The Phoenix Suns’ Cap Dilemma

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When the Suns traded for Bradley Beal last offseason they committed to having 3 players take up 95.87% of the salary cap for 2023-2024. The suns were a second apron team this season but it did not translate into the type of season they had hoped for. The Suns finished in 6th place in the west during the regular season, and, at the time of writing this, are down 3-0 to the Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs. Suns owner Matt Ishbia has shown and expressed a willingness to spend money on this team. After adding Royce O’Neale and David Roddy at the trade deadline, he said, “No fan cares about the owner's luxury tax bill. No one cares about the money I spend. They care about winning, so that's all I care about, too. The introduction of second apron penalties has made it very difficult for high-spending teams to consistently overspend, and maintain roster flexibility. Unless the Suns make trades to get out of money owed, they will once again be a second apron team in 2024-2025; they are projected to be over the second apron by $15 million more than last year before adding any new players and currently having only 11 players on the books.




 

Financial Penalties

 

The Suns will be subject to the repeater tax (for teams that pay the luxury tax in three of the previous four years) for the 2024-2025 season. This means that for every dollar over the tax threshold, they will have to pay $2.50 up to the first 100% of the tax bracket amount. As the team salary continues to exceed the threshold by larger margins, the tax rate progressively increases, reaching up to $4.75 for every dollar over when the salary exceeds 400% of the tax bracket amount. As of now, with $207,053,726 in salary allocations for 2024-2025, the Suns would pay approximately $126,36,291 in tax and $333,415,017 total. They still have to fill out the roster.

 

Roster restrictions



 

There will be several roster restrictions for the Suns if they are a second apron team. 



 

- Cannot use mid-level exception

- Cannot use bi-annual exception

- Cannot use disabled player exception

- Cannot acquire players via sign and trade agreements

- Cannot send out cash in a trade

- Cannot acquire more than 125% plus $100,000 of the salaries they are trading away

- Cannot aggregate salaries of players in a trade

- Prohibited from trading its first-round draft pick in the first NBA draft following the seventh season after exceeding the second apron

 

Grayson Allen

 

Allen and the Suns recently agreed on a four year - $70 million contract. The suns were already headed for the second apron before they signed Allen so they would not have been able to acquire a player near Allen’s caliber in another way. Because they had Allen’s bird rights, they could sign him to this deal even though it is worth more than the mid-level exception and even if doing so puts them over the second apron for 2024-2025. The Suns have Allen’s bird rights because Allen had played 2 seasons with the Bucks and the Suns acquired him in a trade. Allen cannot be traded until October 16.

 

Filling out the roster

 

As a second apron team, the Suns would have to full out their roster with minimum-level contracts. They operated similarly this year, with a few guys making a majority of the salary cap and then having several veteran minimum players. They can bring back Royce O'Neale as they hold his bird rights from the Nets however they would incur significant tax penalties.The Suns also have a first-round pick in the upcoming draft.

 

The Big 3

 

The trio of Durant, Beal and Booker will remain together for two more seasons unless at least one of them is traded. The Bradley Beal contract, expiring after 3 more seasons (if player option is exercised), is virtually untradeable, even if he waives his no-trade clause. He is going to make $160,998,810 over the next 3 seasons. Durant and Booker are still producing at an ALL-NBA level. If the Suns are going to move on from one of them it would likely be Durant as Booker is 8 years younger and has been a lifetime Suns player.

 

The Bottom Line

 

To get the best product on the court next season the Suns likely need to bring back O'Neale and keep the guys they have, filling out the remainder of the roster with minimum contracts. They had a -11.6 net rating in the 4th quarter this season which was by far the worst in the league. One of the reasons for this may be because they did not have a primary point guard in their closing 5. They may go and get a starting caliber PG this offseason however I wonder who in the starting lineup currently would move to the bench. Perhaps it would be Nurkic but they would be small. If they do not run it back next season the alternative is to trade Durant and cut costs + retool the roster.

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Published April 28, 2024.