The Phoenix Suns won't be making any splashy moves this offseason, but that doesn't mean they won't be improving their roster.
The organization needing to find value around the fringes with players on minimum deals, and the perfect defensive-minded guard looks to have come on the open market at the right time.
Keon Ellis would be perfect in The Valley
The Cleveland Cavaliers find themselves in the kind of financial situation that the Suns know all about, those pesky aprons stopping them from putting whatever players they want around Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.
One casulty of their forced roster building is going to be Keon Ellis, with the Cavaliers rumored to have decided that keeping Dean Wade over him is the right move for that team. In their defense it probably is, but the Suns can profit from a 26-year-old hitting the open market like this.
It is possible they could sign Ellis to a veteran minimum deal, although any sort of competition for his services and they can't match another franchise because of all of the money owed to their own players they're hoping to both extend (Mark Williams) and bring back (Collin Gillespie and Jordan Goodwin).
They could get frisky and trade one or both of Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale to free up some cap and roster space, but that would be a risk. Ellis is an intriguing prospect who could shine in a bigger role, whereas both Allen and O'Neale are proven talents who are capable of piling up points at a rate that Ellis never has.
He is a career 40.7 percent 3-point shooter, and the defensive ability speaks for itself. There are few realistic options out there better suited to head coach Jordan Ott's schemes on that end of the court. Interestingly his 1.6 assists after being traded to the Cavaliers from the Sacramento Kings at the deadline (in only 29 appearances) represented a career high.
All of his numbers (and playing time) took a massive tumble in the playoffs, and it is not like he could have stopped the New York Knicks from steamrolling them. But to watch him play it looks like there's a level of playmaking there that Ellis has never gotten a chance to showcase.
A primary ball-handler might be expecting too much, but taking the ball of Devin Booker or Jalen Green on some possessions and making something happen looks possible.
The Suns need only look at the Knicks for inspiration on how it takes time and smart moves to build a winner. Ellis represents all of that and should be a top offseason priority for the front office.
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