A very vocal chunk of Phoenix fans wanted the Suns to go after D’Angelo Russell.

The franchise apparently didn’t have the same feeling.

The Suns chose not to pursue Russell despite Devin Booker's campaign for them to target his close friend, according to league sources familiar with the situation.

The Suns apparently felt Russell wouldn’t have been a good influence on Booker off the court.

Instead, Phoenix agreed to a three-year, $51-million deal with veteran point guard Ricky Rubio on the first day of free agency Sunday.

Rubio addresses the Suns' need at point guard, but even then, he wasn't their first choice.

The Suns actually tried to acquire Terry Rozier, but he ended up going to the Charlotte Hornets as part of a sign-and-trade with the Boston Celtics, which landed Kemba Walker on a four-year, max deal worth $141 million.

Just a few days ago, Rubio appeared to be headed to Indiana, but things changed when the Pacers got Milwaukee Bucks point guard Malcolm Brogdon in a sign-and-trade.

Brogdon received a four-year, $85-million deal while the Bucks got draft picks including a first rounder and two second-round selections.

Once Phoenix was out on Rozier, they went after Rubio and got him.

As for Russell, he was one of the last big-name free agents to come off the board Sunday as Golden State and Brooklyn reportedly agreed to a deal, which will send the restricted free agent to the Warriors on a four-year max deal worth $117 million.

Treveon Graham and Shabazz Napier are also headed to Golden State as part of the trade, which capped a monumental day for Brooklyn. The Nets reportedly agreed to deals with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving worth $164 million and $142 million, respectfully.

Still, Suns fans in Arizona hadn't hid their affection for Russell, as evidenced by an electronic billboard which popped up last week in Phoenix on 44th Street and Indian School Road.

The appeal for Russell centered around his All-Star season and friendship with Booker.

Booker said before the end of last season he planned on being more involved in the decision making process, but Suns General Manager James Jones made it clear before the draft who would have the final say.

"We have good discussions, but at the end of the day, Devin doesn’t desire to be a general manager," Jones said. "He just wants to be a positive contributor to our team’s success."

As it stood, Russell was expected to command a huge contract worth as much as $27.3 million in the first year.

The Suns couldn't afford Russell with their projected salary cap space, which sat at around $22.8 million, according to HoopsHype.

To acquire Russell, the Suns likely would have had to go over the cap, trade Tyler Johnson, or waive and stretch the $19.2 million he's due this season.

That latter option would have cost Phoenix $6.4 million in salary cap space in each of the next three seasons.

Phoenix instead chose not to waive Johnson and still has a $9.6 million cap hold on Kelly Oubre Jr., who is a restricted free agent.

The Suns need to make a roster move to fit Rubio's projected $17-million salary for the 2019-20 season, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

The Suns are sitting about $2.6 million over the cap with Oubre's hold and Rubio’s salary.

But there are some easy ways to address that.

Phoenix now has six point guards on its roster with Rubio, Johnson, Elie Okobo, De’Anthony Melton, first-round draft pick Ty Jerome and undrafted rookie Jalen Lecque, who signed a four-year deal with two years guaranteed out of high school.

With Rubio, Phoenix might wind up parting ways with Melton and Okobo to create the necessary cap space.

Both second-round picks, Melton and Okobo had good moments as rookies last year, but it’s not a good situation for the Suns to have so many point guards on their roster.

Jones has already made his share of moves since team owner Robert Sarver removed the interim tag following the end of last season.

After firing Igor Kokoskov after just one season, Jones hired Monty Williams in May to be the Suns' fifth head coach in five years.

On draft night, he traded TJ Warren and the 32nd overall pick to Indiana for cash considerations. The Suns then traded the No. 6 overall pick to the Minnesota Timberwolves for No. 11 and power forward Dario Saric.

Then Phoenix made a surprise pick. Choosing for the Suns, the Timberwolves selected North Carolina forward Cameron Johnson, who wasn't expected to be a lottery pick and wasn't at the draft, but he did shoot 45.7% from 3 in Chapel Hill last season.

Jones then traded the protected first-round pick Phoenix got from the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eric Bledsoe deal to Boston, which in turn sent reserve center Aron Baynes and the No. 24 pick it got from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Suns.

Jerome wound up being that No. 24 pick.

Nearly two weeks later, Jones landed Rubio on Day 1 of free agency.

Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

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What was that? NBA draft was confusing mess