Phoenix Suns: 5 potential free agency targets in 2017
Heading into 2017 NBA free agency, the Phoenix Suns should set their sights lower and avoid the big-name acquisitions. Here are five potential targets for the offseason.
Over the last few months, the Phoenix Suns have popped up in just about every trade rumor you could imagine.
From Paul Millsap to Blake Griffin to trades for Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler or Kevin Love, it’s not surprising a team with financial flexibility, intriguing young players and plenty of future draft picks has repeatedly come up in trade speculation.
Approaching 2017 NBA free agency, the Suns could very easily create the cap space to chase a prominent free agent and land the franchise’s first established superstar talent since Steve Nash.
However, for a team that’s finally accepted the harsh realities of building through the middle, even a franchise-record seven-year playoff drought shouldn’t be enough to convince general manager Ryan McDonough to abandon what’s shaking up to be an intriguing youth movement.
The Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers juggernauts aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, so as much as landing a Blake Griffin or a Paul Millsap would be a victory for the franchise, all it’d ultimately be doing is take away minutes from the youngsters as the Suns sputter to yet another finish in the middle of the Western Conference.
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The alternative, more preferable approach? Bide their time and wait out the currently unassailable contenders, keep feeding the young cornerstones ample minutes to develop together. For free agency, that means only targeting free agents on cheaper contracts, or more expensive, short-term deals that won’t clog the cap sheet when it’s finally time to extend the young players and seek out star talent in free agency.
The Suns have plenty of needs approaching the offseason, including three-point shooting, veteran leadership, defense, insurance at the center position and a backup shooting guard behind Devin Booker to spare second round pick Davon Reed from a brutal transition as a rookie.
Bearing all that in mind, here’s a look at five potential free agency targets that are realistic, completely unsexy and would actually help the Phoenix Suns with their rebuild.