Suns can still add power forward depth in free agency

The first order of business has been covered, but there’s a lot of work to be done for the Phoenix Suns to fill out their roster.

Specifically, that’s at power forward.

Adding free agent point guard Ricky Rubio helps the Phoenix Suns on both ends of the court, a move that might not swing the win totals drastically but certainly will allow young stars Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton to improve individually within a more stable on-court environment.

It might appear costly. But a three-year, $17 million contract doled out to a starting-caliber point guard is standard with a rising salary cap and in an offseason where many teams had a lot of money to spend.

That ate up more money than the Suns currently have to spend. Projecting two draft-day trades that will become official July 6, the team had just more than $13 million in cap space assuming restricted free agent Kelly Oubre Jr.’s $9.2 million cap hold is the only hold remaining.

Rubio’s deal, therefore, will probably require additional roster moves — via trade or releases — for the Suns to officially add their new point guard, as ESPN’s Bobby Marks confirmed.

Even though the Suns are currently needing to jostle things just to sign Rubio, they project to have a room mid-level exception of $4.8 million to spend and can re-sign Oubre to go over the cap because they own his Bird rights.

Here’s a short-list of realistic free agent power forwards left on the market that the expected exception could help the team land.

Young vets and development players

Frank Kaminsky

The Charlotte Hornets declined a qualifying offer for the fifth-year pro who went ninth overall in the 2015 draft out of Wisconsin. Kaminsky, a 7-footer, has two double-digit scoring seasons under his belt and has shot 37% from three-point range in the last two years. Finally, his overall shooting percentages were above 43% last season, but he appeared in just 47 games under first-year head coach James Borrego. He’s 26 years old and a decent stretch option off the bench.

John Gambadoro of 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station listed Kaminsky as a potential target of the Suns.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson

While Kaminsky is a continuation of likely starter Dario Saric’s skillset, Hollis-Jefferson would be a complementary piece. The Brooklyn Nets unrestricted free agent is all athleticism and energy, and he’s extremely switchable. While he has decent enough IQ, he’s a negative on offense due to his lack of a jumper. He’s also on the smaller side for a power forward at 6-foot-7 and 217 pounds.

Donatas Motiejunas

After a year away from the NBA, the 7-foot, 220-pound Motiejunas joined the Spurs in March and appeared in three games toward the end of the year. Physical issues, including a back injury, hampered the NBA aspirations of once-rising forward who in 2014-15 averaged 12 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game with the Houston Rockets. Motiejunas turns 29 in September.

Stanley Johnson

Like Hollis-Jefferson, Johnson is another Arizona Wildcat product who went high in the draft (eight overall in 2015) and hasn’t developed as an offensive player. He’s a fluid 6-foot-7 and 245 pounds whose best stretch came guarding LeBron James in a playoff matchup. A career 37% shooter in his fourth-year career, Johnson just hasn’t found an offensive identity.

Dragan Bender

The Suns’ unrestricted free agent still projects as a plus defender and finally showed that his confidence issues might be in the past playing in 46 games last season. Is he actually a stretch four though? Not picking up his option for the 2019-20 season indicated the team is probably ready to move on.

Cheick Diallo

Still just 22 years old, Diallo averaged 6.0 points and 5.2 rebounds per game for the Pelicans last year. There is hope the lanky 6-foot-9 forward has more to grow.

Alex Poythress

He’s played for three different teams in three seasons and at 25 years old is still looking to stick. The Kentucky product is an athletic 6-foot-9 and 235 pounds, and flashed a three-point shot (39%) last year. Poythress averaged 5.1 points and 3.6 rebounds in just 14.5 minutes per game for the Atlanta Hawks in 2018-19.

Older veterans

Suns general manager James Jones once insinuated 32-year-olds are too much of a poor fit for the Suns, but there are a lot of decent 32-year-olds on the market if they’re willing to join Phoenix.

Wilson Chandler

He’s been a heavily underrated NBA contributor since he broke out with the New York Knicks in 2007. Chandler played in 51 combined games between the Clippers and Sixers last season, starting 32 with Philadelphia before being traded. At 6-foot-9, he’s a tough stretch power forward who can also make the right read.

Jonas Jerebko

Playing for Boston, Utah and Golden State in the past three years gives the reserve forward a nice base of knowledge for how to play winning basketball. He averaged 6.3 points and 3.9 rebounds in 73 games for the Warriors last season as a nice complementary piece to the superstar-laden team.

Ekpe Udoh

After a successful European tour from 2015-2017, the No. 6 overall pick from 2010 gave his NBA career another go but couldn’t find much playing time behind a deep Utah frontcourt the past two seasons. He is also reportedly mulling a return overseas.

Dante Cunningham

Always efficient — he’s a 47% shooter over his decade-long career — Cunningham shot a ridiculous 46% from three in limited action last year with the Spurs.

Kenneth Faried

The only guy who is not 32 years old in this section, Faried enjoyed a rebirth with the Rockets, who traded for his services midseason in 2018-19. The 29-year-old averaged 12.9 points and 8.2 rebounds as an undersized big rolling to the rim and actually managed to shoot 35% percent from three on just under an attempt per game while in Houston.

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