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2020/21 Salary Cap Preview: Phoenix Suns

May 19th, 2020 at 4:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors is looking ahead at the 2020/21 salary cap situations for all 30 NBA teams. Due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the NBA, it’s impossible to know yet where the cap for 2020/21 will land. Given the league’s lost revenue, we’re assuming for now that it will stay the same as the ’19/20 cap, but it’s entirely possible it will end up higher or lower than that.

The Suns’ .400 winning percentage in 2019/20 technically represents the organization’s best mark since 2014/15. Still, the team – which had a 26-39 record when the NBA suspended its season – has yet to take a major step forward in its rebuild.

Continued development from Booker, Ayton, and Phoenix’s other young players will be the most important factor in Phoenix’s return to playoff contention. Still, there could be another path to improvement this offseason, as the Suns may be one of the NBA’s only teams with cap room, depending on what they decide to do with Dario Saric and Aron Baynes.

Here’s where things stand for the Suns financially in 2020/21, as we continue our Salary Cap Preview series:

Guaranteed Salary

Devin Booker ($29,467,800)
Ricky Rubio ($17,000,000)
Kelly Oubre ($14,375,000)
Deandre Ayton ($10,018,200)
Mikal Bridges ($4,359,000)
Cameron Johnson ($4,235,160)
Ty Jerome ($2,303,040)
Jalen Lecque ($1,517,981)
Total: $83,276,181

Player Options

None

Team Options

Frank Kaminsky ($5,005,350)
Cheick Diallo ($1,824,003)
Total: $6,829,353

Non-Guaranteed Salary

Cameron Payne ($1,977,011)
Elie Okobo ($1,663,861) ¹
Total: $3,640,872

Restricted Free Agents

Dario Saric ($5,087,871 qualifying offer / $10,445,958 cap hold): Bird rights
Jevon Carter ($1,820,524 qualifying offer / $1,820,524 cap hold): Early Bird rights
Tariq Owens (two-way qualifying offer / $1,445,697 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
Total (cap holds): $13,712,179

Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds

Aron Baynes ($10,361,232): Bird rights
No. 10 overall pick ($4,245,720) ²
Total: $14,606,952

Offseason Cap Outlook

If we assume the Suns want to maximize their cap room, it would mean they’ll renounce at least Saric and Baynes while also turning down their team option on Kaminsky. In that scenario, the team could open up in the neighborhood of $16-19MM in space even if the cap doesn’t increase.

That’s not an unrealistic path for Phoenix, especially if the club has its eye on one or two specific free agent targets. However, it also wouldn’t be surprising if the Suns attempt to retain one or more of the veterans noted above, particularly Saric. That approach would likely mean operating as an over-the-cap team and gaining access to the full mid-level exception and bi-annual exception.

Cap Exceptions Available

Room exception: $4,767,000 ³

Footnotes

Okobo’s new salary guarantee date is unknown.
The cap hold for this pick will depend on where it ultimately falls in the lottery. Currently, the Suns rank 10th in the lottery standings.
This is a projected value. If the Suns operate as an over-the-cap team, they’d instead have access to have access to the full mid-level exception ($9,258,000) and the bi-annual exception ($3,623,000).

Note: Minimum-salary and rookie-scale cap holds are based on the salary cap and could increase or decrease depending on where the cap lands.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders and Early Bird Rights was used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Arizona To Allow Major League Sports

May 12th, 2020 at 7:20pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has announced (via Twitter) that major league sports can resume “limited reopening” on Saturday, May 16. For now, fans won’t be permitted to attend any games played in the state.

The Suns were aware of Ducey’s announcement and have planned to have their facility reopen as early as May 16 — when the state’s stay-at-home order expires — according to Mark Faller of The Arizona Republic. Phoenix’s players will be able to perform individual workouts, on a voluntary basis, within the guidelines the NBA has set forth.

While the news affects the Suns, it could be more impactful for the MLB, as the league is contemplating playing clusters of games in the state as it looks to start its season. The league’s owners recently finalized a proposal to send to the MLBPA which outlines a plan to return to play.

