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The Phoenix Suns made the right move. Now it has to make the smart one

July 18, 2025 by Bright Side Of The Sun

San Antonio Spurs v Phoenix Suns - Emirates NBA Cup
Photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images

Cap space means nothing if the Suns don’t use it right.

Buying out, waiving, and stretching Bradley Beal’s contract might prove to be the right move. Or it might not. Reasonable minds can debate whether this decision benefits the Phoenix Suns in the short term, the long term, or at all.

But what’s not up for debate is this: it’s done. And with it comes something that’s been missing in Phoenix for a while: possibility.

For the first time in what feels like forever, the Suns aren’t just sifting through the veteran minimum bargain bin, praying to strike gold. They have options. Flexibility. A sliver of creative freedom in a cap landscape that has felt more like a cage.

And for me? That’s what makes this moment exciting. The possibilities. The hypotheticals. The chance to ask, “What if?” and not be met with a contractual dead end.

No, the Suns aren’t free of obstacles. As Rod expertly outlines, hard cap triggers still loom, and navigating this new space won’t be easy. But after so many months of rigid limitation, even imperfect freedom feels like fresh air.

The door isn’t wide open, but it’s cracked. And sometimes, that’s all you need.

The tax aprons and new restrictions have reshaped the NBA in countless ways, but one of the most overlooked casualties has been flexibility, particularly for restricted free agents. As the new collective bargaining agreement enters its second full season, we’re beginning to see where the real impact lies: with young players coming off rookie-scale contracts who are looking to get paid.

Restricted free agency was meant to strike a balance. A team extends a qualifying offer to a player, giving them a chance to test the open market. If another team makes an offer and the player accepts, the original team can match. It’s a mechanism that allows players to gauge their value while still giving teams the ability to retain the players they’ve invested in and developed.

But under this new CBA, that system is starting to break. The league’s increasingly rigid financial landscape, driven by the tax apron penalties, has made it harder for teams to extend those offers in the first place, and even harder for opposing teams to make competitive bids.

Think back to this very month, three summers ago. Deandre Ayton signed an offer sheet with the Indiana Pacers: four years, $132.9 million. The Suns matched.

As soon as the Suns received the four-year, $133M offer sheet, the franchise matched it. Deandre Ayton returns to Phoenix and can’t be traded without his consent for a full year. https://t.co/dBXGN3qbCK

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 15, 2022

Back then, the system worked as designed. Imperfect, yes, but functional.

That kind of flexibility? It’s vanishing. And the ones feeling it most are the players just beginning to step into their prime.

The difference between now and then? There aren’t any teams out there who have cap space. There aren’t any teams out there who have the ability to make an offer on restrictive free agents that exceed the qualifying offer enough to move the needle for those players.

This matters because players can only discover their market value if a market actually exists. And right now? It doesn’t. With nearly every team capped out, there’s no open bidding. Just stalled negotiations and qualified hope.

Look at players like Golden State’s Jonathan Kuminga, Chicago’s Josh Giddey, Brooklyn’s Cam Thomas, and Philadelphia’s Quentin Grimes.

All are restricted free agents. None have been re-signed. None have accepted their qualifying offers. Why? Because they’re holding out, hoping for a fresh start, a new opportunity, and, most importantly, a meaningful payday.

But in a league with no cap space, there’s only one way that can happen: sign and trade.

Those three words were off-limits to the Suns just a week ago. As long as Bradley Beal’s contract kept Phoenix pinned under the weight of the second apron, sign-and-trade deals were a non-starter. But that’s changed.

Now, the Suns are one of just nine teams currently operating under the first apron. And with that comes new life. They can finally engage in sign-and-trades, targeting young talent like Kuminga or Grimes in hopes of reshaping the roster without sacrificing financial flexibility.

After buying out, waiving, and stretching Bradley Beal, the Suns went from one of the highest payrolls in the NBA to the third lowest, per @SalarySwish

— John Voita, III (@DarthVoita) July 17, 2025

In a market with no money, creativity becomes currency. And for once, the Suns might be positioned to spend it wisely.

Take Jonathan Kuminga, for example. He’s a player the Suns have reportedly shown interest in, and someone who has yet to sign a long-term deal with the Golden State Warriors. His qualifying offer sits at $8 million. What he’s hoping for is simple: that a team out there values him enough to not only offer more than that figure but to facilitate a trade to bring him in.

I won’t say no. Suns have liked Kuminga for a while. I don’t think it’s likely so chances more in the low range. But won’t rule out. https://t.co/Gv6dLKMqBs

— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) July 17, 2025

Kuminga can’t just walk. He needs a team to step up, make an offer, and then find a trade partner willing to send something of value back to the Warriors.

Let’s say the Suns are that team. And let’s say they prefer Kuminga over Grayson Allen, who is set to make $16.9 million next season, more than double Kuminga’s qualifying offer.

