Phoenix Suns Dodge A Bullet From NBA TV Deal

Remember when Eric Bledsoe‘s five-year, $70 million contract extension seemed like a potential massive overpay? Provided he stays healthy, the NBA’s new mega TV deal could make those feelings a thing of the past.

According to Richard Sandomir of the New York Times, the NBA will announce a nine-year, $24 billion TV contract with Disney (ESPN and ABC) and Turner (TNT) on Monday. The average annual value is worth almost three times as much as the NBA’s current TV deal.

The deal doesn’t kick in until the 2016-17 season, but over the course of this past summer, the Phoenix Suns wisely locked down their young and talented core for the foreseeable future. After refusing to budge on a four-year, $48 million offer for their restricted agent Bledsoe, the Suns used up all of their wiggle room and then some with that $70 million deal.

They signed Zoran Dragic on a super cheap contract, but then followed that move up with four-year extensions for Markieff Morris and Marcus Morris worth a combined $52 million. That’s before considering the three-year, $16.5 million extension they gave to P.J. Tucker earlier in the summer, or nabbing a great player in Isaiah Thomas on a manageable four-year, $27 million deal, making him one of the highest paid backups in the league.

Any doubts fans had about the length or value of those contracts should be dispelled with the news that the NBA’s new TV deal will be worth about three times what it’s currently worth.

According to Dan Feldman of NBC Sports, with this new deal, the salary cap could rise by about $16 million, though that average estimate could change depending on how the NBA decides to phase in the new salary cap increase. The ultimate number will certainly skyrocket no matter how long it takes to kick in, since half of this incoming money will be going to the players, but the league will need to figure out how it wants to implement the new revenue increase.

Per Grantland’s Zach Lowe, most of the league is opposed to the idea of a huge one-year jump as soon as the new TV deal kicks in, so the NBA will probably opt to smooth out the increase as steadily as possible over the next few seasons. This is great news for the Suns, since it increases their flexibility in re-signing free agent Goran Dragic next summer.

Two seasons from now, that overpriced deal for Eric Bledsoe may look like a steal (especially if his high ceiling moves within reach due to a clean bill of health). Thomas was on a great contract when he was seen primarily as Bledsoe insurance, but two seasons from now he’ll most likely be a severely underpaid sixth man. Keeping both the Morris twins around for $13 million per year was already a bargain, but an increased salary cap could make that deal seem like highway robbery if the Morrii continue to improve.

This summer, the Suns were intent on securing their current core for the long haul. They’ve got young and promising talent like Alex Len, Archie Goodwin, Miles Plumlee and a few new rookies that aren’t locked down for the long-term yet, and in a few years we’ll need to revisit each player’s value given the fact that they’ll be eligible for much bigger extensions than are seen under this current salary cap.

Had this news about the NBA’s $24 billion deal struck weeks ago, Bledsoe and his agent Rich Paul would’ve had the high ground in negotiations for a max contract. The Morrii might not have been as willing to take such a steep discount to stay together in Phoenix, and Thomas might not have been okay with making less than $7 million per year, even as a backup.

But by locking up Bledsoe, the Morris twins, Tucker and Thomas early, not to mention most likely securing Dragic’s future in Phoenix by signing his brother, the Suns took advantage of fair, manageable expectations for new contracts. Now that owners will soon have a lot of extra money sitting around to throw at players, Phoenix will be in even better shape for the free agency market down the road. Ignite the future, indeed.