Fred VanVleet
2018 Stats: 8.6 points, 3.2 assists per game in 20 minutes
Good Deal: $12 million, 1 year
With just two NBA seasons under his belt, VanVleet doesn’t offer veteran experience, but he had a great season for the Raptors this season as a sixth man. VanVleet is a great defender and a career 41 percent three point shooter. He was the best player on the Raptors bench unit and would provide great hustle playing for the Suns.
The Raptors will want to keep VanVleet but are already paying Lowry, Derozan, and Ibaka big contracts, leaving them with little flexibility to match offers from other teams. The Suns will likely need to offer him a pretty big contract to be able to pry him away from The North for next season.
If McDonough decides to pay up for VanVleet, he will be adding a solid young player who only turned 24 in February. He doesn’t have the experience that the Suns want to bring in, but he can be a long term piece because of his age.
His one year deal would preserve flexibility for the Suns going into 2019. He would be a temporary fix with long term potential if he decided to resign a year later. VanVleet has probably almost reached his ceiling but could be the Suns starting point guard for a long time. He’s similar to what everyone hopes Okobo will become, so why not grab the sure thing now?