Grade the deal: Suns agree to bring back Damion Lee on 1-year deal

The Phoenix Suns are going to need shooting under coach Mike Budenholzer, and they made sure to provide some help on that front with their latest agreement in 2024 NBA free agency. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, sharpshooter Damion Lee will be returning to Phoenix on a one-year deal.

Lee had opted out of his $2.8 million player option for the upcoming season, but as PHNX Sports reported last week, the expectation was that he would re-sign with the Suns. According to a source, he’ll return on a one-year deal worth the veteran minimum, which would be $2.8 million in this case. His cap hit, however, will come in slightly cheaper, at $2.1 million.

With Lee back, Ryan Dunn officially signing his rookie contract and Monte Morris and Mason Plumlee joining the mix, the Suns will be at 13 fully-rostered players. According to a source, Phoenix is still looking to bring back Josh Okogie for slightly more than the vet minimum using his Bird rights, since other teams are interested in his services as well. That would put the roster at 14.

Oso Ighodaro signing his rookie deal would put Phoenix at 15 fully-rostered players, but a source told PHNX Sports that cutting David Roddy ($2.8 million) or Nassir Little ($21.8 million over the next three years) could be a possibility if the right player — like a Kyle Lowry — were available in free agency.

It’d be an expensive avenue to take, since the Suns would still be on the books for whatever salary they cut, plus that of the incoming signee, but it’s something to bear in mind as Phoenix’s roster spots have filled up quickly.

Damion Lee returning to Suns

Damion Lee returning to the Suns — or an NBA court in general — is an objectively happy story, given the brutal meniscus tear that sidelined him for the entire 2023-24 season.

Lee was forthcoming with AZ Central’s Duane Rankin about how his meniscus essentially tore off the bone, requiring a root repair. He was open about his battle with depression through all of that, and Lee’s love for the city and organization is well known.

At the bare minimum, this is a quality locker room guy to have around.

Lee’s potential impact obviously extends to the court as well. If he’s able to get healthy with a full offseason and training camp to prepare, he has a chance to provide some much-needed shooting for this Suns roster.

Eric Gordon was inconsistent during his one year in the Valley, but when he opted out, Phoenix needed to replace some of the shooting he brought to the table, especially since Gordon ranked third on the team in 3-point attempts and knocked down 37.8 percent of those looks.

There’s no question Damion Lee will be able to help in that respect, given what he’s shown over the course of his NBA career and especially in his lone season with the Suns.

Averaging 8.2 points and 3.0 rebounds in 20.4 minutes per game, Lee shot a career-high 44.5 percent from 3, which ranked third in the NBA during the 2022-23 campaign. It came on only 3.3 attempts per game, but he was an indispensable part of the bench rotation for the first half of the season, forcing opponents to drastically change how they covered him.

There was good reason for that, since D-Lee knocked down a blistering 47 percent of his catch-and-shoot 3s, 40.3 percent of his above-the-break 3s and 51 percent of corner 3s. He also shot a blistering 52.3 percent from downtown in the fourth quarter — the second-best percentage among all 211 players with at least 40 such attempts, per NBA.com.

In fact, more than 40 percent of Lee’s 3-point makes came in the fourth quarter with the Suns, and he also shot an impressive 6-for-11 in crunch-time scenarios (score within five points in the last five minutes). That probably could’ve helped the league’s worst fourth-quarter team from last year!

It’s true that Damion Lee’s role dwindled with Phoenix as the season went along. He played a grand total of 89 minutes across eight playoff games, shooting a disappointing 3-for-15 from beyond the arc in the postseason. Lee also somewhat struggled when opponents were able to close out on him properly, per NBA.com:

• Very tightly guarded: 0-for-0 (0%)
• Tightly guarded: 0-for-4 (0%)
• Open: 26-for-78 (33.3%)
• Wide open: 84-for-165 (50.9%)

However, according to The BBall Index, Lee ranked in the 87th percentile in openness rating and the 97th percentile in 3-point shot quality before the Suns went out and added Kevin Durant and then Bradley Beal a few months later. Any time he’s sharing the court with two or three of Phoenix’s stars, he can provide plenty of gravity as a sniper who ranked in the 94th percentile in points per possession on spot-up looks.

Lee also showed flashes of being able to adjust to defenders frantically running him off the 3-point line. One of the more useful weapons in his arsenal was his running floater before getting too deep into the paint. Lee shot 51.4 percent on floaters that season, and it was the perfect way to bridge the gap between aggressive closeouts and trying to finish over taller, more athletic rim protectors.

Damion Lee grade

All in all, Damion Lee brings one elite skill to the table as a knockdown 3-point shooter. His release is quick, decisive and true: According to NBA.com, a staggering 231 of his 247 attempts last season came on zero dribbles, and 237 of his 247 attempts came on touches lasting less than two seconds.

In other words, Lee won’t force contested shots or take a ton of pull-up 3s. He will, however, cash in on open 3s, and he not only understands his role but embraces it.

“I try to pride myself on just knowing the game and understanding the game and seeing where I can fit,” Lee said. “The reality is, I’m a role player in this league, and I don’t shy away from that. I own that and I see how I can fit with superstars, with great players — what team, what system, whatever that is.”

A summer ago, it was reasonable to wonder if Damion Lee would struggle to find minutes on a roster that had so many 2-guards in Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, Grayson Allen and Eric Gordon. There will be understandable questions about shaking off rust after missing an entire season as well.

But with Gordon gone, and non-shooters like Jusuf Nurkic, Mason Plumlee, Ryan Dunn, Oso Ighodaro, Nassir Little, David Roddy and most likely Josh Okogie threatening the Suns’ spacing, there’s a decent chance Budenholzer gravitates toward reliable 3-point shooting to help space the floor for the bench unit.

If that’s the case, keeping Damion Lee around on a one-year vet minimum deal is smart business, especially as a well-regarded locker room guy.

Grade: B–