The Phoenix Suns defied all odds and made it to the NBA Finals in just their second season under coach Monty Williams. In an unprecedented turn of events, they had six consecutive losing seasons beforehand, yet managed to make history by finally making a championship appearance this year.
Now with that heartbreak weighing on them (and not forgetting those other postseason losses), this team will have more than enough motivation for next year’s run when the playoffs begin again! What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!
For those who aren’t fortunate enough to have won the NBA Championship, there are a variety of emotions that might be difficult to explain.
While going through these feelings, it may seem impossible for some teams and players, but eventually, they will realize what this is all about – making history with an NBA title … which will make the Suns hungrier than ever before.
“We put in the work; we did what it takes to get there. We went up against a great team, and they beat us fair and square. But with our next opportunity on top of that, I think everybody will be ready.” —paraphrased from Booker after his first playoff run.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, the 6’11” forward from Athens, Greece, is now inarguably one of the most formidable players on earth. Averaging a triple-double throughout this year’s NBA Finals series against Phoenix produced an incredible stat line that will go down as legendary and took home his first championship ring for Milwaukee Bucks fans everywhere.
However, next year will feature stiff competition for Giannis’ Bucks: early odds put Brooklyn at +600 favorites at Arizona Sportsbooks, despite their injury-riddled roster coming off three straight second-round playoff exits.
But what about the Suns?
The Suns are +1300 on the early odds boards to win next season. Chris Paul has a player option of $44.2 million he can opt-in next season or opt-out and test the free agency market where some team would be willing to sign him to say, for example, three years at $100 million if it was allowed by NBA rules that govern contracts. After his last game with the Clippers on Wednesday night—a loss ending their playoffs run– Paul didn’t elaborate when asked about his future but is confident in how this will all unfold “Right now we’re going to process this and figure this out,” he said before boarding an airplane back home from L.A.” Chis Paul declined to speculate on his future, but he is confident in how it will all play out.
This offseason is all about Chris Paul for the Suns.
This upcoming season will be a rebuilding one, so it’s likely that most of their talent would have just been drafted and not yet established by next summer. That leaves them with only two options: sign another marquee player in free agency or trade away some other assets to get something they can use now (e.g., draft picks). With no clear-cut superstar on Phoenix’s roster, the signs are pointing towards signing someone like Chris Paul this coming off-season. It would behoove the Suns to try and retain CP3 for one more season.
But they have more unrestricted free agents this offseason:
The Phoenix Suns are in the process of building a contender for years to come. Two stars who will be crucial pieces going forward, Mikal Bridges and Deandre Ayton, both have contracts coming up this offseason that may (or may not) need to be addressed.
Mikal Bridges has been an absolute steal as a first round draft pick since he went 10th overall last year with many predicting him higher on their boards before getting sniped by Philadelphia thanks to an unfortunate injury at Villanova’s end-of-season tournament. He’ll likely sign long-term with the team soon or next season because if they can’t agree upon terms during negotiations, the Suns should still be able to match offers.
So, we’ll have to wait and see the direction in which the Phoenix Suns management turns this summer. Do they rebuild with fresh young talent or retain as much of the current veteran talent they have to hit the 2021-2022 running as instant competitors?
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