The cost, man! The cost!
I mentioned before that there might be many free agents who could help the Young Suns grow, with a group of additions potentially being more important than just one individual player.
Not to mention, if at least in the short term Thomas is the best player on the roster, he would not make the Suns a championship team and therefore the upgrading of the point guard position with a ball-hungry player at the cost that he would demand just doesn’t make a lot of sense.
If Ryan McDonough is unable to move any combination of Jared Dudley, Tyson Chandler, and Brandon Knight, then he will be able to sign one star player this offseason, and no more. Granted next offseason he should have the space to go after a second, but one can never be sure that a single player will be acquired at any point and therefore he must only go after those who are available before him, and not plan on others falling in his lap later.
That being said, Thomas will demand, and rightfully deserve – a lot of money. He in fact famously said Boston had “better bring the Brinks truck.” Is Thomas worth a presumed max, or at least near max, contract?
For the Phoenix Suns, I do not believe so.
I would personally much rather that they use that money on either a star power forward or center, or on multiple veteran players that add quality depth to the lineup both spelling the young starters during the course of the game, or even potentially pushing the young players by earning starting minutes themselves, forcing the current core to work that much harder to prove their worth.
Depth and veteran talent was a tremendous flaw on the roster last season, as well as the several seasons before – albeit intentionally. But if the Suns are going to compete from here on out, they will need depth, and using available cap space on a single player that will not necessarily put the Suns over the top is just not worth it.