As a reminder, be sure to follow MLB Trade Rumors for the latest on baseball’s return and more!

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Phoenix Suns

Pacific Notes: Suns, Tatum, Warriors, Kings

May 12th, 2020 at 5:25pm CST by Luke Adams

Celtics forward Jayson Tatum spoke this week about being enamored by the Suns leading up to the 2017 draft and hoping to fall to Phoenix at No. 4. According to Tatum, a meeting with the Suns’ then-coach Earl Watson a few days before the draft helped sell him on the organization. Speaking on Monday to Jay King of The Athletic, Watson confirmed that he was high on Tatum during the pre-draft process.

As Watson tells it, he wanted Tatum badly enough that he had some “uncomfortable” conversations with team owner Robert Sarver, who preferred Josh Jackson. Watson tells King that he tried to get the Suns to do whatever it took to get in position to land Tatum.

“I was pushing Tatum,” Watson said. “Like, we had to move up for Tatum, we had to get Tatum. And ownership chose Josh Jackson. … I knew the two players were dynamically different, but my vision was what’s the best fit for Devin Booker. Booker and Tatum, I think a combination like that right now would have been completely different than anything in the NBA at that age.”

Although Watson’s story is compelling, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 pushes back against the former head coach’s recollections of the 2017 draft. According to Gambadoro (via Twitter), the Suns had Tatum ranked ahead of Jackson on their board and would have drafted Tatum if they’d had the opportunity to do so.

As Gambadoro explains (via Twitter), since the Celtics initially controlled the No. 1 pick and had Tatum atop their board, the Suns had no avenue to move up to select the young forward. Presumably, when Boston swung a deal to move down to No. 3, the C’s had assurances that the Sixers and Lakers wouldn’t be trading out of the top two spots, which would have been Phoenix’s only path to Tatum.

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

Teams around the NBA are reopening their practice facilities for individual voluntary workouts, but that won’t happen anytime soon for the Warriors, who are tentatively aiming for June 1, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic. As Slater observes, the last-place Dubs won’t have the same urgency to return to their building as some other California teams might, so they’re “waiting for the (government) order, not influencing it.”
After Klay Thompson recently cautioned against assuming the Warriors‘ dynasty is over, fellow Splash Brother Stephen Curry conveyed a similar sentiment in an interview with Jermaine O’Neal (video link via Chris Montano). “It’s going to look different. It’s going to have a new cast of characters that are going to contribute at a high level,” Curry said. “But the DNA and the chemistry that us three (Curry, Thompson, and Draymond Green) have, we’re going to be in good shape coming out of this.”
Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee takes a look at the financial toll that COVID-19 is taking on the Kings, who are preparing for the possibility of “tens of millions of dollars in uninsured losses.”

Oubre Looks Sharp On Instagram

May 11th, 2020 at 8:42pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Suns wing Kelly Oubre Jr., who underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in early March, showed explosiveness in an Instagram post, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic writes. Oubre, who wasn’t wearing a knee brace in the video, could return to action this season if it resumes, Rankin adds. Oubre will be an unrestricted free agent after the 2020/21 season.

Jayson Tatum Initially Hoped To Be Drafted By Suns In 2017

May 11th, 2020 at 3:03pm CST by Luke Adams

Celtics forward Jayson Tatum has taken steps toward superstardom during his three years in Boston, enjoying a breakout season and becoming an All-NBA candidate in 2019/20. However, appearing on All The Smoke with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson (video link), Tatum admitted that in the days leading up to the 2017 draft, he was hoping he’d end up with the Suns rather than the Celtics.

As Tatum explains, with Markelle Fultz and Lonzo Ball widely expected to go first and second overall, he thought there was a chance he’d go to Philadelphia at No. 3 or Phoenix at No. 4. Just five days before the draft, he visited Phoenix and became smitten with the Suns, who were talking about the idea of pairing him with Devin Booker.

“I called my mom like, ‘I think I want to go to Phoenix,'” Tatum told Barnes and Jackson.

