Ryan McDonough’s multiple alternatives with the re-build
By Andrew Clark
We all had our ears perk up when Ryan McDonough said that the Suns would be aggressive in free agency this offseason.
Regardless of whether he’s saying that to appease Devin Booker or because he thinks they can actually compete, the very prospect of a better team is exciting.
The problem with the concept of competitiveness this offseason is that the range of options in free agency this summer is very thin.
To make any meaningful impact, there are really four viable strategies going forward: Clear cap space, overpay mid-level talent, trade for restricted free agents, or trust the timeline.
Clear Cap Space:
The idea behind clearing cap space would be that you could go to elite players like LeBron James and tell them that you can max them out while near maxing out another elite player adding them to a core of Booker, Warren, Jackson, and another top-five pick.
This strategy is something we’ve seen the Suns try before and come out with only Tyson Chandler to show for it. The probability of success might be low, but if you can pull it off, the upside is unbelievable and that might make it worth the likely offseason flop.
Assuming the team can move Alex Len or have him sit on the sidelines while this played out, they’ll start with about $20 million to play with. They will have almost half the cap tied up in T.J. Warren, Tyson Chandler, Brandon Knight, and Jared Dudley. I’m assuming that you could slap two first round picks onto Knight’s contract and it’d still make teams balk at swallowing his salary. So, let’s assume that Warren and Knight aren’t going anywhere. The Suns can clear another $22 million in salary up if they can get rid of Chandler and Dudley between now and the summer. Leaving them with more money than anyone but the LA Lakers in the offseason. Still wouldn’t be enough to max out two elite players, but it could open the door to a sign and trade with someone like Bender or Chriss that makes the situation possible.
Some potential ways to dump the cash:
I know everyone would love to dump Chandler, but that’s going to be near impossible to do.