The Phoenix Suns have three players eligible for extensions this offseason: Royce O’Neale, Kevin Durant and Jusuf Nurkić.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!On top of these three, Phoenix already signed Grayson Allen to a four-year, $70 million extension in April.
O’Neale has a deadline of June 30 to decide on his extension, and if he doesn’t, he becomes a free agent this same day, but Phoenix holds his bird rights, meaning it can go over the cap to retain him. Right now, O’Neale is expected to get around $10 million per season to stay with the Suns, according to HoopsHype.
Durant and Nurkić both have two seasons remaining on their contracts heading into the offseason. Durant is able to sign his extension on July 12 to sign his extension, while Nurkić can sign his beginning on July 6.
“Durant, 35, has two years left on his contract ($51.2 million and $54.7 million) and is eligible to sign a one-year extension, which would pay him $59.7 million in 2026-27, when the two-time NBA champion turns 38.
“Because of the over-38 rule, one year is the maximum Phoenix can offer. Durant played 75 games this season, his most since 2018-19. Durant averaged 27.3 points per game, the sixth most in a player’s 16th season or later in NBA history, per ESPN Stats & Information. He is one of two players (along with LeBron James) who averaged 25 points and shot 50% from the field and 40% on 3-pointers this season.
“What to expect: Durant signs a one-year, $59.7 million extension. Because the extension is not more than 120% of his 2025-26 salary, there are no trade restrictions. He is eligible to sign starting July 12.”
Benefit of Extensions
Offering extensions to all of these players could set the Suns up better in the future even if they do not have long-term plans to keep them.
The Suns have the highest payroll in the NBA next season projected to be $209 million before O’Neale makes his free agency decision, and this number will not be going down any time soon if they choose to keep their current roster.
Durant, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, Allen and Nurkic are all under contract for at least the next two seasons with their salaries increasing annually. Durant, Booker and Beal will all be making over $53 million in the 2025-26 season.
This means the Suns will likely stay a second-tax apron team beyond just next season. The second-tax apron is estimated to be set at $190 million this offseason. In this threshold, Phoenix is unable to sign incoming free agents to anything other than veteran minimum contracts. In terms of trades, the Suns are not able to take in more salary than they send out, include cash in deals, aggregate contracts or use a preexisting trade exception.
For trade purposes, it helps to have large salaries on the team to give Phoenix flexibility in the future, given that the team can only send out one player at a time and can’t take in more salary than it sends out.
The Suns also have Nassir Little and David Roddy under contract for next season, as well as four players—Eric Gordon, Drew Eubanks, Josh Okogie and Damion Lee–with deadlines of June 29 to decide whether or not to exercise their player options for next season.
Even with a lot of immediate questions to answer, Phoenix will also have to think long term this offseason in terms of these extensions.
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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
