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Report: Suns linked to Chris Paul, other PGs ahead of free agency

© D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports

PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns will likely not need to sign very many incoming free agents when the free agency period opens today, but will be in the market for a backup point guard.

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Right now, the Suns have 11 players that are either signed for next season or reported to be signing when allowed on July 6 (from our free agency preview earlier):

  1. Kevin Durant (This season: $51.18 million; Remaining: 2 years, $106 million)
  2. Bradley Beal (This season: $50.2 million; Remaining: 3 years, $161 million)
  3. Devin Booker (This season: $49.35 million; Remaining: 4 years, $221 million)
  4. Jusuf Nurkić (This season: $18.13 million; Remaining: 2 years, $37.5 million)
  5. Grayson Allen (This season: $15.63 million; Remaining: 4 years, $70 million)
  6. *Royce O’Neale (This season: $9.82 million; Remaining: 4 years, $44 million)
  7. Nassir Little (This season: $6.75 million; Remaining: 3 years, $21.8 million)
  8. David Roddy (This season: $2.85 million; Remaining: 2 years, $7.7 million)
  9. *Bol Bol (This season: $2.4 million; Remaining: 1 year, $2.4 million)
  10. *Ryan Dunn (Rookie)
  11. *Oso Ighodaro (Rookie)

* Not officially signed yet

Additionally, although Josh Okogie and Damion Lee opted out of their player options for last season, according to PHNX‘s Gerald Bourguet, the Suns are hoping to re-sign the two to slightly more than their veteran-minimum contracts, as they hold their early bird rights (Phoenix could sign them up to 175% of their salary in the last season of their prior contract). For Okogie, that would mean the Suns can offer them him up to $4.93 million (would have been $2.96 million if he opted into his player option) and for Lee, it would be $4.42 million (instead of $2.85 million).

However, as the team faced last season when it was eventually swept in the first round by the Minnesota Timberwolves, there is still no true point guard on the roster.

Yahoo Sports‘ Jake Fisher reported today: “The Suns have been connected to all kinds of guards for minimum salaries, from Kyle Lowry to Monte Morris — and even a potential reunion with (Chris) Paul, should he ultimately be waived by the Warriors, according to NBA personnel.”

Arizona Sports‘ John Gambadoro reports that “a couple of names to keep an eye on are – Monte Morris and Aaron Holiday. Kris Dunn makes a lot of sense just not sure if he is gettable.”

Due to the Suns operating over the second-tax apron, they can only offer any of these players veteran-minimum contracts.

Paul is obviously the most intriguing name on this list. The Warriors have a deadline of today of whether or not to guarantee his $30 million on his contract for the 2024-25 season. If they do guarantee it, they will likely use his salary in a trade.

Paul was traded from Phoenix to the Washington Wizards in the Bradley Beal trade last summer. He was then flipped to the Warriors in a package centered around Jordan Poole. The 39-year-old Paul averaged a career-low 9.2 points, 6.8 assists and 1.8 steals in 26.4 minutes per game across 58 contests (18 starts) with the Warriors last season.

The future Hall of Famer helped the Suns reach new heights in his three seasons in the Valley after being traded to Phoenix from the Thunder in 2020. He was a big part of changing their culture to become a destination spot for players to want to come.

Paul averaged 15.1 points and 9.5 assists in 194 regular season games started for Phoenix. The Suns reached the NBA Finals for the first time since 1993 in Paul’s very first season in Phoenix (2020-21). Paul is tied for second in assists per game in Suns’ history.

Three years ago, he did this with the Suns:

The 38-year-old Lowry averaged 8.1 points, 4.2 assists and 1.0 steals in 28.2 minutes across 60 games (55 starts) for the Miami Heat and his hometown Philadelphia 76ers last season.

Morris will entering his eighth season in the NBA next year. He played six games for the Detroit Pistons before ending the season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he played 27 regular season games, averaging 5.0 points and 2.1 assists in 14.4 minutes per game across these 33 contests. The 29-year-old also appeared in nine playoff games for the T-Wolves.

Holiday played for the Suns after the trade deadline in the 2021-22 season. The defensive-minded point guard appeared in a career-high 78 games last season with the Houston Rockets, averaging 6,6 points and 1.8 assists in 16.3 minutes per game. The 27-year-old younger brother of Jrue Holiday now has six seasons of NBA experience under his belt.

Dunn is another player who hangs his hat on defense. The eight-year veteran and former No. 5 overall pick in 2016 averaged 5.4 points and 3.8 assists across 66 games (32 starts) for the Utah Jazz last season. The 6-foot-3 Dunn shot 36.9% from 3, but only averaged 1.7 attempts per game.

ESPN’s Jonathan Givony reported last week: “The Suns might look more to free agency to explore adding a point guard to their roster, with Kris Dunn (not related) one potential option that rival teams expect them to look at.”

Could Paul find himself back in Phoenix? What free agents do you want the Suns to purse?

The state of the Suns entering free agency and how they got here

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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

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