AUGUST 27: The cuts are official, according to PHNX Sports’ Gerald Bourguet (Twitter link). Both players will become unrestricted free agents if they clear waivers later this week.
With just one year of service, Liddell is eligible for a two-way contract with any team besides the Suns. Little, with five seasons of experience, is not two-way eligible.
AUGUST 21: The Suns are waiving forwards Nassir Little and E.J. Liddell, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Both players will become unrestricted free agents.
Liddell being waived doesn’t come as much of a surprise. He looked like the odd man out for the projected 15-man regular season roster after the Suns acquired him a few weeks ago in a salary dump of David Roddy.
The former Ohio State forward missed his rookie season due to an ACL tear, but played in eight games with New Orleans last season. He was sent from the Pelicans to the Hawks in the Dejounte Murray trade this offseason before being rerouted to Phoenix.
Liddell is still just 23 and had a tremendously impressive junior season in college before his injury (19.4 PPG, 2.6 BPG, .374 3PT%) and he played well in the G League last year, averaging 17.3 points per game). The No. 41 overall pick from the 2022 draft is a candidate to catch on elsewhere.
Little being waived is more surprising, since he’s owed $21.75MM over the next three years and seemed like a candidate to be traded for salary-matching purposes down the line. However, the Suns will instead use the stretch provision in removing him from the roster.
There were rumblings in July that Phoenix cutting Little was a possibility. As Charania writes, the Suns moved forward with that plan in order to open up a roster spot and to create more flexibility for signings or trades.
A former first-round pick, Little wasn’t a huge part of Phoenix’s roster last season, averaging 3.4 points in 45 appearances. He was acquired from the Trail Blazers in last September’s three-team Damian Lillard trade after spending the first four years of his career in Portland. In 237 career games, Little holds averages of 5.5 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. The 25th pick in the 2019 draft, Little is still just 24 and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him earn another guaranteed contract down the line.
In addition to creating more roster flexibility, the Suns are now better positioned to give Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro an opportunity to earn immediate minutes, according to Charania, who notes that the team is high on both rookies (Twitter link). Phoenix landed Dunn 28th overall and Ighodaro at No. 40 in June’s draft.
With Little and Liddell waived, the Suns have 14 players on standard contracts and three players on two-way deals, so their opening day roster looks to be mostly set.
The Suns had until Aug. 31 to waive Little and stretch his contract through 2030/31 while reducing his $6.75MM cap hit this season. Under the stretch provision, his remaining salary will be paid over twice the number of seasons remaining on his contract, plus one year. Because he had three years left on his contract, Little’s remaining $21.75MM will be paid out equally over the next seven seasons (through ’30/31), for an annual hit of about $3.1MM.
While reducing their team salary by $3.65MM might not seem worth it at face value, given the long-term impact, the Suns are drastically reducing their tax burden by moving Little. They’re over $36MM over the second tax apron, so the tax savings on that $3.65MM will be significant. Based on their current payroll, stretching Little’s salary will save the Suns approximately $40MM in tax penalties across the next two seasons, tweets John Hollinger of The Athletic.
Hey Little, we’re waiving you.
“Did you say Liddell or Little?”
Both !!
Liddell did they know
I calculated 32M savings this year and 35M next year, when the tax penalties stiffen for those over the second apron. They can save another 13M each year by stretching Liddell as well.
The new crappy NBA stinks. Anything goes
Everybody knows the Suns’ financial situation is not sustainable, which is why they’re expected to trade KD or Booker. Otherwise, they’re losing > $100M per year, and it gets worse each year.
They were 30th of 30 NBA teams in total revenues at $390M last season. This year’s effective payroll alone is over $400M ($220M + $180M in tax), next year the tax will be > $230M, and the year following over $250M.
Just when I was looking forward to that RAPTORS game.
Little is to little to be a PF
The problem for teams with multiple max contracts: no $ for bench strength or developing young players.
So are they really saving that much or is that only with the assumption they are not in the same salary cap situation for the next seven years?
Also the article says that he is payed over 7 years. Is that correct or is it just that he is not charged against the cap of the Suns? Does he really have to wait 4 years later to get all the money that he originally signed to get a contract for in just 3 years? Don’t get me wrong, no reason to cry for them but it seems a little … well just wrong.
Not only will he be paid over seven years instead of three, but that would be the case even if they didn’t stretch his cap hits.
(Essentially, if he’s still owed at least $500K in guaranteed money, a player’s remaining salary is always “stretched” for payment purposes when he’s waived, but the team can choose whether or not it wants to stretch the cap hits as well.)
Thank you. Again it seems pretty crazy that you can stretch a previously agreed upon payment over that many more years but maybe that is what the NBA and the players decided on.
Arenas stretched his salary out, so did Luol Deng with lakers.
Just trade them with a 2nd for someone’s draft rights. This is a dumb move
Of course the Phoenix Suns haven’t been working on that for the past month. No way they thought of that.
The Phoenix Suns have made dumb moves, but they’re not as dumb as you think.
I love your sarcasm but no they did not even try this. That’s why this stretch provision rule has to go
If you’re right then that is pretty dumb.
Weird all these nba talents without teams
Expansion …….?!
No one wanted to trade for him, can’t force someone to take his salary they have no assets and he’s not good.
Little was important for Portland. Guy can play as an undersized PF. Injuries got in the way, but he’s still young.
Another example of core muscle injuries with the Trail Blazers, like many others from 2020-now (GP II Is one and there More). A Lot of them went to core muscle surgery, a type of surgery I think’s pretty uncommon. It might be Portland Trail Blazers’ medical approach to these injuries, could it be?