Suns Notes: Offseason, Free Agents, Rookies, Ishbia
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.”
Suns’ Ishbia, Gregory Discuss 2025/26, Offseason, More
The Suns have made major changes each of the past three offseasons under owner Mat Ishbia. However, unlike last year, when Ishbia’s buzzword was “alignment,” he was preaching “continuity” at Thursday’s end-of-season media availability, writes Doug Haller of The Athletic.
Phoenix exceeded external expectations in 2025/26, winning 45 games and making the playoffs one year after finishing 36-46 with the most expensive roster in the league. The Suns were only projected to win 31.5 games entering the season, and they were swept in the first round by Oklahoma City, Ishbia viewed ’25/26 as a building block for the future.
“Can we win more games?” he said. “Can we win a playoff series? That’s what we’re going to focus on. … I like the culture that we’ve built. We’re not going to do anything silly to mess that up.”
Player development was another talking point for both Ishbia and general manager Brian Gregory, who replaced James Jones last year, Haller notes.
“We have a young, ascending team,” Ishbia said. “Where in years past we had players that were maybe on the decline, we have players that are getting better, and they’re going to continue to get better.”
“This is an ongoing process for sure,” Gregory said (subscriber-only story via Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic). “Mat talked about it. Our continuity, our development, our internal development is so critical for us right now and that’s just the players and we’re going to demand the best out of them.”
Here’s more from Ishbia and Gregory:
- According to Haller, Gregory is confident Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green will look better together in ’26/27 after injuries limited their opportunities to share the court this season. “One hundred percent,” the GM said. “You’re talking about three guys who are driven to become better, to do what is asked of them and help the team be successful to win. When you have that baseline, it puts you in a pretty effective spot to move forward.”
- Gregory spoke in general terms about the team’s approach to the offseason, according to Rankin. “Where are the gaps we need to fill?” Gregory said. “You can’t fill them all to the top, but what are the critical ones that we have control over? Does that mean tighten up systems, schemes, or whatever the case might be? Was there one thing that led to the other that if you eliminate the first, now you can get better at the second? All those things are done at this time and if it has to be a personnel issue, then we’ll have to address it at that time, but a lot of times, you see dramatic improvement from Year 1 to Year 2 simply because of the understanding and the ability to execute automatically where it comes who we are every single day.”
- Gregory mentioned the Suns plan to have their players back in the gym in a couple weeks rather than taking extended time off, Rankin writes. Gregory also praised the roster for buying into the team’s identity of “grit, toughness and unselfishness” while stressing that maintaining that culture is an ongoing process.
- Ishbia, who lauded head coach Jordan Ott‘s work ethic, stressed the team isn’t satisfied despite the positive steps that were taken this season. “I’m really proud of where we are and hopefully you realize that although I’m proud of where we are, we have a long way to go to where we’re going,” Ishbia said, per Rankin. “I’ve got the right people and the right vision and the right organization here with me and we’re going to do it together.”
- In case you missed it, we passed along several more items of interest from Phoenix in the past few days. You can find those stories here and here.
Devin Booker Fined $35K For Criticizing Officials
Suns star Devin Booker has been fined $35K for his public criticism of the Game 2 referee crew, the NBA announced (via Twitter).
Following Wednesday’s loss, Booker was not shy in expressing his displeasure about receiving a technical foul, which he claimed was prompted by the Thunder’s Alex Caruso telling the referee to call it. The technical foul was rescinded after the game.
“In my 11 years, I haven’t called a ref out by name, but James (Williams) was terrible tonight, through and through,” Booker said. “It’s bad for the sport, bad for the integrity of the sport. People are going to start viewing this as a WWE if they’re not held responsible.”
Suns owner Mat Ishbia backed Booker up following the game, taking to Twitter to say that while the officiating wasn’t the reason they lost, it was still unacceptable.
“If the referees are going to demand respect from the players — as they should — then the players should demand respect from the referees,” Ishbia said. “When a referee is missing calls and clearly disrespecting the players, almost mocking them, they must be held accountable.”
The league said that following video review and inquiries, they “found no basis to any claim of bias or misconduct by game officials.”
Game 3 of the first-round series between the Suns and Thunder will be Saturday.
