PHOENIX — We are officially 24 hours into free agency, and the Phoenix Suns’ competition in the Western Conference has only gotten stronger.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!With the Suns having only agreed to a deal with one incoming player in Clippers’ center Mason Plumlee so far, they do not appear to be making any drastic changes. None seem to be coming as well, as there is a report that they will not be trading Jusuf Nurkić, and general manager and president of basketball operations James Jones has already said that none of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker or Bradey Beal will be traded.
This means after being swept in the first round by the Minnesota Timberwolves, Phoenix will likely have its top-six players back from last season in Booker, Durant, Beal, Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neale and Nurkić.
Meanwhile, the Timberwolves already got stronger through the draft before free agency, while last year’s No. 1 seed in the West, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Finals runner-up Dallas Mavericks have reloaded in free agency.
Minnesota Timberwolves
The Suns and T-Wolves are both operating over the second-tax apron, meaning they can’t sign any incoming free agent to more than a veteran-minimum deal. Additionally, in trades, they cannot take in more salary than they send out, include cash in deals, aggregate contracts or use a preexisting trade exception.
Minnesota got creative in navigating these rules, trading its 2031 first-round unprotected pick and a 2030 pick swap for the No. 8 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, which they used to draft their point guard of the future in Kentucky’s Rob Dillingham. The Timberwolves also selected 6-foot-6 Illinois guard Terrance Shannon Jr., who averaged 23 points per game last season, with the No. 27 overall pick.
After sweeping the Suns, the Timberwolves advanced all the way to the Western Conference Finals, where they lost 4-1 against the Mavericks. Minnesota will likely keep its starting five and of its main rotation pieces, is only projected to lose Kyle Anderson and Monte Morris. So, they add two of the best offensive players in all of college basketball last season to a roster that was pretty much only missing scoring and will not be losing much in free agency.
Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder have undoubtedly won the offseason in the West so far, improving all the little holes in their already-strong roster. Today, they agreed to a three-year, $87 million deal with former New York Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein, per multiple reports. Before this, they agreed to two deals with current key rotation pieces on the team. All-around forward Aaron Wiggins will be getting a new five-year, $47 million deal, while sharpshooter Isaiah Joe is returning on a new four-year, $48 million deal.
The Thunder already traded Josh Giddey for Alex Caruso, and drafted highly-touted Serbian point guard Nikola Topić at No. 12 overall and high-IQ Fresno State wing Dillion Jones with the 26th pick. They did all of this even with keeping 30-plus future draft picks until 2031 and saving some space if they want to make more moves.
OKC figures to have the best roster in the West next season and could maintain it for multiple years to come.
Oklahoma City Offseason pic.twitter.com/EJgSJE9F44
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) July 1, 2024
Dallas Mavericks
Four-time NBA champion Klay Thompson will have a new home for the first time next season with the Mavericks after agreeing to a sign-and-trade with the Golden State Warriors, according to multiple reports. Thompson will be getting a three-year, $50 million contract with the Mavericks, who are dealing away young wing Josh Green in the trade to the Charlotte Hornets.
Unlike Minnesota and Oklahoma City, the Mavericks did lose a quality starter in Derrick Jones Jr., who is signing a three-year, $30 million deal with the Los Angeles Clippers. The Mavericks agreed to a three-year, $27 million deal with New Orleans Pelicans wing Naji Marshall, who can replace some of what they’ll miss on the defensive side with Jones. Before any of this happened, Dallas traded away Tim Hardaway Jr. and three second-round picks to the Detroit Pistons for Quentin Grimes.
Most of these moves seem to balance each other out in the end, but do make the Mavericks slightly better overall, which is good enough, to say the least, coming off an NBA Finals appearance.
The arrival of Klay Thompson
Dallas hard capped themselves at the first apron when they signed Naji Marshall. By sending out Josh Green for Thompson, the Mavericks remain below. pic.twitter.com/ml4fN6TamN
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) July 1, 2024
Final Notes
The New Orleans Pelicans are another team in the West that has made a big move, acquiring Dejounte Murray from the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Larry Nance Jr., Dyson Daniels, a 2025 first-round pick (via Lakers) and a 2027 first-round pick (least favorable of the Milwaukee Bucks or Pelicans). However, it remains to be seen what other moves they make with trade rumors surrounding both Brandon Ingram and C.J. McCollum, to truly know how they’ll factor into the equation of the West’s top teams next summer. New Orleans also lost its starting center in Jonas Valančiūnas, who agreed to a three-year, $30 million deal with the Washington Wizards.
The San Antonio Spurs might not even be considered a playoff team yet, but they have had a good offseason as well, most recently agreeing to a one-year, $11 million deal with Chris Paul. They now pair Paul with last year’s Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama, this year’s No. 4 overall pick Stephon Castle and a young core that also features Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson. How much Paul and legendary coach Gregg Popovich can accelerate the Spurs’ rebuild remains to be seen, but they could be a scary team in the West in the future.
That’s not to say there haven’t been some teams that have regressed as well. Most notably, the Los Angeles Clippers lost Paul George to the Philadelphia 76ers on a four-year, $212 million deal, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope left the Denver Nuggets for the Orlando Magic on a three-year, $66 million deal. The Nuggets are probably still in this tier above the Suns, with them still having three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon on the roster, while the Clippers may end up falling below Phoenix, depending what other moves they make this offseason.
It remains to be seen how some other teams in the West, including the Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings look next season before deciding where they factor into this equation.
The question that stands is if the Suns have enough to compete with the top of the West in the 2024-25 season, given that they are projected to have the highest payroll in NBA history and still have their aging, star core of Durant, Booker and Beal, and if there is any move(s) they can even make to be considered in this top tier.
Where would you rank the Suns in the Western Conference right now and what do you want to see them do this offseason to get into this top tier?
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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
