The Phoenix Suns are in a difficult spot as a result of their top-heavy cap sheet for the 2024-25 season and beyond, which will make adding free agents this summer difficult. Not that owner Mat Ishbia will care, as he has shown time and again he'll spend what it takes to build a winner.
The most important piece of business the organization needs to take care of is bringing Royce O'Neale back on the kind of deal they couldn't have dreamt of offering him if he was on the open market. The Suns doing the same thing with Grayson Allen before the playoffs - and although that didn't entirely pay off and it pushes their tax bill higher - it still makes sense to do.
When it comes to the open market for this franchise then, the players available can be grouped into three tiers - dream, reach and realistic targets.
There is a fourth group - players who the Suns should avoid no matter what such as Mo Bamba - but that is a conversation for another day. The team hasn't been properly linked with any of these three individuals just yet - but given the long, rumor filled offseason it is going to be - it feels like only a matter of time.
Realistic Target - Goga Bitadze
The realistic targets were never going to be sexy, and center Goga Bitadze is exactly that. A no-nonsense big man who will never get any of the credit, and who does the dirty work behind the scenes to help a team thrive.
Bitadze last played for the Orlando Magic - and if you were paying attention to them as they returned to the playoffs - you'd know he had some solid moments for them. Unfortunately for Bitadze, he has been squeezed out of minutes by Wendell Carter Jr., Moe Wagner and even Jonathan Isaac.
Lakers need to find the next cost-effective Isaiah Hartenstein before that player pops.
— Lakers Legacy (@LakersLegacyPod) May 17, 2024
That player imo is Goga Bitadze.
He’ll be a Free Agent this summer.
No faith Rob has any idea who this guy is though.
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Which leaves him as an unrestricted free agent this summer, having last played on the veteran's minimum. Is it possible another team could come in and offer him more than the minimum to go and play for them? It is, but Bitadze is at best a backup in this league, and there's not a lot of teams who need one of those as a priority.
If he went to The Valley, he'd be an upgrade over Drew Eubanks and could even push starting center Jusuf Nurkic for some minutes as well. When the alternative is playing in Taiwan, this doesn't sound like the worst plan. This could also free the Suns up to draft a point guard with the 22nd pick in this summer's draft, which some believe they may now do. Not a big name, but a smart addition.