Player Activity and Free Agency
With the draft finished, the Suns looked towards their own restricted free agents offering Alex Len and Alan Williams qualifying offers. These qualifying offers granted the Suns every opportunity to match any external offers either player may accept in free agency. Guard Leandro Barbosa had his team option declined, making him an unrestricted free agent, and he remains un-signed. The Suns saved $3.5 million by waiving Barbosa, a sign that the team was looking to get younger at the position.
As a potential replacement for Barbosa, the team signed guard Mike James from oversees on a new two-way contract. While signing a two-way contract implies that James will be shuffling between Phoenix and Prescott, that may not be the case. James will have up to 45 days to be on the active roster. After that the Suns can choose to convert his contract to a standard one for the rest of the season. He will look to compete for minutes at point guard behind Eric Bledsoe and Tyler Ulis.
On July 9, the Phoenix Suns re-signed Alan Williams to a three year $17 million deal. By retaining Williams Phoenix is banking on Alan’s attributes on and off the court to bring energy and excitement to the roster. Being a local kid, Williams has shown a love for the community that only a born and raised Phoenician could. William’s energy and excitement off the bench his contagious while being the heartbeat for the team.
Unfortunately, Big Sauce suffered a torn meniscus and will be out for 6-8 months of the season. While there is a chance that he could come back at some point, the range leaves such a possibility slim.
The Suns also signed undrafted guard Peter Jok to a partially guaranteed contract. According to NBA.com, Jok is described as an excellent shooter with plus length and size at the shooting guard position. The team also extended a training camp invitation to former Celtic guard R.J. Hunter. Jok and Hunter will be fighting for an roster spot in training camp alongside holdover Elijah Millsap.
Days before the start of camp, Ryan McDonough and company made two more roster additions. First, the Suns signed former first overall pick Anthony Bennett to an non-guaranteed deal. Bennett will provide the team with a fresh body in training camp as the team continues to deal with injuries. Scott Bordow of azcentral.com speculates that Bennett will most likely join the team’s G-League affiliate the Northern Arizona Suns after training camp.
The second roster move the Suns made prior to training camp was acquiring guard Troy Daniels from the Memphis Grizzlies. The team traded a top-55 protected 2018 second round pick for Daniels and a 2018 second round pick from Memphis. Daniels is a 40% 3-point shooter, a skill that the Suns can desperately use more of. Daniels will look to solidify himself as the team’s backup shooting guard in training camp and the preseason.
As you likely recall, Daniels and Booker had a bit of a confrontation in Memphis in early February where Daniels trash-talked Booker on the court. Booker responded in kind, mocking the number of teams Daniels had played for in his short career.
According to a source Troy Daniels told Devin Booker that he was garbage, that he only scores in garbage time & told him to check his resume
— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) February 9, 2017
Daniels can now call Phoenix his fifth in five seasons.
As a whole, the Suns did not engage in many big acquisitions this free agency period. Instead the team focused on retaining their core along while signing or acquiring young, though unproven, commodities. Owner Robert Sarver admitted to committing to the youth movement instead of signing big free agents to compete immediately. While the team still may add another shooting guard before training camp, it appears that the 2017-2018 Phoenix Suns roster to start the season is complete.