Phoenix Suns: Complete 2021 offseason grades

It has been a busy summer for the Phoenix Suns coming off an exciting, unexpected run to the NBA Finals. With so many players becoming free agents, general manager James Jones had his hands full trying to keep a championship-caliber roster intact.

Chris Paul, Cameron Payne, Torrey Craig, Abdel Nader, Frank Kaminsky, Langston Galloway and E’Twaun Moore were all able to become free agents. The Suns also had a glaring need in the frontcourt after Dario Saric’s devastating ACL tear, and with Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges due for rookie contract extensions, this team’s means for making any splashy moves were limited.

Bearing that in mind, we’re going through each maneuver the Suns made this summer, explore how it fits into the bigger picture and hand out some offseason grades.

THE LANDRY SHAMET TRADE

James Jones must not have liked his options late in the first round of the 2021 NBA Draft, because he had no problem tossing the 29th overall pick along with Jevon Carter in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets. In an effort to build on Phoenix’s already-impressive depth, Jones punted on the draft by dealing for Landry Shamet, a 24-year-old off-guard who will spread the floor nicely in Phoenix.

Last season, Shamet knocked down 38.7 percent of his 5.5 3-point attempts per game — numbers right on par with his career averages of 39.7 percent shooting from deep on 5.3 attempts per game. More than 70 percent of his career field goal attempts have come from beyond the arc, so Jones will be hoping that Shamet can provide the Suns with a reliable spot-up shooter.

Aside from the 29th pick (which Brooklyn used on North Carolina center Day’Ron Sharpe), losing a fan favorite and bulldog defender like Carter stings. But he had no place in the Suns’ playoff rotation, and that was unlikely to change as they gear up for another Finals run. Shamet’s defensive flaws could very well keep him out of the playoff rotation too, but he figures to be a steadier contributor during the regular season and could log postseason minutes off the bench because of his pure 3-point stroke and his ability to play alongside either Devin Booker or Chris Paul.

He could amount to a one-year rental, but Shamet is still young and the Suns will have an advantage if he makes himself indispensable, given that he’s a restricted free agent. Taking this kind of one-year flier and bolstering the depth chart is a good move, even if his arrival may not impact Phoenix’s final eight-man playoff rotation much.

Grade: B

STEALING CAM PAYNE

While everyone was fussing over what kind of contract it would take to re-sign Chris Paul, the contract for their backup point guard snuck in out of nowhere. Simply put, re-signing Cam Payne to a three-year, $19 million deal was nothing short of highway robbery.

Payne’s averages — 8.4 points and 3.6 assists in 18 minutes per game — may not have shown it, but he was legitimately one of the best backup point guards in the NBA last season. His ability to push the ball and get downhill injected pace into a Suns team that often played much slower with Paul at the helm. Payne was also one of the most lethal pull-up shooters in the league, making 44 percent of his 3s overall, and his performance in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals was overshadowed only by the unforgettable “Valley-Oop” that sealed the deal.

That moment never happens without Payne’s 29-point detonation though.

Payne is only 27 years old still, and he’s clearly playing the best basketball of his career now that he’s under a head coach he’s familiar with in Monty Williams. With the Suns needing to dial back Paul’s minutes in the coming seasons, having a high-end backup was paramount. This deal not only secured one who is well liked and already familiar with the offense, but it came at a bargain price that few were expecting. Eventually Phoenix will need to groom a successor behind the Point God, but even if that doesn’t wind up being Cam Payne, keeping him at a mere $6 million a season can only be a good thing.

Grade: A+

RETAINING THE POINT GOD

The gaudy “four-year, $120 million contract” attracted all of the attention, but Chris Paul really did the Suns a solid with the deal he signed. Coming off an incredibly fun and successful season that was teeming with franchise-wide progress and growth on the part of the youngsters, bringing back CP3 was priority No. 1 for the offseason. By taking care of that first piece of business and not haggling over price, the Suns ensured that they’ll be right back in the title hunt out West next season.

In all honesty, re-signing Paul to a fully guaranteed deal somewhere in the three-year, $100 million range would have been fine — a bit dicey, given that he would’ve been paid through his age-38 season, but a necessary evil to keep a championship-caliber turnaround humming. So what the Suns were able to do was nothing short of brilliant from a risk-management perspective. The third year on Paul’s deal is only partially guaranteed for $15 million, per Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro, and the final season is a $30 million team option. Basically, if Chris Paul only plays two more seasons for the Suns, he’d be owed $75 million. If he plays three years, he gets $90 million, and if he’s somehow still chugging along at age 39, only then would he get the full $120 million.

This deal offers great protection against injury risk and the inevitable decline of Father Time. It reduces Paul’s annual salary from that $44.2 million player option he had, and it shows Devin Booker this franchise is committed to keeping a winning product on the court. There’s no guarantee that Paul will stay healthy or continue to compete at an All-NBA level over the next few years, but the Suns have kept their immediate title window open while installing as many failsafes as possible.

Grade: A

ADDING JAVALE MCGEE

Anyone who watched the Suns get pulverized on the offensive glass in the Finals knows how much that frontcourt depth mattered in that matchup. The Milwaukee Bucks were an uncharacteristically massive team, but with Saric sidelined, Kaminsky being rail-thin and Ayton dealing with foul trouble or simply needing a breather every now and then, Phoenix could’ve used a third big with size, strength and a bit of rim protection to help out inside.

JaVale McGee isn’t exactly known for beating up opponents with brute force, but he is a seven-footer who can protect the basket, serve as a vertical threat on the other end and crash the offensive glass. A three-time NBA champion and recent Olympic gold medalist, McGee has plenty of experience with being able to fill a limited role on teams making deep playoff runs. He only put up 7.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in his 14.7 minutes per game last season, and he’s 33 years old now, but he still ranked 10th in the league in blocks per 36 minutes among all qualified players.

