The NBA, more than any other league in America, is ran by it’s stars. Not an owner. Not a general manager. Not a head coach. The players run the league, like it or not, and the stars are it’s greatest commodity.
Devin Booker is the Phoenix Suns’ biggest star, the face of the franchise, the best player to don the purple and orange since Steve Nash. Tyler Ulis is his best friend.
So when the Phoenix Suns decided that they were going to release Ulis (the writing had been on the wall), it was their common courtesy to tell their greatest asset that they were doing so.