There is no doubt that the Phoenix Suns are going to struggle to significantly improve their roster this offseason. General Manager James Jones having already come out and said that none of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal are going to be traded.
With Jusuf Nurkic a player that doesn't have a ton of value and Grayson Allen a player who was recently brought back for $80 million, it is no surprise the organization are in cap sheet hell. They're way over the second apron, and so have to shell out a ton on salary tax and have various restrictions around trades in place.
Yet despite all of this, the suddenly vulnerable Cleveland Cavaliers look like they could get picked off by the Suns if they are smart about targeting some players.
Obviously the likes of Darius Garland and Evan Mobley are off the table for the Suns. As amazing as either of those guys would be - and as ugly as it has suddenly gotten in the wake of the Cavaliers' season ending - they're simply too young, too good and too expensive for the Suns to seriously think about acquiring.
But if you look at the fringes of that roster, then it is possible to add some value to the end of the Suns' rotation, by going after players who are most certainly afterthoughts with rumors about the future of star players like Garland and Donovan Mitchell currently swirling.
4. Ty Jerome
Remember Ty Jerome? The player who ended up getting traded twice before he'd ever played a game - landing in The Valley - before playing just 31 games for the Suns. He was then shipped to Oklahoma City in the Chris Paul deal that helped turned the franchise around - and if we're being honest - he has not been thought about since.
Why consider Jerome now then? He's still only 26-years-old, and at 6'5" is reasonably big for a guard. The Suns don't have a true point guard right now either, and while it would certainly be a stretch to call Jerome that, he could plug a gap in the back court when Bradley Beal inevitably misses some time again through injury next season and beyond.
Ty Jerome Cavalier Career Mixtape 🫡🫡pic.twitter.com/c1StB8YmlC
— 🧙🏾♂️🧣 (@Precision80) May 16, 2024
Jerome hasn't been seen since January when an ankle injury that required surgery ruled him out for the rest of the season, so his stock has never been lower. So low in fact that the Suns could trade David Roddy straight up for Jerome, and it is hard to see either the Cavaliers or themselves feeling like they got hard done in a deal.
Does this move the needle? Not exactly, but Roddy is never going to be a serious player for the Suns anyway. Why not move him for a player who plays in a position of greater need, and who did average over 10 points per game in his second season in the league. He's out of contract in two seasons anyway and is only owed $5 million until then, so this is surely worth a flyer.