When the NBA signed off on the collective bargaining agreement with the NBPA last year, the new system gave teams a grace period of roughly a year to get its books in order before the harsher penalties for heavy spenders took hold.
The Phoenix Suns scoffed at those guidelines and went all-in to add Bradley Beal, Jusuf Nurkić, Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale to its payroll—already heavy with almost $84 million due for just Kevin Durant and Devin Booker (climbing to over $100 million for 2024-25).
As the first franchise knocked out of the 2024 playoffs, the Suns may be stuck with marginal improvement options. The “TL;DR” is that Phoenix can only sign new players to minimum contracts, pay a ton of tax to keep O’Neale and hope a Nassir Little trade can yield a rotation player earning no more than $6.75 million.
Players in the NBA are unfortunately prone to injuries all season long. Teams with a lot of players, like the Suns, are more likely to struggle if they don’t have the depth needed to succeed in the face of injury.
Nurkić led the team with 76 of 82 games played, while Beal participated in 53. Due to an ill-timed ankle injury, Allen missed the majority of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ sweep.
After 49 wins, the Suns’ No. 6 seed ranking was somewhat of a letdown for a team that pays over $260 million in salaries and taxes. The components (too many scorers, not enough depth, no true point guard, small size, etc.) didn’t quite fit together.
Usually, the head coach bears the brunt of the responsibility rather than the front desk taking a hard look at itself. Frank Vogel could bear some of the guilt in this instance.
In NBA circles, Vogel is known for his ability to build up a great collection of offensive players defensively, but he lacks creativity as an offensive strategist. He might not be the ideal addition to a club without a main offensive creator.
