Recalibrating Suns’ salary cap space, draft picks after Eric Bledsoe trade
Nov 7, 2017, 3:41 PM | Updated: 3:57 pm
Phoenix Suns guard Eric Bledsoe, middle, drives between Milwaukee Bucks guard O.J. Mayo (3) and Khris Middleton in the third quarter of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 20, 2015, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
A league oversaturated at the point guard spot and a market where apprehension over spending grew over the past offseason didn’t help the Phoenix Suns, who on Tuesday accepted the reality and traded Eric Bledsoe to the Milwaukee Bucks.
In exchange, they receive the expiring contract of center Greg Monroe and protected first- and second-round picks.
To sum it up, Phoenix enters a post-Bledsoe era with a little more cap space next season and a few more draft picks that, considering the complex protections, have value that’s hard to gauge in the present. A lot of it will have to do with whether the Bucks, currently 4-5 on the year, can flop enough to be a lottery team or one of the worst playoff squads in the east despite the grand steps taken by star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
That aside, here are the salary numbers to help understand what the Suns gained and where they stand at the moment.
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Salary cap
As of Nov. 7, the Suns will have approximately $20 million in cap space next summer assuming they allow free agent center Alex Len to walk. Not picking up non-guaranteed contracts owed to Derrick Jones Jr., Tyler Ulis and Davon Reed, the Suns would be sniffing the ability to sign a max contract.
That probably won’t happen.
Still, that extra space by trading Bledsoe’s contract that runs through 2018-19 opens up the possibility of the Suns taking on a large contract dump with a draft pick or two attached.
It also gives them the ability to connect on a swing for the fences if a big-time player hits the trading block.
That cap space will also depend on if the team uses one, two or three first-round draft picks in 2018. The picks owed to them by Miami and Milwaukee have protections. For reference, fourth overall 2017 pick Josh Jackson is making $5.1 million this year.
Upcoming draft picks
2018, first-round — Suns
2018, first-round — Heat (Suns receive if Miami earns eighth pick or later, unprotected in 2019)
2018, first-round — Bucks (Suns receive if Milwaukee’s pick falls between 11-16; conveys to 2019 if Bucks finish from 4-16; conveys to 2020 if Milwaukee picks after seventh; conveys to 2021 and is unprotected)
2018 second-round — Grizzlies/Suns/Hornets (Suns receive second most-favorable of picks originally owned by Memphis, Charlotte and themselves)
2018 second-round — Suns (Phoenix keeps the pick if it falls from 31-55)
2018 second-round — Raptors
2019, first-round — Suns
2019, second-round — Suns
2020, first-round — Suns
2020, second-round — Suns
2021, first-round — Suns
2021, first-round — Heat
2021, second-round — Suns
2022, first-round — Suns
2022, second-round — Suns
