Suns 2024 NBA free agency primer: Targets, trades and tidbits

Now that the 2024 NBA Draft is in the rearview, the Phoenix Suns turn their full attention to free agency to fill their remaining roster needs.

We covered some of this already in our 2024 offseason primer, but in an effort to make everything easier for Suns fans, we’ve gathered everything you need to know about this year’s free agency period in one convenient place!

From the current state of the Suns roster, to second tax apron rules, to potential trade avenues for every player under contract, to sensible free-agency targets at each position, to new tidbits on Royce O’Neale, Josh Okogie, Bol Bol, Eric Gordon, Drew Eubanks and Damion Lee, there is a LOT of information for fans to digest.

Let’s dive right in, starting with the latest on the current state of the roster and the Suns’ impending free agents.

Current State of the roster and Updates on the Suns’ own free agents

As of right now, the Suns have seven players officially under contract for next season, coming in at a total of $194.1 million:

• Kevin Durant: $51.2 million
• Bradley Beal: $50.2 million
• Devin Booker: $49.4 million
• Jusuf Nurkic: $18.1 million
• Grayson Allen: $15.6 million
• Nassir Little: $6.8 million
• David Roddy: $2.8 million

Those seven players already put Phoenix above the NBA’s $189.5 million threshold for the second tax apron, and there are four more players who have player options for next season:

• Damion Lee: $2.8 million
• Josh Okogie: $3 million
• Drew Eubanks: $2.7 million
• Eric Gordon: $3.4 million

Gordon and Eubanks will be opting out and looking to sign elsewhere after struggling in their respective roles.

Eubanks failed to fill the backup center role, with his pick-and-roll chemistry and presence as a lob threat never really materializing the way it did in Portland. The Suns posted a -4.1 Net Rating when Eubanks played and a +6.0 Net Rating when he sat. That swing of 10.1 points per 100 possessions was drastic, and his -21.3 Net Rating in 37 playoff minutes was untenable when Phoenix needed an alternative behind Nurkic.

As for Gordon, Phoenix will need to replace his willingness to let it fly from beyond the arc, since the 35-year-old veteran ranked third on the team in 3-point attempts (5.8 per game) and knocked down 37.8 percent of them. But Gordon’s production was inconsistent, and there’s a good chance his role would’ve been diminished moving forward, even with Mike Budenholzer placing an emphasis on taking more 3s.

HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto reported Okogie will opt out as well, but according to a source who spoke with PHNX Sports, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s leaving. The Suns will aim to re-sign him for a little bit more than the veteran minimum, and they think they’ll be able to do so.

Phoenix can re-sign Okogie using his Early Bird rights, which allow teams to re-sign their own free agents for up to 175 percent of their previous salary (which would be around $4.9 million in this case) or up to 105 percent of the league-average salary from the season prior (around $10.5 million), all while maintaining a lower cap hit.

How high Phoenix goes in re-signing him remains to be seen, but even after drafting an elite defender like Ryan Dunn, Okogie is a hyperactive point-of-attack defender in the backcourt — something Budenholzer’s defenses enjoyed in Milwaukee with Jrue Holiday.

Damion Lee was expected to opt in, which would have made sense, since Lee loves Phoenix, is coming of an entire missed season due to a nasty meniscus injury, and could have replaced some of Gordon’s 3-point shooting at the 2-spot. It shouldn’t be forgotten that Lee shot a career-high 44.5 percent from 3 his first year in Phoenix, ranking third in the entire NBA in 3-point efficiency that season.

However, Lee ultimately decided to opt out instead, and similar to Okogie, the expectation is that he re-signs with the Suns for an amount slightly above the vet minimum.

Update: The Suns have reportedly agreed to re-sign Royce O’Neale for four years and $44 million. For more thoughts and a grade for the deal, read here. They also were able to agree to a one-year, $2.4 million deal to bring Bol Bol back.

As for the Suns’ other free agents, Royce O’Neale and Bol Bol are the two to keep an eye on. Bringing back O’Neale is Phoenix’s top priority, and they’re fully confident they will retain one of their top-six players from last season. His value around the league is somewhere around the non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($12.9 million), and as we’ve covered extensively before, re-signing him is the only move that makes sense for Phoenix, both on the court and from a financial perspective.

On the court, O’Neale averaged 8.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 25.1 minutes per game. He only shot 41.1 percent overall, but he made 37.6 percent of his 5.2 3-point attempts per game, including 43.4 percent of his corner 3s, 37.8 percent of his catch-and-shoot 3s and 40.3 percent of his wide-open 3s.