Tom Izzo Says Suns Offered Him Head Coaching Job
Jordan Ott has done a remarkable job of turning around the Suns, but the team had a much bigger target in mind during last year’s coaching search. Appearing Wednesday on the Dan Patrick Show (Twitter video link), Michigan State legend Tom Izzo revealed that he was offered the position and gave it strong consideration before declining.
“I’ve had more than a couple job offers in the NBA, looked at one last year with Phoenix – my former player (Suns owner) Mat Ishbia,” Izzo said. “That was hard, that was a hard thing to turn down … we talked seriously about it.”
Ishbia played for the Spartans from 1999-2002 and was part of the national championship team in 2000. Hiring Izzo is the type of splashy move that Ishbia tended to make after buying the Suns in 2023, but he has found success with Ott, another Michigan State alum, who had no previous NBA head coaching experience before accepting the job last June.
Izzo’s remarks came during a discussion about Connecticut’s Dan Hurley, who received an offer to coach the Lakers in 2024. Izzo, who was contacted by the Cavaliers and Hawks earlier in his career, advised Hurley to consider the unstable nature of college sports and admitted the current environment made him ponder a move to Phoenix, relays Doug Haller of The Athletic.
“No. 1, because I kind of wanted to go with (Ishbia). … And then, No. 2, I’ve been pretty vocal about it: I don’t like what’s going on in college athletics,” Izzo said. “And by the way, neither do 99.8 percent of the football and basketball coaches in America.”
Izzo, 71, has been the Spartans’ head coach since 1995 and has taken the team to eight Final Fours. His 764 career wins are the most in school history, and his teams have reached the NCAA Tournament in 28 consecutive seasons.
In his discussion with Patrick, Izzo said he has no plans to retire from coaching and reiterated his concern about the changes affecting the college game, such as the arrival of NIL money and relaxed transfer rules that make it easy for players to move from one school to another.
“I think something has to be done with the insanity that we’re going through,” he said. “I don’t think anyone else cares, so I’ll just keep plucking along and see if I can get to a Final Four again.”
Western Notes: Watson, Grizzlies, Ishbia, K. Johnson
After missing starters and rotation players for nearly the entire season due to health issues, the Nuggets are inching closer to finally submitting a clean injury report. The team appears hopeful that wing Peyton Watson will be able to return this week from the right hamstring strain that has kept him on the shelf since February 4, tweets Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette.
With the exception of the players who are currently assigned to the club’s G League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold, Watson is the only player left on Denver’s injury report.
Watson has been ruled out for Tuesday’s matchup with Philadelphia, and Benedetto suggests he wouldn’t count on the 23-year-old being activated for Wednesday’s game in Memphis. However, it sounds like Friday’s contest vs. Toronto could be a viable return date for Watson, who will be eligible for restricted free agency this offseason.
We have more from around the Western Conference:
- FedEx executive Richard Smith tells Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal that he hired an advisory firm to assess whether Grizzlies owner Robert Pera is looking to sell or relocate the franchise and was told no on both counts. “I don’t think there’s any truth to rumors that he wants to move the team,” said Smith, who added that he and his family would’ve been interested in making a bid for the Grizzlies to keep them in Memphis if Pera were looking to sell. The Grizzlies and the city of Memphis are currently engaged in negotiations about the team’s lease at FedExForum — the current agreement runs through 2028/29.
- The binding mediation process to resolve the legal dispute between Mat Ishbia and a pair of Suns shareholders could result in Ishbia buying out those minority owners and increasing his stake in the team to 96%, writes Baxter Holmes of ESPN. Those owners, Scott Seldin and Andy Kohlberg, are the last remaining holdovers from the Robert Sarver era in Phoenix and currently control about 13% of the franchise, Holmes explains.
- Spurs forward Keldon Johnson was a full-time starter for three seasons from 2020-23, but he transitioned to a sixth man role in 2023/24 and has since embraced the idea of coming off the bench, as Tom Orsborn details for The San Antonio Express-News (subscriber link). While Johnson wasn’t initially thrilled by losing his starting job, he and the Spurs are thriving this season as he makes a case for Sixth Man of the Year honors by averaging 12.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game with a .529/.377/.789 shooting line. “I feel like when you want to win, you got to remove your ego, especially when we got the team we have,” Johnson said. “We all want to see each other be successful. I had to pull my ego away and say, ‘This is what’s best for the team.’ And if I can maximize my role coming off the bench, as talented as I am and with the things I can bring to the game, I feel like we’ll be in great shape throughout games.”
