The Salary Cap Boom
The reason those bargain deals matter so much is that the NBA’s salary cap is expanding significantly in the next three seasons. In 2016-17, the cap is projected to leap to $89 million. The year after that, it will jump again to $108 million.
A number of superstars signing new contracts may opt for as much flexibility as possible so they can earn even more money in free agency in 2016 and 2017. That means that teams who have locked in their core on favorable deals will have an advantage when everybody suddenly has max-level cap room.
Eric Bledsoe is currently this team’s most expensive player after the Suns re-signed him to a five-year, $70 million extension last summer. But even that will look like something of a bargain by the time the salary cap launches into the stratosphere. The same goes for whatever the Suns re-sign Brandon Knight to this summer (my guess would be something like four years, $60 million).
The contracts of the Morris twins? Absolute chump change in a few years. For a team like the Suns that may struggle to attract superstar free agents this summer (given the nature of the salary cap boom), holding onto those contracts until this legal issue is resolved is imperative…especially since no one else will trade for them until that point anyway.
There may be a large contingent of Suns fans that are ready to trade the Morris twins for a more legitimate star option at power forward, but Phoenix won’t (and shouldn’t) do anything brash. In other words, don’t be expecting Markieff Morris or Marcus Morris to be traded anytime soon.
Next: Should The Phoenix Suns Re-Sign Brandan Wright?