O’Neale struggled during the playoffs outside of Game 1, but pretty much everyone on the roster struggled in that four-game sweep. It’s also worth remembering that Phoenix posted a team-best +9.4 Net Rating with O’Neale on the court last year, and a team-worst -4.1 Net Rating when he sat.

Even if you’re not sold on O’Neale’s value as a willing 3-point shooter, offensive glue guy and communicative wing defender, from a financial perspective, letting him walk for nothing would provide zero benefit. The Suns are already over the salary cap and the second tax apron, so letting O’Neale sign elsewhere wouldn’t free up cap space to use on other free agents. As a second tax apron team, Phoenix won’t have a mid-level exception at their disposal, and the restrictions elsewhere limit their trade flexibility:

The Suns need more defensive-minded wings, and the only entity being negatively impacted by re-signing O’Neale is Mat Ishbia’s wallet, due to the expensive luxury tax implications. But Ishbia has asserted multiple times that he will do whatever it takes to build a winner, and he’s backed that public stance up with multiple moves that added to Phoenix’s significant tax bill.

Don’t be surprised to see O’Neale re-sign for a three- or four-year deal worth $11-14 million annually, since signing him to an amount near that $12.9 million MLE gives the Suns extra trade flexibility down the line. If Phoenix can only send one player out at a time because they’re not allowed to aggregate outgoing salaries, and if they can’t take back more money than they send out in any trade, it would make sense to structure O’Neale’s deal to allow the Suns to trade for players in that MLE price range, should they need to do so down the road.

Bol Bol is the tricky one. The Suns definitely want to re-sign him, and there’s appeal on Bol’s end too, since he got to play alongside his favorite player growing up in Kevin Durant while also putting together an impressive second half of the season. Phoenix went 18-6 this season when Bol played double-digit minutes, and in those 24 games, he averaged 8.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in 15.9 minutes per game on 64.1 percent shooting, including 51.2 percent from 3.

Given that it was the first time in Bol’s young NBA career that he showed such promise on a playoff team, a reunion could be in everyone’s best interest. However, the Suns are limited in what they can offer from a financial standpoint. Using Bol’s non-Bird rights, Phoenix can only offer up to 120 percent of his 2023-24 salary, which would amount to approximately $2.4 million. An outside team willing to take a flier could easily surpass that if there’s enough interest, but Phoenix will do what it can to keep him in the Valley.

The Suns are hopeful to retain at least two of that O’Neale-Okogie-Bol trio, with all three coming back in a best-case scenario. Their biggest need at that point would be “adding a point guard, maybe even two,” according to a source. It’s worth reminding people that landing a starting-caliber point guard on a veteran minimum deal is highly unlikely and isn’t necessary anyway.

All in all, the Suns are aiming to address their flaws on the margins rather than take the “blow it up” path. They’ve been adamant for weeks now about keeping their Big 3 intact, running it back, tweaking on the edges, and relying on a new coach, better continuity and hopefully more than 40 games with the Big 3 healthy together to make the biggest difference. Mat Ishbia and general manager James Jones have publicly shot down anything to the contrary as recently as draft week.

So after all that, and after landing Jalen Bridges on a two-way contract over other suitors, plus signing Tyrese Samuel and Boo Buie to Exhibit-10 deals, let’s examine how the roster looks so far.

If they keep O’Neale, Okogie and Bol while signing Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro to rookie deals, Phoenix will have two open roster spots. If they only keep two of O’Neale, Okogie and Bol while adding the two rookies, they’ll have three open roster spots.

Fight the impulse to argue positions since most of these guys play multiple spots on the floor, but here’s a tentative look at the depth chart:

• PG: Devin Booker, Josh Okogie(?), ???
• SG: Bradley Beal, Grayson Allen, Damion Lee
• SF: Kevin Durant, Nassir Little, David Roddy
• PF: Royce O’Neale(?), Ryan Dunn, Bol Bol(?)
• C: Jusuf Nurkic, Oso Ighodaro, ???
• Two-way contracts: Jalen Bridges, ???, ???
• Exhibit 10 deals: Tyrese Samuel, Boo Buie

Additional reading:

• Why the Suns don’t need a starting PG (and probably can’t get one anyway): Read here
• ESPN’s Bobby Marks answers second tax apron questions: Read here
• Why re-signing Royce O’Neale is the Suns’ only option: Read here
• The Suns don’t need to blow it up (and 5 other Suns myths): Read here
• The Suns’ best way out is through: Read here

Suns hypothetical Trade possibilities

On the trade front, it’s important to remember that Phoenix’s trade flexibility will be limited by the second tax apron. With basically one-third of the league in the first or second apron as well, general managers and executives — like the recently-hired Matt Tellem — will have their work cut out for them trying to negotiate deals.

