Phoenix Suns' next big chance more likely to be by trade
The Suns had LaMarcus Aldridge wavering from the Spurs, maybe even favoring the Suns at one point Friday.
It would have been a franchise-altering move.
There are no remaining high-impact free agents for the Suns with the kind of thunder to jolt the Western Conference. That sort of rumble is more likely to come by trade — but not anytime soon.
The Suns will pursue free agents to fortify the front line and to add a third point guard. After signing Tyson Chandler to a four-year, $52 million contract, the Suns will have about $8 million of salary-cap space to do so. They will sign Brandon Knight last because they can exceed the cap for his five-year, $70 million agreement.
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Any free-agent additions should be kept to short-term deals, especially with most of the top free agents already claimed during the first week of free-agency negotiations. With NBA cap space dwindling, the Suns are in a position to be judicious on second-tier talent with limited options.
The hard part for an organization on a five-year playoff skid will be having patience for an impactful trade to become available. Any speculation on trades for the likes of Ryan Anderson, Derrick Favors and Danilo Gallinari seems unlikely at this point, but they give examples of the types of moves the Suns could consider for help until a better trade target becomes available.
David Lee was available, but a Tuesday deal sent him to Boston. Utah is firm in its position to keep Favors, who would be a catch with a valuable contract. Suns coach Jeff Hornacek knows and likes Favors from his years on the Jazz staff.
Suns' 2015-16 player salaries:
Like Lee, Gallinari and Anderson have expiring contracts with murmurs that they could be on the block and have an interest in Phoenix in Anderson's case. Anderson, 27, is a career 38 percent 3-point shooter. At 6 feet 10, he would give the Suns the deep-shooting power forward they seek and his playing time future appears slim in New Orleans as long as the Pelicans want to keep Anthony Davis at power forward with centers Omer Asik and Alexis Ajinca returning. On the flip side, nobody knows the value of a stretch power forward better than new Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry.
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The trade burners have no dish that is close to being ready to serve. The season might have to unfold before there is a star-quality or star-potential player who becomes available in a trade. If the Suns improve enough internally, maybe a move for a player such as Serge Ibaka would become enticing.
The Suns will have used their cap space by the start of the season but taking on a large contract for the future can work with a salary cap that will jump about $21 million for the 2016-17 season and another $19 million for the 2017-18 season.
Even then, a trade for an upgrade will not be an easy pursuit. The cap future helps every team's willingness to take on more payroll for a desirable talent. The Suns will have to hope that their cache of draft picks can be attractive (five first-round picks in the next three years and nine first-round picks in the next six years). They also need to improve internally so that their young talent becomes desired elsewhere if a team seeks more than draft picks.
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The Suns have proved to be ambitious. As far-fetched as it was, their first move last summer was to aim for consideration from LeBron James. Their chances this summer at Aldridge seemed weak, too, until they walked into a meeting with Tyson Chandler and changed the competition's scope.
They will have to be creative, as they were in 2013 to trade for Eric Bledsoe, and relentless, as they tried to be last week by dumping three players' salaries to make cap room for Aldridge. They also will have to fall into a unique situation that fits well.
That might be something like DeMarcus Cousins' friendship with Bledsoe, just as the last big fish they landed in free agency was pulled off because of a prior relationship with Steve Nash.
The Heat Index can be reached at paul.coro@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-2470. Follow him on Twitter @paulcoro.
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