The only drawback here is the price. While a one-year, $5 million contract hardly breaks the bank, it is curious that the Suns decided to dip into their Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception (worth $9.5 million) to get the job done, and in hindsight, it may have served as an indicator Phoenix was done making notable moves in free agency.

Grade: B+

ANOTHER YEAR FOR KAMINSKY KOVE

Depth is crucial during the regular season. In a long, 82-game slog, having capable 10th, 11th and 12th men coming off the bench can make all the difference between a win here and a loss there, which ultimately can influence playoff seeding and home-court advantage. Even after a Finals run, a younger team like the Suns should capitalize on every advantage it can get. Bearing James Jones’ 3×5 index card approach to roster-building (going three-deep at all five positions), bringing back Frank Kaminsky at the veteran minimum price of $2.1 million is a good move.

It’s not one that will ultimately have much bearing on a playoff series, as Suns fans witnessed firsthand in the Finals when Saric went down in Game 1. When Ayton had a few struggles with foul trouble, or even when he simply needed a breather, Phoenix was punished by the Bucks’ size advantage. Kaminsky did his best, particularly with a commendable 6-point performance in the elimination Game 6, but it wasn’t enough to stem the tide.

His return won’t change that potential disadvantage, but Monty Williams has always praised Frank the Tank for being a “connector” who can put the ball on the floor and facilitate from the top of the key. His 36.5 percent shooting from beyond the arc certainly doesn’t hurt either, since it made him one of five qualified players 7 feet or taller to hit at least 36 percent of their 3-pointers last year. For a frontcourt that will be missing Saric all season, having Kaminsky as a capable third-string big, especially since he’s a different archetype from the Ayton/McGee mold, is a big help. Maintaining continuity here is a decent albeit unexciting move.

Grade: B-

RE-SIGNING ABDEL NADER

Like Kaminsky, re-signing Abdel Nader isn’t quite as exciting as, say, signing Paul Millsap or a trade for Thaddeus Young would have been. But with Torrey Craig joining the Indiana Pacers, padding that wing depth became key. 

Nader brings a few traits to the table that many of the other Suns wings simply don’t. While it was easy to bemoan his tunnel vision at times, Nader does put pressure on the rim off the bounce. Monty’s decision to reinsert him into the rotation in the middle of the conference finals after Nader hadn’t played for three months due to knee surgery was baffling, but that shouldn’t overshadow his routine contributions off the bench before Craig’s arrival.

Not only did Nader knock down 41.9 percent of his 3s, but he averaged 3.5 drives per game — more than all but eight players in the league who logged fewer than 15 minutes a night like he did. He’s a rangy wing who can at least offer resistance on the defensive end, thanks to his impressive wingspan. For just two years and $4.2 million (with a team option for the second year), the Suns could have done much worse than a guy who was helping the NBA’s best second unit prior to his injury.

Grade: B-

THE RETURN OF ELFRID PAYTON

The name “Elfrid Payton” should give any Knicks fan PTSD at this point, but therein lies the beauty (or at the very least the reasoning) for this signing: Payton won’t be miscast as a starting point guard in Phoenix like he was in New York. In a third-string role, the Suns could do a lot worse than a guy who was starting playoff games last year. He brings a different look to the point guard position, with his 6-foot-3 frame, defense and ability to put pressure on the rim serving as welcome additions in a pinch.

With that being said, this is hardly an addition to be animated about. Payton may prove useful on the nights where Monty tries to rein in Chris Paul’s minutes, but Payton’s 47.8 true shooting percentage was abysmal, he had a down year finishing at the rim and the Knicks were 8.9 points per 100 possessions worse with him on the floor. On a veteran minimum deal worth $2.2 million, this isn’t a bad move. It’ll just take some proving to convince anyone it deserves more than a passing grade.

Grade: C+

OVERALL

The Suns had several major offseason priorities coming off an incredibly surprising run that ended two wins shy of a championship. They needed to bring Chris Paul back at a somewhat reasonable price, give Cam Payne his payday before another team swooped in, add a capable backup big man, retain some of their bench depth and fill out the rest of the roster with limited means. They accomplished all of that, implementing safeguards in CP3’s contract, getting a steal with Payne’s deal, landing McGee to replace Saric, bringing back Nader and Kaminsky, and rounding out the new additions with the sharpshooting Shamet and the stable but unsexy Payton.

One could probably knock the Suns for not landing that one extra piece that might actually crack their tightened playoff rotation. Unless a Thad Young trade materializes at some point this season, Phoenix’s top-eight guys will largely remain the same, which means this group will be depending entirely on internal growth to get over that final hump. That’s not an impossible proposition, but it’s unlikely Phoenix will enjoy as favorable a path to the Finals as last year. Jones’ work isn’t quite done yet either, since rookie extensions for both Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges still loom in the backdrop. This grade could quickly change based on what those agreements look like, and until they’re done, this offseason still feels somewhat incomplete.

With that being said, there’s nothing wrong with keeping a Finals contender together and hoping that Booker (24), Ayton (23), Bridges (25) and Cam Johnson (25) still have another leap in them. The West is still wide open due to aging stars and injury woes, and opting for continuity is a fundamentally sound strategy if you’re a team like Phoenix that boasts the NBA’s best record since the start of the bubble last year. If Paul can remain healthy, the Suns have as good a shot as anyone to win it all. You don’t reach that point without a quietly successful offseason like this.

Grade: A-