ESPN gives Suns’ best case, worst case in free agency
Jun 28, 2019, 7:00 AM
Boston Celtics' Terry Rozier shoots past Milwaukee Bucks' Eric Bledsoe and Pat Connaughton during the second half of Game 2 of a second round NBA basketball playoff series Tuesday, April 30, 2019, in Milwaukee. The Bucks won 123-102 to tie the series at 1-1. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
(AP Photo/Morry Gash)
The Suns figure to be active in free agency.
With the need for a point guard and D’Angelo Russell rumors swirling, something will be coming out of this summer.
But with the hype around Russell being cautioned by NBA reporters, Suns fans have to accept that there could be other outcomes to the summer.
ESPN’s Kevin Pelton laid out of the best- and worst-case scenarios for the Suns this offseason, listing Patrick Beverley, Terry Rozier, Tomas Satoransky, Delon Wright and Kelly Oubre as targets.
Pelton seems to like Rozier as a fit, listing him in his best-case scenario:
The Celtics sign a star point guard such as Kemba Walker, forcing them to renounce the rights to Rozier and allowing Phoenix to snap him up on a modest contract for a starting point guard using their $12.5 million or so in cap space. That means the Suns can re-sign restricted free agent Oubre to a reasonable long-term deal.
His worst case has the Suns grabbing less-impactful point guards and losing Oubre:
The Suns come in with an offer to a restricted free-agent point guard and see it matched, tying up their cap space while the rest of the market moves on. That could leave Pheonix picking from second-tier point guard options such as T.J. McConnell, Elfrid Payton and Rajon Rondo. Meanwhile, another team comes in with a big offer sheet for Oubre, forcing the Suns to make a difficult decisions about whether to match.
Neither case mentions Russell, which is becoming a trend amongst the plugged-in NBA community.