If you glossed over the second tax apron rules earlier, the following restrictions need to sink in for this section:

1. The Suns cannot aggregate outgoing players in any trade. Regardless of how many players are involved, or how many are coming back, Phoenix CANNOT trade away more than one player at a time in the same deal. Three-team trades where the Suns send one player to one team and another player to the third team don’t work either. They can attach picks to a player in a trade, but they cannot perform any deal where more than one Suns player is on the way out.
2. The Suns cannot take back more salary than they send out in a trade. This, combined with Rule No. 1, means any player Phoenix trades for has to have a salary that is less than the salary of whatever player they’re sending out. They can only send out one player at a time, and they can only take back less salary than that of the outgoing player.
3. The Suns cannot send cash in a trade. Cash has often been used as a sweetener for more minor trades, but Phoenix cannot attach money to any player they trade. That’s why Phoenix couldn’t simply buy a second-round pick in this year’s draft.

In terms of draft capital that the Suns can attach to a player in a trade, here’s what they are allowed to offer outright:

• Suns’ own 2031 first-round pick
• Suns’ own 2031 second-round pick
• A 2026 second-round pick from the Denver Nuggets (acquired on draft night after trading down from No. 22 to No. 28)
• A 2031 second-round pick from the Denver Nuggets (acquired in the same draft-night trade)

Adding two second-round picks is useful in giving Phoenix more avenues to sweeten deals. For example, a Nassir Little trade can only bring back $6.8 million in salary, and a David Roddy trade can only bring back $2.8 million in salary. Attaching that 2031 first-round pick in order to get such a deal done would’ve been untenable for Phoenix, because in most cases, players in that salary range aren’t good enough for that kind of valuable pick.

But if the Suns can tack on a second-round pick instead? That feels more viable in bridging the gap between “we can only offer you this bench player” and “fine, take our potentially valuable 2031 first-rounder too.”

In terms of actual trade scenarios and trade targets, here’s what we came up with over the last few weeks. Some of these deals could really be helped by subbing in some of those second-round picks instead of Phoenix’s 2031 first-round pick, but this exercise was meant to be a thought experiment to paint a picture of what is and isn’t possible under the new CBA:

• 25 potential Nassir Little and David Roddy trades: Read here
• 20 potential Jusuf Nurkic trades: Read here
• 15 potential Grayson Allen trades: Read here

It’s important to note that I went through all 29 teams’ cap situations to try and find viable trades for all seven Suns players currently have under contract. Most of the Nurkic trades don’t involve a center coming back to Phoenix, and it’s hard to envision them finding a deal that nets an upgrade at the 5-spot.

Many of the Little and Roddy trades feel like lateral moves, although some of them might make more sense now that the Suns can attach second-round picks instead of having to resort to the 2031 first-rounder. As for Allen, he can’t be traded until Oct. 15, six months after signing his recent contract extension.

And then we get to trade scenarios for the Big 3, which — we cannot emphasize this enough — WILL NOT HAPPEN. The Suns aren’t trading Booker, KD or Beal this summer. None of those guys wants out. And after sifting through various trade options for each one, the inevitable conclusion is that Phoenix’s best option is probably to run it back.

• 8 terrible Bradley Beal trades that won’t happen: Read here
• 15 Devin Booker trades that will never happen: Read here
• 10 Kevin Durant trades that won’t happen: Read here

Suns potential Free agency targets

Finally, how about some actually free-agency targets? Over the last four weeks, we’ve covered the best possible targets at every position who might be available in that veteran minimum price range. As a second tax apron team, the Suns don’t have access to the mid-level exception, bi-annual exception or room exception, leaving them with only vet minimums to offer outside free agents.

Even so, it’s vital for Phoenix to hit on the margins with their vet minimum guys and address some glaring needs at backup point guard, on the wing and at the center spot. Last year’s vet minimum crop of Gordon, Eubanks, Keita Bates-Diop, Yuta Watanabe and Chimezie Metu seemed good, but three of them were gone by the trade deadline, and all five failed to last longer than one season in the Valley.

So who should the Suns target to fill their remaining holes?

• 20 pie-in-the-sky Suns targets in free agency: Read more
• Ranking Suns’ top-15 point guard options in free agency: Read more
• Ranking Suns’ top-20 wing options in free agency: Read more
• Ranking Suns’ top-15 center options in free agency: Read more

Note: We’ve updated the four articles above to reflect recent trades, player option decisions and contracts becoming guaranteed.