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Suns Notes: Offseason, Free Agents, Rookies, Ishbia

By | at May 4, 2026 7:31 pm

Within his Suns offseason preview at the Third Apron (Substack link), Yossi Gozlan writes that Phoenix should “seriously consider” reconstructing its roster by trading its top players — including Devin Booker — to acquire draft picks.

As Gozlan explains, the Suns far exceeded external expectations by winning 45 games in 2025/26, ultimately advancing to the playoffs as the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. However, he thinks the current roster is “likely at its ceiling,” which is why he advocates for a tear-down.

Despite being something of a feel-good story this season, the Suns still have a relatively bleak long-term outlook, according to Gozlan, because they have so few valuable assets and an unenviable cap situation. In no small part because of the dead money owed to Bradley Beal, Phoenix will have to dump salary to avoid the luxury tax just to try and re-sign some of its own free agents, a group that includes Collin Gillespie, Jordan Goodwin and Mark Williams.

Gozlan acknowledges the team appears unlikely to trade Booker and other veterans like Dillon Brooks, but says there’s a good chance that both of those players’ values could be at high points right now, and moving off Booker’s salary in particular would create far more financial flexibility going forward.

Here’s more on the Suns:

  • In a story breaking down each player’s role and contract situation ahead of 2026/27, Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (subscription required) reports that the Suns and Gillespie are already discussing a new contract, and hears the 26-year-old point guard could sign a deal worth $40MM over four years. As for starting center Williams, who will be a restricted free agent if he’s given a $9.6MM qualifying offer, Rankin suggests he’s not a lock to return next season. For what it’s worth, Gozlan viewed Williams as a sign-and-trade candidate, pointing to the Bulls as a team that could make sense as a suitor.
  • It will be an important offseason for Khaman Maluach, Rasheer Fleming and Koby Brea, who just finished their rookie campaigns, Rankin states in another article (subscriber link). Maluach could become Phoenix’s starting center next season if the team decides not to retain Williams, while Fleming has a chance to become the starting power forward if he can improve some of his weaknesses, Rankin writes. As for Brea, who spent this season on a two-way deal, he’ll have to take significant strides forward if he wants to crack the rotation in ’26/27.
  • In an exclusive interview with Rankin (subscription required), owner Mat Ishbia acknowledges other teams will have interest in the aforementioned free agent trio, but says the team would like to retain them and the feeling is mutual. He also stands behind the decision to trade Kevin Durant to Houston last year. “We knew we had to do it, to make the trade. We knew we were going to make the trade. What we had to do is make sure we got the right things that were aligned with our identity,” Ishbia told Rankin. “We look at it, we got four guys. We got Dillon, Jalen (Green), Khaman and Rasheer because we used those picks to get the 31st pick (in the second round). Those players, could they all start next year, could they start the year after? Those are all four great players. So we feel great about what we did. … I think we did a very good job with it. You look at it now, it turned out to be a great trade for us. Not everyone said that the day we did it, but it turned out to be a fantastic trade for us and a huge part of our resetting our identity with those guys and building for the future as well.”
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