This is where Christian Wood, an unrestricted free agent coming off a breakout year with the Detroit Pistons, comes into play. In an offseason where most teams will be devoid of significant cap space, the MLE on an ascending playoff team that’s creating some buzz could start to look more and more attractive. However, this is where having a star-studded backcourt and a guy like Chris Paul makes the Suns a more attractive destination. For the big-name Suns targets like Danilo Gallinari, Serge Ibaka and Davis Bertans, that might be a nonstarter, as the market might be willing to offer more. In short, whatever “big fish” Phoenix tries to land in free agency will have to agree to that $9.3 million MLE. This, of course, begs the question: Without significant cap space and only those two exceptions to work with, what does this approach mean for Phoenix’s pursuit of other free agents? 10 pick ($4.3 million), and the cap holds of Dario Saric ($10.4 million), Aron Baynes ($10.4 million) and Jevon Carter ($1.9 million) get the Suns over the $109.1 million salary cap threshold. Include the rookie salary for Hayes as the No. That means that, while they lose the potential $16-17 million of cap space they could have created by waiting on CP3 and renouncing the rights to their free agents, they’ll retain the Bird Rights of those free agents while still possessing their Mid-Level Exception ($9.3 million) and Bi-Annual Exception ($3.6 million), both of which only kick in for teams operating over the cap.īetween Paul, Booker, Ayton, Bridges, Cam Johnson and Abdel Nader, that’s $91.2 million is salary. Step 3: Convince Christian Wood to sign for Mid-Level Exceptionīy making the Chris Paul trade official and not waiting until after the start of free agency, the Suns are essentially operating as an “over the cap” team. He’s got great size at 6-foot-5 with a 6-foot-8 wingspan, and while the Suns can’t go wrong with Vassell or Haliburton in this spot, we’re sticking with Hayes learning from CP3 in Step 2 of the master plan. The Suns are probably wary and weary of long-term projects from overseas that never pan out, but this 19-year-old French prospect can make plays, create his own shot and facilitate in the pick-and-roll. Maybe it’s an outright speedster like the lightweight Kira Lewis Jr., or a potential reach of a pick like the dynamic scoring guard Grant Riller.įor our intents and purposes, we’re going with Killian Hayes, who’s a bit more of a project but has a high ceiling for a team willing to be patient. Maybe it’s Tyrese Haliburton, a high-I.Q., 6-foot-5 playmaking guard. The Suns should take the best player available, but again, there will be options and differing opinions on who that actually is. There’s never been a better time to invest than right now, when CP3 will be able to groom a rookie point guard from day one. 10, especially because a defense with him and Mikal Bridges patrolling the perimeter would be stifling, but Phoenix needs to start looking for its long-term solution at the 1-spot. Assuming Jones is done making moves and keeps the pick (which, you never know!), the Suns can either go with a wing … or a point guard prospect for CP3 to mentor.ĭevin Vassell will be awfully tempting here if he’s still available at No. 10, as we covered extensively with our Suns draft board. Now that it’s become a reality, it’s only right that we take a look at a few specific moves the Suns can actually make in the next week to keep their idyllic offseason going. Landing a top-25 player of Paul’s caliber would’ve felt like an ideal dream scenario not too long ago. 10 overall pick or their 2021 selection in a loaded draft class, there’s still work left to be done in the offseason. With that being said, as comforting as it was for general manager James Jones to add Paul without surrendering Bridges, Johnson, the Suns’ No. Phoenix is prepared to take the next step in its long-winding path back to relevance, and that step is ending a 10-year playoff drought in 2021. Trading for Chris Paul cements the rising Suns - fresh off their 8-0 breakthrough moment in the Orlando bubble - as a legitimate playoff team.īetween CP3, Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton, Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson, the Suns already have an impressive, mostly young core to build around. The Phoenix Suns made their move for Chris Paul, but they still have work to do this offseason.īefore the 2020 NBA Draft begins on Monday, before free agency kicks off on Friday, the Phoenix Suns‘ offseason has already been a resounding success.
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