The Phoenix Suns and Dillon Brooks agreed to a three-year, $73 million extension this summer, and it came at the perfect time. Mark Williams' injury could see Brooks get used differently this season, which could have impacted his future earnings had he not already secured his next contract.
Brooks will have to adapt his style of play with Williams gone
Brooks is the Suns' co-star next to Devin Booker, and as a burly forward, he does his best work bullying opponents of a similar size on the defensive end. He also chipped in a career-high 20.2 points per game in 2025-26, which helped him earn that extension.
The addition of Miles Bridges means he is almost guaranteed to take fewer shots and put up smaller numbers this time around, while the injury to center Williams could have an even greater impact on his role.
Head Coach Jordan Ott may be forced to go with smaller lineups to combat the roster's lack of size, and Brooks would appear to be the ideal aggressive ball of energy to plant in the paint more often. He would willingly take on this challenge, but on the nights when it looks bad (true centers will be able to dominate the Canadian international), it is going to look real bad.
Had Brooks not already agreed to an extension, this would be a massive problem, potentially making the team think twice about his next deal, but getting all of that out of the way early has worked out brilliantly for both him and the Suns. He can now take on these new challenges without worrying about the financial impact it could have had on him if it goes wrong.
If anything, his willingness to do so might see his stock rise even higher, while the Suns don't have to try and make a tough situation work with a guy who (rightly) would have been putting their own interests first.
Brooks may still end up ideal trade candidate
If Brooks proves he can expand on his role in the absence of Williams—Khaman Maluach is simply not ready for a starting berth—then he will be putting himself in the shop window. He may earn himself one more sizeable payday down the road, either in Phoenix if they can prove they have built a contender around Devin Booker, or away from The Valley.
Not that the Suns want to move on from him, as the extension signed this offseason was more than fair value from their perspective, but that combination of talent and a player who will do whatever it takes to win on a team-friendly deal is hard to find these days.
We have seen players like Jonathan Kuminga and Dennis Schroder bet on themselves before and fail. It is nice that Brooks was able to leverage his position into a nice payday prior to Williams going down, with the potential for more down the road.
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