To make that deal happen, the Warriors would need to agree to a sign-and-trade that pays Kuminga at or near Allen’s salary range, then send him to Phoenix in exchange for Allen. It’s not cut and dry, but it’s doable. Especially now.

Why? Because the Suns are no longer hamstrung by the second apron. As a team under the first apron, they now have the flexibility to take back more money than they send out in a trade.

There are variations and nuances, of course. The final salary figure for Kuminga could shift, and additional assets could be involved, but the bottom line is this: for the first time in a while, the Suns can play in the sign-and-trade sandbox.

This is exactly what Kuminga, Giddey, Thomas, and Grimes are all hoping for. That a team sees enough potential in them to not only take a chance but to trade for them and elevate their salary in the process.

And now, the question lands squarely on the desk of the Phoenix Suns’ leadership.

After all the effort to escape apron hell — waiving, stretching, sacrificing depth for flexibility — they’re finally in a position with options. But here’s the catch: acquiring any of these players via sign-and-trade would trigger a hard cap at the first apron. That means no more additions, not even a veteran minimum deal, for the rest of the season.

So what now?

That’s the pivotal question. Should the Suns cash in that flexibility right away for a player like Kuminga? Should they lock themselves into a hard cap for a team that, by all accounts, isn’t a title contender this season…maybe not even a playoff team? You’ve just done all this maneuvering to open the door, and now you’re considering slamming it shut again. Is it worth it?

Some would say no. Let the season breathe, see what this roster can do, and hold on to your newfound freedom (psst…I’m one of those people). Develop your rookies, see what you have. Don’t acquire someone who eats into that developmental opportunity.

The retooling process should be more than one season. There is no world where any acquisition moving forward will move the needle enough to make this a top tier next season. Patience should be exercised, as it has not in the past. Next offseason is the time to strike

— John Voita, III (@DarthVoita) July 17, 2025

Others would argue that these are the moments you use that flexibility for; to make a calculated bet on upside, growth, and long-term value. To gamble. Personally? Gambling got us into this mess. Let’s take a moment to step away from the craps table and regroup.

Either way, the next step will speak volumes about how this front office views its timeline. Because flexibility isn’t just about what you can do. It’s about knowing when to do it.

Don’t get me wrong. Trading Grayson Allen or Royce O’Neale is absolutely worth considering. Both are solid players, but they also carry contracts that, at the moment, aren’t exactly team-friendly as they have three years left on them. Grayson Allen’s deal, in particular, includes a player option for the 2027–28 season at $19.4 million. That’s a number that could be tough to move this offseason. Both contracts have just enough length left to give other front offices pause.

Which is why timing matters.

Right now, those deals are a bit too bulky to be widely appealing. But by next offseason? That changes. At that point, both Allen and O’Neale will have two years left. Suddenly, those same contracts become more absorbable, even desirable.

Maybe that’s when the Suns should truly start wielding their newfound flexibility, when the market is more favorable, and their assets are more liquid. Because making a move just to make one now could burn through that hard-earned flexibility too early. The real play might be patience. And the payoff might be worth the wait.

The whole point of flexibility is simple: you want options. And if Suns fans learned anything from the Big Three era, it’s how damaging a lack of options can be. Being boxed in financially with no room to maneuver left the front office reactive instead of proactive, and that ultimately hurt the team.

You can’t predict how opportunities will unfold across the NBA. Just like no one could’ve predicted both Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal would circle Phoenix as their preferred destination. The only reason those deals materialized is because the Suns, at that time, had the flexibility to act. That’s the power of optionality.

And now? The Suns have regained some of that power. But with it must come patience and strategy. Just because you can make a sign-and-trade for someone like Jonathan Kuminga or Josh Giddey doesn’t mean you should. As intriguing as those players are, neither move tilts the scales enough to justify immediately surrendering the flexibility you just fought so hard to reclaim.

There’s no urgency here. The Suns aren’t a contender right now, and they don’t need to be. Next offseason brings a deeper free agent class, and by then, contracts like Grayson Allen’s and Royce O’Neale’s will be more digestible; more valuable as trade pieces. That’s when you strike. That’s when you push your chips in.

For now, the focus should be on smart, low-cost depth. Perhaps a couple of veteran minimum deals, ideally at the point guard position, to round out the roster and protect against injuries. There’s no one left on the market who’s worth overpaying or sacrificing flexibility for.

But here’s the beauty of the moment: we can talk about this. We can play out the hypotheticals, explore different angles, and actually have a reason to debate the future again. The Suns are no longer stuck. They’re positioned.

And that, more than any single move, feels like real progress.


Listen to the latest episode of the Suns JAM Session Podcast below. To stay up to date on every episode, subscribe to the pod on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, YouTube Podcasts, Amazon Music, Podbean, or Castbox.

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