Suns Off to Historically Great Start in Free Agency
The Phoenix Suns approached free agency with little spending power - but such is life when your top four players combine for just north of $160 million in salary cap space.
There's some harsh penalties in the new CBA for teams staying near the ceiling of the luxury tax, yet new Suns owner Mat Ishbia have proven to show money isn't a problem now in the Valley.
Phoenix failed to reach the NBA Finals for a second consecutive season, and thus some major changes were brought to the organization - mostly in the form of firing Monty Williams and trading Chris Paul.
The Suns had two major problems entering the postseason: Scoring behind the likes of Kevin Durant/Devin Booker and overall depth.
Phoenix went and made a splash with the acquisition of Bradley Beal to find a prominent third scorer, though free agency would be prove to be tough for the Suns to really find a competent batch of role players - Phoenix needed talented players to take less than market value and buy into their championship dreams.
They've done just that.
The Suns thus far have signed players such as Eric Gordon, Yuta Watanabe, Chimezie Metu, Keita Bates-Diop and Drew Eubanks. They've also retained players such as Damion Lee and Josh Okogie.
Well respected NBA analyst John Hollinger dubbed the Suns as the biggest winner of the NBA's free agent period thus far.
"How do you win in NBA free agency without any money? The Phoenix Suns may have just found a way, one that has eerie echoes of the 2021-22 Golden State Warriors team that rode a series of astute minimum contract signings (Otto Porter Jr. and Gary Payton II) to help the Splash Brothers win a fourth ring," wrote Hollinger in his column for The Athletic.
"Can the Suns give us a desert version of that? It seems possible after some of the best minimum contract work in memory, a haul that could make even the Warriors’ summer 2021 group pale in comparison. The Suns agreed to deals with seven players on minimum (or essentially minimum) contracts in the first 48 hours of free agency, and what stood out about the signings was that they were of a much higher quality than usually seen at this pay grade."
The Suns now have one of their deepest rosters in recent memory - most notably a team that can shoot the three-ball. Nine of Phoenix's players shoot 35% or better from downtown, another area the Suns needed to improve from last season.
Hollinger continued to highlight what Phoenix has done thus far:
"While we’re here, check out the birth certificates. The Suns didn’t just sign a bunch of old dudes who were good three years ago, as a lot of teams have done in this situation. Okogie is 24, Eubanks and Metu are 26, Bates-Diop is 27, Watanabe is 28 and Lee is 30," said Hollinger.
"As I noted this spring, Phoenix also did strong work in this area in 2021, helping the team stay afloat during an injury-riddled season. But even that performance pales compared to their work the past few days.
"We can’t say the Suns might have “won” free agency just yet — to do that, they need at least one of these guys to be a plus next June – but in terms of value for the dollar, this might be some of the best 48 hours we’ve ever seen. Phoenix maximized its minimums."
Some of the best 48 hours we've seen is indeed the sentiment here in the Valley, too. We'll see what comes to fruition on the basketball court, but the Suns have managed to have one of their best offseasons to date.
