PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns have agreed to a two-year, $16 million deal to retain Josh Okogie, according to multiple reports.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The Athletic’s Shams Charania first reported the news and adds that the money “is non-guaranteed in the second season.”
Okogie's deal is non-guaranteed in the second season, giving the Suns optionality, sources said. The 6-foot-4 defender had multiple teams interested and reached new Suns deal on Thursday. https://t.co/6EGR2PtPni
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 12, 2024
“To God be all the glory,” Okogie posted on X following the reports.
To God be all the glory
— Josh Okogie (@CallMe_NonStop) July 12, 2024
Okogie opted out of his $2.95 million player option with the Suns and became a free agent on June 28. Now, he stays for significantly more money due to the Suns holding his bird rights.
Although it may seem like an overpay for Okogie, this contract will give the Suns another tradeable asset, despite a historically rich luxury tax bill for owner Mat Ishbia.
With the Suns’ combined player salaries exceeding $189.5 million, they are operating over the second-tax apron. 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.
Now, since the Suns can only trade one player at a time and can’t take in more salary than they send out, Okogie can be traded down the line for a good player(s) making equal to or less than his salary. Phoenix now has five players on salaries between $6-$19 million next season (Okogie, O’Neale, Jusuf Nurkić, Grayson Allen and Nassir Little), giving it some flexibility in this area.
According to Cap Sheet’s Yossi Gozlan, the Suns’ salaries now amount to $223.1 million and Ishbia has to pay a whopping $205.4 million luxury tax penalty. The Suns are projected to have the NBA’s first payroll that exceeds $400 million.
The second year non-guarantee makes Josh Okogie's salary this year good for a potential trade, although they can't aggregate him and can only decrease payroll in a trade.
Phoenix Suns increase their luxury tax penalty by $47 million.
Payroll: $223.1 million
Tax: $205.4 million https://t.co/2HdVuMStqd— Yossi Gozlan (@YossiGozlan) July 12, 2024
Okogie has averaged 6.1 points and 3.1 rebounds for Phoenix over the last two seasons.
Phoenix now has the maximum 15 players signed to standard contracts. See the full free agency tracker below:
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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
