Jordan Goodwin signing solidifies Suns’ bench, roster crunch

One of the most disrespected units in the NBA last season was the Phoenix Suns bench, and it was thanks to two outstanding signings on the minimum in Collin Gillespie and Jordan Goodwin. Because of injuries and roster deficiencies, both were required to start at different points in the season, including Goodwin becoming the fifth starter for the postseason run.

Both were unrestricted free agents, making it imperative both returned so what should have been a major strength of the team can be one thanks to presumably some better injury luck and roster tinkering.

Both are back.

Gillespie agreed to re-sign on Saturday for four years and $48 million, while Goodwin gave the OK on Sunday to a three-year, $19 million deal with a player option for the final season, per Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro.

If there is a reason to believe the Suns will be better next season, it’s not strictly because of health, but how health will allow their bench to thrive in a way that should have it emerge to get the aforementioned respect it has already earned.

For all the rightful praise Dillon Brooks has taken in as a culture driver for what Suns basketball is now, there was no bigger culture driver on the team than Goodwin.

In his second stint in Phoenix, Goodwin went from playing for a head coach who could not have used him any worse to a head coach who could not have used him any better.

Jordan Ott’s focus on the possession battle was championed by Goodwin, who led the team in steals and was second in offensive rebounds. He has a case as the best rebounding guard in basketball.

Goodwin also should have been under consideration for NBA All-Defensive Team, failing to receive even a single vote. I could not tell you the amount of times this season where there was a lull in the Suns’ play, and then Goodwin would press up on a ball-handler to force them to dribble the ball off their foot before clapping and yelling to get both himself and his team going. He changed momentum all the time as a defender while scaling up and down the assignment chart for a roster barren of good on-ball defenders.

The sixth-year guard is a perfect example of what happens when an off-ball perimeter player can make just enough of their 3s to stay on the floor.

He shot 37.1% on 302 total attempts, right around where he needs to be. Goodwin, however, was left open all year by opposing off-ball defenders and will be next season, too. That’s why he can’t be a guy playing north of 25 minutes, unless he takes another jump as a shooter.

But he was a difference-maker all year. There were stretches of the season where he felt like Phoenix’s most important player, because when its energy and desire to outcompete other teams wasn’t there as often for the back-half of the season, Goodwin sure as hell tried his best to snap his teammates back into form.

With all that said, Gillespie and Goodwin coming back solidifies that we’ve got too many cooks in the kitchen.

Of the 192 minutes that will be available to the non-center guys, going as far as eliminating the chance we see double-big lineups, we can assume Devin Booker (34 MPG), Jalen Green (32 MPG) and Brooks (30 MPG) get their career averages. We can also assume Gillespie, who played around 24 MPG when the team was fully healthy and 29 MPG in the playoffs, will receive at least 24. Let’s give Rasheer Fleming a comfortable 20 MPG with the expected commitment to come toward developing both he and Khaman Maluach next year.

That’s 140 for five guys, leaving 52 to go between Goodwin, Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neale and others. I need Goodwin on 20 MPG, no questions asked. That leaves 32 for those two veterans Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale that were at 29 MPG and 28 MPG last season, respectively. I didn’t even mention Ryan Dunn, Haywood Highsmith or any of the new additions that could be coming at guard or forward.

The Suns preached continuity heading into the offseason but they need to be careful with what could be lost while trying to unlock the benefits of what could be gained.

However this juggling act pans out, perhaps like last year where injuries don’t make it as much of an issue, Ott can’t fumble the minutes, and by proxy, the effectiveness of Gillespie and Goodwin, two players that represent what his team is all about.

The front office can also get ahead of this and not put its great coach, who is well on his way to becoming a rising star, in that type of position.

Allen and O’Neale are good players and veterans coming off career years. They can contribute to contenders, and it would be — to use that word again — disrespectful to plop them into a role as the ninth or 10th man on a squad pacing for 40-50 wins.

When it comes to how they fit on the Suns, they are the two most similar players (beyond Green and Brooks) in this bundle of those 6-foot-5 and under. They are offense-first shooters, who still impact the game in far different ways, but that is their primary calling card.

We saw the roster redundancies kill the Suns in certain matchups last year, and the gap between them and other teams with true size, length and athleticism was evident.

Fleming is not in the bundle, so he has to play next year. Allen or O’Neale will be the odd man out, so getting ahead of it by dealing them would be wise. Perhaps the return is as small as a few second-round picks, or it’s more fortunately a late first-round pick. Either way, the extra benefits would be eliminating the near-certainty for a log jam that would be at the very least awkward, so even if it’s for a smaller asset, the Suns should get on that.

Using their second-round pick (No. 47) and cash plus an extra second-rounder or two to move up and bring in another guy that isn’t in the bundle is the next priority.

Meanwhile, Goodwin’s return along with Gillespie once again confirms Phoenix will be a taxpayer this upcoming season.

They are less than a million under the tax line with their new salaries, which does not account for restricted free agent Mark Williams, the team option for Jamaree Bouyea or any draft picks. As previously covered, the penalty here is just more intense fees on the luxury tax, with the Suns set to qualify once more as a “tax repeater.” If Mat Ishbia is shrugging at that, so are we. They could have avoided it this year to reset that cycle, and that seemed to be one of the benefits of the Bradley Beal waive-and-stretch, but alas.

Speaking of! The Suns are now less than $10 million away from the first apron. Some of those restrictions they so desperately fled away from could be coming back if they re-sign Williams or add more money elsewhere, so if there was a time to use those benefits, it is now. Phoenix hardly did all of last year. Get wheeling and dealing!

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