Phoenix Suns: 3 Valuable Free Agents Still Up For Grabs

Phoenix Suns Lingering Free Agents to Sign: Aron Baynes

Aron Baynes enjoyed a career year with Phoenix before heading north to play for the Toronto Raptors last year. For the Suns though, he averaged 11.5 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, serving as an unexpected, yet still appreciated spark plug at times.

Put simply though, Baynes stunk after that with the Raptors. He averaged 6.1 points per game, shooting 44.4 percent from the field and 26.2 percent from range. It encouraged Toronto to cut him loose, leaving him out to dry with this year’s other still unclaimed free agents.

Although the Suns signed JaVale McGee to primarily replace Saric as Ayton’s understudy, one thing which Saric carried that McGee absolutely does not—is a jump shot. This makes the McGee signing somewhat questionable if the Suns intend to replicate their success from last year, and also makes Baynes an option worth bringing back to fill that void.

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Yes, Baynes struggled exponentially while shooting the ball last year, but during each season before that one, he still managed to shoot above 34.0 percent from deep. Those numbers do not exactly pop out either, but under a veteran’s minimum contract, we are not exactly looking for the next Steph Curry.

He still provides more than McGee from at least a floor spacing perspective, and one poor season should not entirely dictate whether or not the Suns bring him back or not.