NBA teams will be forced to make a lot of moves in the next two weeks, as teams pare down their preseason rosters to the 15-man regular season limit. Extra players must clear waivers by October 28th, making 4pm Central time on October 26th the deadline for teams to make their camp cuts. Nearly 100 players will be exiting NBA rosters, as Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors detailed yesterday.
Perhaps the most difficult decisions will be made in Phoenix, where the Suns have 16 fully guaranteed contracts. They’re the only team with more than 15 such deals, so unless they can find a trade partner soon, they’ll wind up owing a full season’s salary to a player they won’t be carrying. New GM Ryan McDonough also has Dionte Christmas on a partially guaranteed deal and James Nunnally on a make-good contract, further complicating matters. Christmas and McDonough have a history with the Celtics, and Nunnally was a sought-after camp invitee, so if the GM and president of basketball operations Lon Babby are tempted into keeping one or both of those players, multiple Suns with guaranteed deals could hit the road.
For the purposes of our poll, we’ll simply assume that the Suns will cut only one guaranteed contract. Which do you think is likeliest to go? We’ve included their 2012/13 salary figures via ShamSports to assist your choice. Leave a comment if you think someone you don’t see here is a better bet to end up on waivers. The other option here is a wild card — if you think the Suns can find a team willing to absorb one of their guaranteed contracts via trade and finalize the transaction by October 28th, they won’t have to cut any of their guaranteed guys.