Ryan McDonough says Suns will accelerate timeline, be aggressive in free agency

HOUSTON – The Phoenix Suns are about to accelerate their timeline.

General Manager Ryan McDonough told azcentral sports Saturday that the Suns will be more aggressive in free agency this summer than initially planned because, “the team is ready.”

Citing the emergence of Devin Booker as an All-Star caliber talent and the productivity of small forward T.J. Warren, McDonough said it’s time for Phoenix to pivot as an organization, using its cap space and future assets to become a buyer in free agency.

“There are certain core pieces that are starting to solidify,” McDonough said. “I think we’d be foolish or naïve to wait forever or be overly patient. We’ve been, I think, relatively disciplined with contracts we’ve given out in terms of length and dollars, but yeah, we’re planning on being one of five of six teams with a decent amount of cap space, and we’ll see if we can improve the team.”

In trading point guard Eric Bledsoe to the Milwaukee Bucks in November and shedding his $15 million salary for the 2018-19 season, the Suns put themselves in position to have approximately $20 million available in cap space this summer, assuming they don’t re-sign unrestricted free agent center Alex Len.

Phoenix could free up additional cap space by trading either center Tyson Chandler ($13.5 million next season) or forward Jared Dudley ($9.5 million). That would give the Suns the ability to sign an elite free agent to a max contract or trade for an established player with a big deal.

Given it's likely the Suns won’t land a LeBron James or Paul George and aren't interested in free agents over the age of 30, here are a few names that will be available this summer and fit Phoenix’s needs:

Free agents to watch

Houston center Clint Capela (restricted free agent), Orlando power forward Aaron Gordon (restricted), Chicago forward Nikola Mirotic, New York center Enes Kanter, Utah forward Derrick Favors, Memphis guard Tyreke Evans, Portland center Jusuf Nurkic (restricted), Orlando guard Elfrid Payton and Boston guard Marcus Smart (restricted).

“We’ll probably be more aggressive in June and July than we have been the last couple of years,” McDonough said.

That decision, along with the potential of having three first-round picks in the 2018 draft, also is impacting the Suns’ thinking in regards to the Feb. 8 trade deadline. As of Saturday, Phoenix would have the No. 5 overall pick, the pick it acquired from the Bucks as part of the Bledsoe deal – it confers to the Suns between Nos. 11-16 – and Miami’s top-seven protected pick. Currently, that’s No. 22.

McDonough said it’s fortuitous for the Suns to have multiple picks because the draft is deep at the two positions they need to address: point guard and center. In the most recent mock draft by nbadraft.net, Slovenian point guard Luka Doncic, Oklahoma’s Trae Young and Alabama’s Collin Sexton are all projected to be top-eight picks, as are big men Deandre Ayton of Arizona, Duke’s Marvin Bagley III and Texas’ Mohamed Bamba.

“One of the things we’re excited about in this draft is if all the players we expect to declare are in, I think the strength of the draft is where we can use some help, at the one and the five primarily,” McDonough said. “We’re kind of searching for answers long-term at those positions.”

Because of the depth at point guard, in particular, McDonough indicated it’s less likely Phoenix will make a move for a veteran point guard before the Feb. 8 deadline. Charlotte’s Kemba Walker has been mentioned as a possibility, but he’s 27 and his contract expires after the 2018-19 season.

“If we can make any moves there that could help us in the short-term solution, we’ll look at that,” McDonough said, “but I think (we’re more interested) in a long-term solution.”

Also, the Suns wouldn’t pursue Walker without knowing they could sign him to a long-term deal, and McDonough said he’s hesitant to pursue any trade that cuts into Phoenix’s cap space.

“I think for us to significantly cut into that and take us out of the free-agent market or make us less of a player in free agency, we would have to take a really good player coming back in return that fits with our young core,” he said. “When I say young core, I don’t necessarily mean a guy 20 or 21 years old, but not a guy who’s in their 30s and closer to the end of their career than toward the beginning or the middle.”

Whatever decisions the Suns make will be influenced by their decision to move their timeline up by a year.

“We’ve been patient,” McDonough said. “I think we’ll try to accelerate things this summer with all our draft picks and cap space. That’s kind of our mindset as we sit here today in late January.”

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