Suns Notes: Ishbia Lawsuit, Schedule, Raptors Loss, Gillespie
The dispute between Suns owner Mat Ishbia and two minority owners is headed to binding mediation, according to The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov, citing a document filed Monday in Delaware state court.
The involved parties have asked the judge overseeing their case to approve an order that will allow them to resolve their case via mediation. They have made an agreement “to participate in a confidential binding mediation process, which upon completion will result in the dismissal of the action.”
Andy Kohlberg and Scott Seldin, longtime Suns and Phoenix Mercury minority owners, filed a lawsuit against Ishbia last August, accusing him of lacking transparency in how he ran the organization and of using the franchises as his own “piggy bank.” Ishbia countersued in October, claiming Kohlberg and Seldin were looking to use their legal action to gain a large buyout of their stakes in the teams at an “extortionate” cost.
Here’s more on the Suns:
- With 15 games remaining, Phoenix (39-28) has the third-toughest remaining schedule, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic points out. That will complicate its efforts of getting out of the play-in tournament and garnering a top-six seed. The Suns are currently seventh in the West and will complete a rugged six-game road trip with games against Boston, Minnesota and San Antonio over the next four nights. “Every game is super important,”guard Collin Gillespie said. “We’ve got to take it one game at a time. Can’t have mental lapses or the little details slip, and we know we’re fighting for something every game. Every time we step on the floor, it’s an important game. We can’t let these opportunities slip, especially in the West.”
- The Suns did let one slip away on Friday, falling to Toronto. That ended a four-game winning streak. “Last game, we had some slip-ups we can definitely control on the defensive end,” forward Royce O’Neale told Rankin. “Communicate a little better. Feel like our communication got to be on point, especially going into these last couple of games of the road trip.”
- Three games after he scored 24 points against Charlotte, Gillespie laid a goose egg against the Raptors. He only attempted three shots in 26 minutes. He also had just four points in 28 minutes against Indiana on Thursday. Gillespie said he has to keep working at getting open looks. “Find those opportunities, hunting threes,” Gillespie told Rankin. “Being ready to catch-and-shoot knowing that those guys are back. More on-ball stuff might not be available as much, but being ready to catch-and-shoot off the ball.” Gillespie is one of the league’s biggest bargains. He signed a one-year, minimum deal last summer and is averaging 13.2 points per game. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
And-Ones: Ishbia, J. Porter, J. Johnson, 65-Game Rule
Appearing on Wednesday’s episode of The Pat McAfee Show, Suns owner Mat Ishbia said he’d be willing to put up $1MM in prize money for the winners of the slam dunk contest and three-point contest on All-Star Saturday, with another $1MM going to charity for each event, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. The goal, as Ishbia explained, would be to bring back more star power to those competitions.
“Let’s get the best guys in,” Ishbia said. “Let’s make it awesome.”
Unfortunately, as Windhorst notes, it wouldn’t be as simple as Ishbia simply putting up that prize money himself. The bonuses for winning those events are negotiated as part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and require the approval of NBA owners and the players’ union. The current CBA calls for dunk contest winners to receive $105K and three-point contest champions to get $60K.
While Ishbia didn’t consult with the league office before sharing his proposal on The Pat McAfee Show, he’s motivated to find a way to get more stars into those All-Star Saturday competitions, Windhorst writes, so he could reach out to the NBA to explore the idea further.
We have more odds and ends from across the basketball world:
- Banned from the NBA for his participation in an illegal betting scheme, former Raptors forward/center Jontay Porter plans to join the Seattle Superhawks of the United States Basketball League, according to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. Porter, who is still awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to a federal felony charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in 2024, previously attempted to join Promitheas B.C. in Greece for the 2024/25 season but had that request turned down by a federal judge. The USBL season tips off on March 6.
- Veteran NBA forward James Johnson will join the BIG3 for its upcoming season and play for DMV Trilogy, the team coached by Stephen Jackson, the 3-on-3 league announced on Wednesday (via Twitter). A 16-year NBA veteran, Johnson appeared in 12 games for the Pacers in 2024/25 but hasn’t been in the league at all this season.
