a lot of things," Nash said. "Shortened training camp, lack of familiarity, not efficient yet, not making shots and we're not in sync.
 
"Some of it is a part of the shortened camp. I think we need to get a little tougher at times and not look around and hope things will get better."

Michael Redd, who has a scary knee history, worked out for the Suns at US Airways Center on Tuesday, and the Suns are expected to sign the 32-year-old Thursday to address their need for scoring and shooting.

Redd likely would not play immediately as he learns the Suns' system and works into playing shape.

Redd worked out for the Suns along with free agent NBA veteran Ime Udoka and free agent Gilbert Brown, but Redd appears to have the primary interest.

The Suns also had Redd's left knee examined because he has played only 61 games over the past three seasons due to two surgeries. Redd tore the anterior-cruciate ligament and medial-collateral ligament in his left knee in January 2009 and did it again in January 2010.

The Suns bought out Mickael Pietrus' contract, paying him about $4.2 million of his $5.3 million salary.

Once he clears waivers, Pietrus can pick from a group of other interested teams, led by Boston, to make up the difference.

"Both Mickael and us realized it'd be beneficial for both parties to party ways," Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby said. "There's an expression that, 'All's well that ends well.' In this case, all's well that ends."

Marcin Gortat will sit out Thursday night's preseason finale and not practice before Monday's season opener but will "probably" play the opener while wearing a splint on his broken thumb, Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby said. He said Gortat's thumb is expected to take two to three weeks to heal.

"I'm going to fight for my spot," Gortat said Tuesday night. "As long as I'm walking and seeing everything in front of me, I'm going to ready to play. I'll be ready for Monday night's game."

Gortat was unavailable for comment Wednesday. Babby said Gortat remained in considerable pain but indicated that he wants to play through the injury.

Suns owner Robert Sarver, part of the NBA's labor-relations committee, squirmed as he was portrayed as a hard-liner willing to sacrifice a season in collective-bargaining-agreement negotiations.

"I was consistently at the forefront of trying to get a deal done, knowing it was important for our fans to see NBA basketball again this season," Sarver said.

Sarver's reputation became a concern for the Suns brass, which has cleared salary-cap space for July 2012 to make a run at top free agents. The class could include Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Deron Williams.

"I was concerned, and that was probably the toughest part about not being able to get the record straight," Sarver said. "It's important that Phoenix is viewed as a place players want to come to."

The Phoenix Suns have signed veteran NBA guard Ronnie Price, the team announced today. Phoenix also added Marcus Landry to the club’s roster and announced its 17-player 2011 training camp roster, which is attached.

The 6-2, 190-pound Price is a six-year NBA veteran who owns career averages of 3.6 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 319 games (25 starts). Price joins his third NBA team after stints with the Sacramento Kings (2005-07) and most recently with the Utah Jazz (2007-11). 

The Phoenix Suns today waived guard Zabian Dowdell, the team has announced.

Dowdell scored five points per game (12.2 mpg) in 24 appearances last season.

The proposed trade that would have sent Mickael Pietrus to the Raptors has been called off.

Pietrus had slight knee swelling following a workout for the Raptors, according to his agent Bill McCandless.

Pietrus described the trade as being postponed.

The Raptors medical staff determined that Pietrus needed two to four more weeks to be cleared for play. 

"This is just an injured player," McCandless said. "Mike says he will be ready. He's been working out for two weeks. Is he in game shape? No."