Phoenix Suns: Top free agent targets when free agency period begins

There will be several talented free agent prospects available when the 2019-20 season ends. The Phoenix Suns will have money, so who should they target?

For the Phoenix Suns or any NBA team for that matter, the recipe for brewing up a roster with not only the talent but the meshing capabilities to bring a city the Larry O’Brien trophy is not one that comes with a stick-to-the-steps type of handbook. There is no set cooking time, no non-interchangeable ingredients and no guaranteed tasteful final product when it comes to cooking up the perfect formula for a team of championship caliber.

For Phoenix specifically, Monty Williams, James Jones and company feel as though they have found the initial base compartments to propel them towards that fateful coveted crowning achievement.

But figuring out how exactly they’re going to get there is not like solving your regular old childhood jigsaw puzzle. The key to solving an NBA puzzle actually works with the exact opposite method: you start with the innermost core pieces, then work outwards to fill in the necessary role cogs for total completion.

It’s why it’s safe to then say that Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton are this team’s unquestionable nucleus.

They form a quintessential Kobe Bryant-Shaquille O’Neal Esque duo that executives believe can be a formidable one-two combo for years to come. Booker’s scoring efficiency has only trended upwards each year he’s been in the league. As for Ayton, his only Achilles-heel up to this point has been decision-making of a personal nature (see his 25-game suspension) but his on-court play has steadily improved at both ends as well.

That’s the easy part of the team’s championship riddle though. Now Phoenix’s front office has a much more daunting task: find the right players to surround their star duo with that can catapult them over the top.

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Why so daunting? Each part of a winning team serves an equal function, and a machine is only as strong as its weakest link. The players the front office decides to surround their tantalizing duo have just as much importance to their hopes of success as do their top dogs.

Which makes this upcoming signing period (whenever it may be) one of the more important in the team’s recent memory.

And with an upwards of $25 million in salary-cap space looming on the horizons, the money will be a slim barrier when it comes to inking deals with prospective clientele. The Suns are primed and ready to make one of the largest splashes of any team into the deep pool of available talent.