Phoenix Suns: 5 potential free agency targets in 2017

5. Nerlens Noel

Tyson Chandler will turn 35 years old before the start of the 2016-17 season. Alex Len and Alan Williams are both restricted free agents this summer. Marquese Chriss may never be defensively sound enough to play the 5, unless it’s in brief stints with small-ball lineups. Dragan Bender has the height and defensive skill-set to play center, but that future lies years down the road.

Phoenix Suns

At this point in time, the Suns don’t have a sure thing, an anchor at the center position. Nerlens Noel, who was selected one pick after Len in the 2013 NBA Draft, would be well worth the potential investment.

To be fair, the 23-year-old Noel has struggled through injury problems in his first few seasons in the league. He missed the entire 2013-14 campaign as he recovered from knee surgery, and though he played 75 games and 67 games the next two seasons, he only suited up for 51 last year.

Noel was also ousted from the Philadelphia 76ers’ center logjam despite averaging a promising 11.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.5 blocks per game his second season. In 22 appearances with the Dallas Mavericks last year, he averaged 8.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game.

More than likely, the Mavs will match offers for their restricted free agent. But if a team looking for a long-term answer at center, armed with cap space and nothing to lose — you know, kind of like the Suns — made an offer in the four-year, $108 million max range, isn’t it possible they’d think about letting him walk?

It’s a risky proposition, which is why Noel only makes No. 5 on this list. But even a matched offer sheet would force a fellow Western Conference team to pay up for its young talent, and if Dallas somehow balked at ponying up the dough, the Suns could land a legitimate rim protector to bolster their defense for the long haul.