- With Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander both increasingly in danger of falling shy of the 65-game minimum to qualify for end-of-season awards, Eric Koreen of The Athletic argues that the rule is backfiring and could result in the wrong player being named Most Valuable Player this spring. In his latest MVP check-in, Zach Harper of The Athletic ranks Jokic, Gilgeous-Alexander, and Victor Wembanyama as his top three candidates, but they’ve missed 16, 11, and 14 games respectively. They’d be ineligible for award consideration if that number reaches 18.
Tanking Debate Continues As NBA Weighs Potential Fixes
The NBA had a record-setting trade deadline earlier this month and celebrated its biggest stars at All-Star weekend in Los Angeles this past weekend. However, tanking has been perhaps the most popular subject of discussion during the break in the regular season schedule.
A report 10 days ago indicated that the NBA is increasingly concerned about the issue and discussed it extensively at the most recent meeting of the league’s Competition Committee in January. Three days later, the league hit the Jazz with a $500K fine and docked the Pacers $100K for behavior that “prioritizes draft position over winning.” And two days after that, commissioner Adam Silver told reporters at his annual All-Star press conference that the NBA is considering “every possibly remedy” to reduce the practice of tanking.
As Adam Zagoria writes for Forbes, Silver acknowledged that tanking may be worse this season due to the widespread perception that the 2026 draft class is significant stronger than the ’27 and ’28 classes will be. Still, the league doesn’t seem content to sit back and let the issue sort itself out in the coming years.
According to Joe Vardon of The Athletic, approximately 10 potential solutions were discussed by league officials during All-Star week. Abolishing the draft entirely wasn’t among those possible rule changes, per Vardon, but Sam Amick of The Athletic says the “draft wheel” concept first proposed more than a decade ago by Celtics executive Mike Zarren has reentered the discussion.
Of course, any significant changes would require the approval of the NBA’s owners and likely the players’ union as well, Vardon notes.
Here’s more on the tanking dialogue that has taken off in recent weeks:
- In a pair of lengthy tweets, Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban offered his thoughts on why it seems like tanking has gotten worse in recent years and makes a case for why the NBA should embrace it – or at least live with it – as a legitimate team-building strategy. By contrast, Suns majority owner Mat Ishbia strongly opposed the idea that tanking is a legitimate strategy, arguing (via Twitter) that it’s “much worse than any prop bet scandal” and that Silver and the NBA should be willing to make “massive changes” to fix the issue.
- ESPN’s Tim Bontemps is in favor of tweaking the lottery system so that after a certain point in the season – perhaps at the trade deadline, the All-Star break, or after a set number of games – wins would essentially count as losses for the sake of determining a club’s lottery record. For instance, if the cutoff were 50 games and a team opened the season by going 22-28, then tanked late in the year and went 4-28 down the stretch, that team’s record for lottery purposes would be 50-32, with those late-season losses added to the win column. The logic, Bontemps explains, would be to penalize – rather than reward – teams that are aggressively trying to lose during the last couple months of the season.
- Sam Quinn of CBS Sports breaks down several of the hypothetical tanking solutions that have been floated by fans and pundits, breaking down the positives and the negatives of each suggestion.
Suns Notes: Highsmith, Ishbia, Brooks, 2027 All-Star Game
The Suns have long been fans of Haywood Highsmith, according to Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic, who hears from sources that the team has been eyeing the veteran forward for two years. Highsmith plans to sign a multiyear deal with Phoenix.
Rankin writes that the Suns view Highsmith as a strong fit due his “competitiveness and toughness.” Although Phoenix has a standard roster opening the team can use to sign Highsmith, the Suns are also expected to waive guard Cole Anthony, Rankin confirms.
Here’s more on the Suns:
- The Suns have already exceeded external expectations this season — they were only projected to win 31.5 games, and they’re currently 32-23, the No. 7 seed in the West and just three games out of the No. 3 spot. As Sam Amick of The Athletic writes, Mat Ishbia was widely criticized around the league for leaning into his Michigan State ties in his first couple years as owner, but instead of going away from those connections, he doubled down and went all the way in last offseason. Ishbia promoted Brian Gregory, his former assistant coach with the Spartans, to be the Suns’ new general manager, and worked with Gregory and CEO Josh Bartelstein to establish the team’s hardworking culture. “When people wanted to blame me last time, I wasn’t actually doing it my way,” Ishbia told The Athletic. “Now, I am, and there’s no question about it.”
