NBA free agency: Interior options for the Suns to consider

In the same vein as our preview of the perimeter options for the Phoenix Suns to consider in free agency, there aren’t many glamorous names around the interior.

While All-Star names like Blake Griffin and Paul Millsap will be on the market, it would be unwise of the Suns to sign them and impede the playing time of Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender.

On top of that, the team extended qualifying offers to make centers Alex Len and Alan Williams, making the position tricky to navigate depending on what the team plans to do with the two.

With those factors in mind, here are a few names to keep an eye on for potential options.

Note: While there’s subjective opinion involved in this list regarding fit, it doesn’t necessarily mean I endorse every one of these players as a good signing.

James Johnson, 30, F (UFA)

Johnson is about as high as you’d be willing to go in terms of quality of a free agent signing at forward. A defensive specialist for most of his career, Johnson had a career year in Miami, especially offensively. He averaged a career-high 12.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.6 assists (!) per game last season.

Exactly like Jared Dudley, Johnson would block playing time for someone at power and small forward, but would undoubtedly make the team better.

Dewayne Dedmon, 27, C (UFA – player option)

Dedmon is a great defensive presence and can do his share of finishing when asked. Among players who played in at least 70 games and averaged 15 minutes a game, Dedmon finished fourth in field goal percentage (62.2), sixth in rebounding percentage (21.2) and fourth in defensive field goal percentage (44.5) for the Spurs last season.

There are several caveats to going after Dedmon.

With the center free agent class being one of the worst position free agent classes in a very long time, Dedmon is actually the best unrestricted center available assuming he opts out of his deal. The Suns would have to likely compete with others for the 27-year-old, making it an unrealistic if his price is high and Phoenix plans on bringing back at least one of Len or Williams.

If the Suns are high on him, however, and Dedmon can mostly re-create his high level of play in fewer minutes as a top reserve or starter, they should go after him to give consistent, solid play at center all 48 minutes.

Cristiano Felicio, 24, C (RFA)

The 24-year-old is beloved by diehard Bulls fans despite his lack of playing time. He shows great promise as an undersized rim-running center with the quickness to do well in switching situations on the perimeter defensively.

Those fans have been craving for more Felicio, but he’s been consistently left out of the rotation. He has 1,361 career minutes in two seasons, averaging 15.8 in 66 games last year on 4.8 points and 4.7 rebounds a game. Even the biggest of admirers have to admit that makes him somewhat of a risk to pick up.

Chicago will have the space to match unless they have big, big plans in free agency, but if there’s anyone the Suns could gamble on at center to potentially become the answer as the long-term five, it would be Felicio.

Kelly Olynyk, 26, F-C (RFA)

If the Suns really want to add shooting and are willing to sacrifice defense, they could be aggressive with Olynyk who might become unrestricted or at least more likely to change teams as the Celtics figure out how to fit Paul George and Gordon Hayward on their roster.

Olynyk was ninth among all centers last year in total three-point attempts with 192 despite playing only 20.5 minutes a game. While he’s averaging 9.5 points a game in his career, the 36.8 percent career three-point shooter has some skill to his game besides shooting and would be an easy player for the younger Suns to mesh with.

Willie Reed, 27, C (UFA – player option)

Reed is a fine basketball player who played surprisingly well on a good Heat team. If the Suns aren’t looking to commit much to the center position outside of Chandler, Reed would be a perfect signing. Like a few others mentioned, though, it’s based on a small sample size. Reed played 14.5 minutes per game for Miami last year, putting up 5.3 points and 4.7 rebounds a game.

Ekpe Udoh, 30, C (UFA)

A former top-10 pick, Udoh flopped out of the NBA before getting stronger overseas and turning into a beast in Turkey. In EuroLeague play for Fenerbache this past season, Udoh averaged 12.1 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.2 blocks a game. A strong defensive presence, the 30-year-old would be a similar signing as Dedmon and Reed as a quality backup five.

Mike Muscala,  26, C (UFA)

Muscala would be a discount way of going about adding more shooting to the roster. He shot 40.9 percent on 110 attempts last season but has played over 1,000 minutes just once in his four-year career.

For comparison, the four-year veteran Olynyk attempted 192 three-pointers last season while Muscala has taken 174 for his entire career. He amounted to 6.3 points and 3.4 rebounds a game for Atlanta.

Jeff Withey, 27, C (UFA)

If rim protection is the priority, Withey could be a sneaky good signing for the right price to be an alternative to Williams off the bench if he was brought back. The 39th overall selection in the 2013 NBA Draft, Withey has yet to reach 700 minutes played for a season and that makes him a gamble.

Follow @KellanOlson