Josh Okogie Is Back With The Phoenix Suns. Here’s Why The Higher Salary Makes A Lot Of Sense

Josh Okogie Is Back With The Phoenix Suns. Here’s Why The Higher Salary Makes A Lot Of Sense

I think this was a Savvy move by the Suns I think so too oh goad no I was going like it it makes sense as a second tax apron team you have to find ways to create trade flexibility for yourself and you have to find ways to get Talent with more than just the vet minimums that you have so we knew going into the summer that resigning their own free agents would be a way to do that and I know a lot of people are looking at the roster like Josh aogi is that 15th roster spot now and they’re like wait that’s it that’s all that we did we’re basically Bally running it back and we’ve been trying to tell you guys for a while like trade flexibility there’s not a lot free agency all you have are vet minimums and we’ve been telling you we’ve been reporting on this podcast for weeks now that like they are aiming to bring Josh aogi back they have competition for his Services they’re going to sign him for more than the vet minimum the only person this is affecting is Matt isia’s Pockets like that’s it he got Josh aogi got a $5 million raise basically which is good for him the second year the deal is non- guaranteed like what are what are we up about I don’t I don’t understand I mean we’re just being upset to be upset is basically what it boils down to is you know you have the crowd out there that’s like oh my God why couldn’t they have used that $8 million on somebody else that’s not how it works you couldn’t that’s just he’s the only guy that you could have offered that much money to because you had his rights that’s it Point Blank and a story outside of that you have $2 million you can go play with all over the market go ahead go ahead crazy and they couldn’t find anybody that they felt like fitted what they wanted to get done so um I agree I think it’s a shrewd move I also thought it was was a good move to just make it make sure that you had the opt out in year two because if you can’t if if Josh aogi doesn’t perform this year and you can’t find a way to get rid of him then why keep that salary and the tax liabilities that come with that next year so I thought it’s it’s a shrewd move I thought it was a very good move I I think the only guy that could be upset in the whole thing is Josh aogi because he’s trade bait and it’s obvious but he got $5 million out of the deal so why would he even you know be upset on top of what he was going to get uh as a vet minimum or if he had opted in to that second year guaranteed so I I don’t understand I get it look oh uh you need more shooting well that you weren’t going to find that at a vet minimum price uh any more than than what you got everybody oh sadique bay well sadek Bay signed for significantly more than the vet minimum a lot of these names that people wanted you weren’t getting at a vet minimum and they go it’s because it’s the Suns no it’s because these guys had more lucrative offers and some people decide to take the money rather than the opportunity and you can’t do anything about this when they brought in Matt tellum we knew he was going to be a guy that found these loopholes in the second apron to try to find a way to get you additional Talent this is one of those loopholes that you can go above and beyond what you have for these Bird right guys and they’re utilizing that uh to eventually you know if joshu kogi isn’t a productive member of this lineup up in the way that you know you you might hope you then try to find a way to package him with some of those picks that you also acquired in the draft or your 2031 and you make a move I think what this really says is Matt ispia is Allin again yeah I does he have to continue to prove it like I feel like he’s listen I there should be no doubt that Matt ish is all in trying to do whatever he can to to to get this franchise a championship like that’s that’s not even like we’re not even blowing smoke up anybody’s ass that’s just the fact like look at what he’s doing he’s spending a lot of money um and the fact that people are upset that maybe aoi got $8 million or or or maybe they feel like they Royce O’Neal got paid too much and all this other stuff like it’s irrelevant and like I was telling these guys uh earlier today it’s like it’s like being mad at somebody for spending a lot of money at the at at poker and then they crap out like okay I don’t give a it’s not my money like okay let’s move on right and and it’s it’s one of those things where we covered this earlier in the offseason but it’s worth reminding people like they were going to be a second tax apron team no matter what they did with Roy with Grayson like just having 150 million wrapped up in the big three they only had what like $30 million to go $40 million to go until they got to that that line they were going to cross that no matter what so at this point you are spending and you’re sending a message to other prospective free agents in the future like hey if you come here I’m not going to be afraid to dip into the luxury tax to reward you if I feel like you help us win or I feel like you contribute something here and that is kind of the way around the second tax apron you look around the league look at how many teams have been desperate to duck that second tax apron at the expense of their team we just saw the nuggets for the second year in a row lose a capable starter caliber player or a critical piece of their rotation just to get under that level they’re not going to be the same going from kavus cwell Pope to Christian Brown to try and avoid that second tax apron the Clippers Like You could argue they needed to dismantle that whole thing anyway but they definitely use the second tax apron as their reasoning for you know what Paul George we’re not going to offer you as much as Philly or some other team wants to give you so you should go somewhere else like I understand people you can say what you want about the state of the roster but this is the best Avenue to being able to make moves down the road because as a second tax apron team you cannot take back more money than you send out and you can only send out one Sun’s player in a trade at a time so that really limits your flexibility so if you structure Josh a kogi’s contract where it’s an $8 million deal this year and next year is non-g guaranteed so whoever’s trading for him is not obligated to keep him for the future that opens up more trade possibilities for you

Josh Okogie and the Phoenix Suns have reached a deal for Okogie to return to the team. The contract is much higher than what he made last year, but it makes sense! We dive into it on the PHNX Suns Podcast

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