- According to Amick, while James Jones was technically still Phoenix’s head of basketball operations last February, it was actually Bartelstein who spearheaded communications with rival teams interested in trading for Kevin Durant. League sources tell Amick the Rockets made a late pitch for Durant prior to last year’s deadline, offering a package that included Jalen Green and Jabari Smith Jr., but the Suns wanted Dillon Brooks in the deal and decided to wait until the summer to revisit trade talks. A Rockets source denies Smith was ever included in the offer, Amick adds.
- As impressive as Phoenix’s turnaround has been this season, the team still finds itself at an asset deficit after trading away so many draft picks and swaps to acquire Durant and Bradley Beal in the first place, Amick notes. The Suns will also carry Beal’s dead-money cap hit on their books for several more seasons, limiting their financial flexibility going forward.
- Speaking to the media on Saturday, All-Star guard Devin Booker says he has enjoyed playing with Brooks this season, as Rankin of The Arizona Republic relays (Twitter video link). “Dillon is a hardworking man. He’s someone to rally behind. He’s a fierce competitor. I wouldn’t want it any other way. I’d rather too competitive than to be the other way. It’s been a pleasure playing with him,” Booker said.
- Commissioner Adam Silver discussed the 2027 All-Star game, which Phoenix will host, at his Saturday press conference, per Rankin (Twitter video link).
Trade Rumors: Young, LaVine, Brooks, Deadline, AD, More
Sam Amick and Josh Robbins of The Athletic have confirmed Shams Charania’s report that the Hawks are working with Trae Young and his representatives to find the 27-year-old point guard a new team.
As Amick reported last week, Atlanta has been increasingly willing to discuss Young trades for weeks or even months after the Hawks showed no interest in pursuing an extension, but the market for the four-time All-Star seems to be limited. According to Amick and Robbins, Young is searching for a new deal “commensurate with a star player.”
To illustrate the point about teams being wary of acquiring the diminutive point guard, Amick and Robbins cite a team source who says the Kings — long viewed as a potential landing spot for last season’s assists leader — have “no interest” in trading for Young. Zach LaVine, whose contract is very similar to Young’s, is “known” to have interest in joining the Hawks, the authors add.
Regarding Marc Stein’s report about the Hawks discussing a trade that would potentially send Young to Washington and CJ McCollum to Atlanta, Amick and Robbins note that Young doesn’t fit the archetype favored by the Wizards‘ top front office executives, and speculate that Washington might want either draft compensation or a young player to take on his contract, which includes a $49MM player option for next season.
Young missed his fifth straight game Monday due to a right quad contusion.
Here are a few more trade-related rumors and notes from around the NBA:
- Don’t expect Suns small forward Dillon Brooks to be on the move in the next month. Gerald Bourguet of Suns After Dark reported (via Twitter) on Monday that Phoenix isn’t interested in moving the veteran wing due to both his on- and off-court contributions. Suns owner Mat Ishbia essentially confirmed as much just a few minutes later. On FanDuel TV’s Run It Back show (Twitter video link), former NBA big man DeMarcus Cousins said he if were running the Lakers, he would trade Austin Reaves for Brooks “in a heartbeat.” Ishbia’s response? “Don’t bother calling… Suns aren’t interested. Dillon’s not going anywhere,” he wrote (Twitter link).
- Amick, Josh Robbins and John Hollinger of The Athletic discuss the biggest storylines and questions ahead of the February 5 trade deadline, noting that Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s situation with the Bucks is the one that holds the most intrigue around the league. All three think Antetokounmpo is more likely than not to stay put during the season, though that would depend on whether the two-time MVP requests a trade. Other topics include whether Anthony Davis will be traded by the Mavericks and role players who could appeal to contending teams. Hollinger lists Wizards forward Justin Champagnie as an example of a player on a team-friendly contract who could be a valuable in-season addition.
- Speaking of Davis, he and Kyrie Irving wanted to play together for years before it finally came to fruition last February, writes Christian Clark of The Athletic. However, the Mavericks duo only played two-and-a-half quarters together prior to Davis suffering a left adductor strain. Less than a month later, Irving tore his ACL, and there’s no timeline for his return. Whether they’ll be able to team up again before the season ends is an open question with Dallas expected to listen to offers for Davis, Clark adds.