Signed last July to a two-way contract, guard Collin Gillespie emerged as a reliable rotation player for the Suns within the last month, averaging 8.3 points, 3.8 assists, and 3.7 rebounds in 22.3 minutes per night with a .421 3PT% across his past 13 games. He’ll be eligible for restricted free agency this summer when his deal expires and said on Friday that he’d be interested in sticking with the Suns going forward, as Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports (Twitter video link) relays.
“I have not had any conversations,” Gillespie said when asked if he and the Suns have talked about his future. “It’ll probably be something I (discuss) with my agents toward the end of the year after these last two games, but I love Phoenix. They gave me an opportunity, coming from Denver. I would love to be here if they’ll have me back. But we’ll see. I really don’t know right now, but I would like to be here.”
This was Gillespie’s first season with the Suns and he remains eligible for a two-way contract, which means his qualifying offer would be the equivalent of another two-way deal. Assuming he receives that QO, Gillespie would have the option of accepting it or attempting to negotiate a new contract with Phoenix or another team. The Suns would have the ability to match any offer sheet he signs with a rival suitor as long as they have the cap flexibility to do so.
Here’s more out of Phoenix:
- Discussing the decisions facing the Suns this summer, ESPN’s Bobby Marks refers to it as “the most important offseason in franchise history” (Twitter video link). Marks runs through the issues facing the team, including whether to retain head coach Mike Budenholzer, what will happen with Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, and whether ownership is willing to entertain the idea of a rebuild.
- If Durant’s time in Phoenix comes to an end this summer, how will his Suns stint be remembered? Doug Haller of The Athletic explores that topic, noting that Durant “doesn’t have a true NBA home.” As Haller explains, the future Hall of Famer still hears boos in Oklahoma City for the way he left the Thunder and was viewed by many as a hired gun in Golden State before falling short of expectations in Brooklyn and Phoenix.
- Durant’s ongoing absence due to a sprained ankle means he’ll fall short of the 65-game minimum required for end-of-season award consideration, notes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Despite Phoenix’s sub-.500 record, the star forward would have been an All-NBA candidate due to his impressive individual stats (26.6 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 4.2 APG, .527/.430/.839 shooting).
Budenholzer has to go. But what reputable coach in their right mind would take the Suns job?
IMO, Ishbia has to
– fire the entire front office,
– hire a new President and give him full and absolute authority,
– promise never to get involved
If not, it’ll be more of the same s***-show next year, and Ishbia takes over from Ted Stepien as the all-time worst NBA owner
I hope they try and engineer a player ready package with Dallas
Gafford PJ Klay Hardy to Phx
Kd- Dal
Powell- 3rd team acquiring a 2nd rder from both Phx/Dal
Works financially
Dal would still be pretty deep
Ad KD Irving Lively Christie Marshall Martin Prosper
Can vet min 2 pg fillers Dinwiddie+1
Phx has a shot at a real team 2026 and ducks below apron 2.
C- Gaff Richards
F- PJ Dunn Royce
G- Booker Grayson Klay Hardy Beal
Id prefer that than 2 late firsts if PHX knowing Ishbia probably gets exts with Gaff and PJ shortly after at positions of needs for Phx. If Dunn can grow at the 3 and Booker has a bounceback year that’s not the worst team there
The numbers may still be good, but with the way the season went for Phoenix, there is no way KD was getting enough all NBA votes this year, even if he met the minimum games.
I would have put him in the second team myself…
Cap – hey, we know you LA guys owe Nico Harrison a solid, but what does Phoenix get from this?
With the possible exception of PJ, I don’t believe they’d want any of these players. And the trade doesn’t fill either of Phoenix’s 2 stated priorities: an established PG and draft capital.
Because Dallas can’t offer a PG or any draft capital, it would have to start with, at the least, Derrick Lively to get a phone call returned.
As for Klay Thompson
– Where do his minutes come from? He plays same position as Booker, Beal and Grayson. Suns are committed to Dunn and Royce as defenders at SF, so there are no minutes there. Klay has way too much ego for that situation.
– At 35 years old, he’s now bad contract with 2 years remaining at $18M/yr. He’ll always shoot well, but he’s a defensive liability now.
As for Gafford:
– When healthy, he’s an upgrade over Richards, but not by much.
– Big injury risk. He’s missed half his games over the past 3 seasons.
Hardy, obviously, is an after-thought. He’d be playing behind at least 5 players.
This was just a nightmare year for Kevin Durant. Not going to sugarcoat it. I know he’s a grown up but we’re all human. We all have feelings. Hope he can get through it…for the love of the game
I feel bad for him his whole career. Kind of unlucky. Made some wrong stops to places. Definitely could be goat material but it might to late and that potential is gone. Example of players with that potential but failed:Shaq, LeBron, Durant, Penny Hardaway, Grant Hill, Sabonis, TMAC, Walton etc etc etc(trying to think of more)
Lebron failed? huh? and none of those guys besides lebron and maybe shaq had any sort of “goat potential”