Contract
What is great about having Warren on the roster at this very moment, is that for at least one more season, he will come as an absolute bargain for what he is producing. With one more season remaining in his rookie deal, Warren will only earn $3.1+M this coming season before entering restricted free agency. He will then be ready for an extension and a payday, although even that payday is not likely to be of the level that will break the bank. If the Suns can keep him around for an average of $12-13M a year while he continues to grow and develop, they will have him at a steal.
To further put his salary into perspective, rookie Josh Jackson will make nearly twice what Warren will make this season, simply because he was drafted after the recent explosion in salary cap revenue. The fans and the Suns franchise know what Warren is capable of producing next season because they have seen three years of growth to that point. So while there is great expectation for what Jackson can do in his career, odds are that even if he were given the starters role immediately, he would not be able to produce the kind of stats that Warren is almost guaranteed to produce this season, if healthy.
Thus, while obviously Kyrie Irving would be a huge haul if traded for, the Suns would be giving up a very comfortable contract in Warren’s for the time of numbers that he produces – something that would be extremely difficult to swallow come 2019 if Irving opts out and decides to move on.