5 players the Suns should sign on minimum deals this summer

Barring some sort of unforeseen trade by the Phoenix Suns this summer, they are once again going to have to use the veteran's minimum to round out the bottom half of their roster. Last offseason they did this reasonably well, getting rotation players like Eric Gordon and Drew Eubanks in this manner.

They even managed to take a flier on Bol Bol that paid off relative to the money given to him, and the front office should once again be looking at longer shot individuals they could strike oil with this time out. With their top six players already set in stone - assuming Royce O'Neale comes back as expected - the team only need to add two or three meaningful players in this way.

The franchise are going to have to be smart in how they do this, but there are some under the radar guys they should be zeroing in on ahead of free agency.

None of these names are going to solve the depth issues the Suns have, but it is also fair to point out that certain players available on the minimum are better than others. Thaddeus Young for example - who the Suns got in the buyout market last season - will likely be sitting there at a price the team can afford, but why would they have any interest in doing that?

Young showed up in The Valley as a known quantity and somebody who it was hoped could defend midlevel scorers on some nights for the Suns. Only he averaged less than nine minutes in 10 contests for the organization, looking old, slow and past it in the process. Here is how the Suns get bang for their buck with the minimum.

5. Naji Marshall

We again can't stress enough how some of these players could easily be signed to another team for money that the Suns can't compete with. But as of this moment - and given the track record of these players in the league to this point - there is reason to believe that the minimum could be enough to at least get a phone call with the player.

Naji Marshall wasn't drafted in 2020 and has spent four seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans where he has been... fine and nothing else. In 230 regular season games for that team (36 starts), he has given them 7.1 points and 3.6 rebounds. Marshall would be a nice get for the Suns though, because he would add another dimension to their slow and undermanned front line.

He can play both the forward and center position, and is so much quicker than Jusuf Nurkic and has a ton more bounce than Eubanks. Marshall may also see this as an opportunity to take a season down in The Valley to play on a team that is going to get a lot of national exposure, before getting paid down the road elsewhere.

Really the Suns have to hope that's how a lot of these guys see taking the minimum, otherwise they'll be left asking Thomas to come back for another spin next season. Marshall is only 26 and by no means looks like he is one bad season away from being out of the league. An underrated get for the Suns if they could manage to pull this one off.