However, the landscape at the top of the draft shifted when the Celtics and Sixers reached an agreement on a trade that would send the No. 1 pick to Philadelphia and the No. 3 pick to Boston. According to Tatum, he got word of that deal shortly after his meeting with the Suns, when he was still in Phoenix.

“My agent calls me, he’s like, ‘Danny Ainge called and said they’re going to trade their pick. They’re going to go to No. 3 and they want you to come to Boston the next day to work out,'” Tatum said. “I’m like, ‘No, I don’t want to go to Boston. I like it out here in Phoenix. It’s cool. The weather’s nice, I’ll get a big house, I’ll get a pool. My mom’s going to be out here.'”

According to Tatum, his agent talked up Boston head coach Brad Stevens and the Celtics’ storied history on that phone call and asked him to think about visiting the team. However, by the end of their conversation, Tatum still wasn’t sold.

“We hang up and I’m like, ‘I’m not going to this workout. I’m cool,'” Tatum said.

As Tatum tells it, it took a call from Mike Krzyzewski, his former head coach at Duke, to convince him to work out for the Celtics. Coach K told the young forward that he could learn a lot from Stevens and that he could succeed in Boston, prompting Tatum to visit the C’s just three days before the draft.

While the former Blue Devil still wasn’t convinced at the time that Phoenix wasn’t a better fit for him, he admits that everything ultimately worked out for the best after Boston selected him with the third overall pick.

“There was a part of me that didn’t really want to go to Boston because they just were the No. 1 team in the East,” Tatum told Barnes and Jackson. “They had Isaiah Thomas, Al Horford, (Marcus) Smart, JB (Jaylen Brown), Jae Crowder. I was like, ‘Man, I’m not going to play.’ … But everything worked out. It was the best decision.”

Latest On Suns' Plans For Reopening Facilities

May 4th, 2020 at 1:21pm CST by Luke Adams

Suns team officials have said that they’re preparing to host voluntary individual workouts at their facilities no earlier than May 16, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. The NBA announced last week that teams may be permitted to reopen practice facilities beginning on May 8, but Arizona’s stay-at-home order will run through at least May 15.

Resuming workouts and potentially playing again this season is a little more complicated for the Suns than for most teams, since the team’s Talking Stick Resort Arena is undergoing renovations and its new practice facility is under construction. As Rankin details, the team is prepared to use its old arena, the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, for workouts — and for games, if the season can be resumed this summer.

Suns Notes: Point Guard, Free Agency, Booker, Baynes

May 2nd, 2020 at 6:31pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Suns will miss out on important opportunities for player evaluation if the season doesn’t resume, states John Hollinger of The Athletic in a conversation with Gina Mizell. Holllinger says after going through several failed attempts to find a back-up point guard, Phoenix could have used Ty Jerome in that role for the remainder of the season to see if he can handle it. He speculates that since Jerome didn’t get the opportunity to prove himself, the Suns will wind up spending resources on the position in free agency.

If Phoenix uses all its cap space to land a power forward, that will leave a room exception of about $5MM to sign a point guard. Hollinger mentions the Clippers’ Reggie Jackson, who formed a connection with Suns executive Jeff Bower in Detroit, as one possibility, along with the Wizards’ Shabazz Napier. Hollinger adds that D.J. Augustin and Jeff Teague may also be available for that price.

He also notes that the team may opt to address the position through the draft. The Suns hold the 10th spot right now, which is probably too low to land any of the top point guard prospects, but Hollinger suggests Alabama’s Kira Lewis could be a sleeper in that range.

