Grade the deal: Suns land Mason Plumlee on 1-year veteran minimum contract

The Phoenix Suns needed to bolster their center rotation, and they were able to do so on the first day of 2024 NBA free agency by finding an upgrade over Drew Eubanks. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Mason Plumlee has agreed to a one-year deal with the Suns.

All Phoenix had to offer was a veteran minimum deal, and since Plumlee has been in the league for 10-plus years, his vet minimum will be worth $3.3 million for the upcoming season. Per Spotrac, his cap hit for that vet minimum will only be $2.1 million.

Suns land Mason Plumlee on 1-year deal

Mason Plumlee was ranked No. 6 on our list of top-15 center targets for the Suns to consider in free agency, and he might have been higher if not for two primary concerns: whether Phoenix could actually get him on a vet minimum deal, and his recent injury history.

Obviously he wound up fitting within the Suns’ limited price range, but on the injury front, it’s worth pointing out that Plumlee is coming off a year where he was sidelined by a sprained MCL for about two months in the middle of the season. That limited him to 46 games and undoubtedly impacted his production, as Plumlee’s numbers dropped to 5.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 14.7 minutes per game on 56.9 percent shooting overall.

The LA Clippers signing another quality backup in Daniel Theis once Plumlee went down likely contributed to his struggles as well. Plumlee got the nod over Theis in the playoffs, but it appears either the Clippers were comfortable letting him walk, or Plumlee saw the writing on the wall with Paul George set to leave and decided to find a new NBA home as well.

In any case, before last year’s MCL sprain, Mason Plumlee played in 79 games in 2022-23 and 73 games the year prior. He’s no spring chicken at 34 years old, but the bigger concern is that he struggled when he was out there, mostly as a byproduct of the injury. The hope is that a fully healthy Mason Plumlee will look better than he did last season, but even in an injury-riddled year, the Clippers backup big brought some desirable traits to the table.

For starters, he’s been a reliable finisher around the basket for the majority of his career. According to Cleaning The Glass, which filters out garbage time, Plumlee had shot 70 percent or better at the rim for five straight seasons until last year, when he dipped to 66 percent. He’s no longer the spry, high-flying lob threat he once was, but he’ll bring more to the table on the rim-running front than Jusuf Nurkic or Eubanks did last year.

As a screen-setter and playmaker in the short roll, Plumlee will be able to carry over quite a bit of what Nurk brings to the table. According to The BBall Index, he ranked in the 93rd percentile in screen assists per 75 possessions, as well as the 95th percentile in points per possession as the roll man in pick-and-rolls (1.21). He also has decent passing chops, placing in the 88th percentile in passing creation quality.

Defensively, Mason Plumlee is one of the most committed rim contesters in the league. In fact, on a per 75 possessions basis, no one contested more shots at the rim than him:

Obviously he’s not the best rim protector, as his 0.4 blocks per game can attest, but holding opponents to 6.2 percent worse shooting at the rim while contesting that many shots is still pretty impressive.

On the perimeter, Plumlee may be prone to some of the same issues that plagued Phoenix with Nurkic in those situations. Perhaps a return to full health will mitigate some of them, but more than likely, the Suns will have to turn to second-round rookie Oso Ighodaro if they want perimeter mobility out of their center spot.

The waning athleticism and questions over whether he can get back to pre-MCL Plumlee means there are some valid concerns here, but armed with only vet minimum contracts, any center who was a realistic target for the Suns would’ve had flaws of some kind.

Between drafting Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro, re-signing Royce O’Neale and bringing back Bol Bol, the Suns will have 12 roster spots filled once they sign everyone to their contracts. Despite opting out, a source told PHNX Sports, that Josh Okogie (early Bird rights) and Damion Lee (non-Bird rights) could both re-sign as well.

Is Mason Plumlee the type of move that solves all the Suns’ problems or makes Nurkic expendable? No. But he’s a clear upgrade over what they had behind their starting center last year, and Plumlee is an experienced vet who knows his role, hits the glass hard, sets good screens, and rolls with intent.

Surrounded by talent like Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, Plumlee is the type of two-way role player that can still be valuable in the right system. He’s comfortable with drop coverage, which is what coach Mike Budenholzer frequently stuck with in Milwaukee, and he can improve those second unit stints by simply being serviceable and deterring shots near the basket.

Grade: B