Chicago Bulls
Name one legitimate star player the Phoenix Suns are in on in free agency this offseason.
It’s okay, I’ll wait.
That’s right: none.
While we thought in the past that maybe Kemba Walker could be a target in unrestricted free agency, likely not.
While we still hope that D’Angelo Russell could be a target if he is granted free agency, do not put all of your eggs in that basket.
To put it lightly: Robert Sarver and James Jones might look to kick the competitive can down the road one more year and open up as much cap space to make a run at 2020 and 2021 free agents, especially when Deandre Ayton has added another year of NBA experience under his belt.
Thus, the kick-the-competative-can-down-the-road trade:
The Chicago Bulls had hoped to be in on a major free agent at this offseason, but it appears that they are about as far away from being an attractive free agent destination as Phoenix is.
However, they do have a particularly heavy contract in Otto Porter‘s that they would probably be very willing to trade for cap relief (even though Porter’s contract will be up in 2021 – presuming he picks up a player option for 2020-21, and Warren is under contract for about three seasons), while the Suns might bank on Porter’s consistency, especially as a fantastic 3-point shooter to help raise the team’s poor outside shooting.
Phoenix in this case would then let Kelly Oubre go as an extension would be too expensive to add, but would retain a level of cap flexibility next offseason when Tyler Johnson‘s contract comes off the books, plus have the decision to retain Porter in two seasons, or use that cap space to fill other needs that appear by then.