There’s more from Phoenix:

The Suns could create up to $24MM in cap room, Hollinger notes in the same piece, which might be enough to attract Danilo Gallinari, Davis Bertans or Paul Millsap, but he notes that the options will shrink if that number is lowered because a loss of revenue due to the hiatus. Depending on what happens in free agency or the draft, Hollinger suggests Phoenix may try to re-sign Aron Baynes and Dario Saric to one-year contracts.
In an interview with Robby Kalland of Dime Magazine, Devin Booker said Monty Williams‘ first priority when he took over as head coach was to change the way the Suns were viewed around the league. “And if that’s having to get a little nasty, play tougher, more physical, but people are going to know when they play against up some talented, hard-working guys,” Booker said.
Baynes is pessimistic about the potential of a “bubble” environment as a way to finish the NBA season, relays Matt Layman of Arizona Sports 98.7. “They’re trying to come up with some scenarios that would work, but I think in terms of everyone being in one hub, how’s that going to work when you have 450 guys and if one guy does test positive then you have to get back in two months of isolation to get back to playing again?” Baynes said this week in an interview with an Australian radio station. “That’s unrealistic and there’s a better way to put all those resources that are being used into something else than professional sport.”

Big Question: Is Sarver Still Making Transactions?

May 1st, 2020 at 8:08pm CST by Dana Gauruder

In an in-depth discussion between The Athletic’s Gina Mizell and John Hollinger regarding the Suns future, Hollinger indicates the biggest question regarding GM James Jones is whether owner Robert Sarver is still calling the shots on basketball decisions. In recent years, Sarver has been heavily involved in the team’s moves, including most of the ones that set back the franchise, Hollinger continued. The team may have to move forward Kelly Oubre Jr. in the coming months due to the two-year, $30MM contract he received last year, Hollinger adds.

Suns Address Draft Needs, Devin Booker’s Point Guard Potential

April 21st, 2020 at 7:08pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Even as the season hangs in limbo, NBA teams continue to prepare for the offseason. The Suns admit that the COVID-19 pandemic has created a “unique” environment for the team to scout talent, as Gina Mizell of The Athletic writes.

The Suns are looking to add play-making, defense, and shooting in the draft. Phoenix has the 10th-worst record in the NBA with 3.0% chance of landing the No. 1 pick.

“We’ll find a player that can fit with this group and embodies what we’re about,” GM James Jones said. “Just having a chance to really dig into it, I’m excited about the draft. I know some people aren’t as high on this draft when it doesn’t have star power or marketing power or sexy names. But I see a lot of good basketball players, and that’s all we’re looking for.”

Jones added that he’s impressed with the current guys on the roster.

“I love our team,” he added. “We can see that we have everything that we need to continue to improve internally.”

Regardless of how the team navigates through the draft and free agency, it’s possible the Devin Booker will get more run at point guard.

“He’s at a point in his career where he’s just making the right plays consistently,” head coach Monty Williams said of Booker. “My thought is, put the ball in his hands about 10-12 minutes — maybe more — per game, and see how that impacts our team.”

Pacific Notes: Warriors, Paul, Draft, Oubre, Kaminsky

April 16th, 2020 at 10:44pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Warriors‘ dynasty almost didn’t happen. Golden State was looking for an All-Star back in 2011 and the franchise offered Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson to New Orleans in exchange for Chris Paul, Ethan Strauss writes in The Victory Machine (h/t Dan Feldman of NBC Sports).

Paul, whose contract expired at the end of that season, reportedly told the Warriors that he would not re-sign with them, which nixed the negotiations. Paul was later dealt to the Lakers in a trade that was vetoed. He ultimately ended up on the Clippers via another trade.

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

If the NBA doesn’t resume, the Warriors are guaranteed a top-five pick and Anthony Slater of The Athletic examines the team’s options with that selection. As Slater details, trading it away for a proven vet is worth exploring, especially if there are no surefire prospects in the draft, as some believe.
Trading down is an option for the Warriors in the draft and Slater (in the same piece) proposes a fun hypothetical deal that sends Kelly Oubre and the Suns‘ pick (projected to be No. 10) to the Warriors for their top-five pick. Oubre would fit in nicely with the team’s core and his salary would fit into the team’s $17.2MM trade exception.
Suns GM James Jones said that Oubre, who underwent meniscus surgery back in February, and Frank Kaminsky, who was dealing with a patella stress fracture, have both medically healed, Gina Mizell of The Athletic tweets. Both have “kind of pressed the pause button” though, as they can’t participate in traditional sports rehab.