HoopsHype NBA Insider Michael Scotto On Phoenix Suns Free Agency, Bol Bol & Royce O’Neale
I’m here with Hoops Hypes Michael Scotto Michael thank you for taking the time just wanted to get your general thoughts on the Suns off season let’s start with Josh aogi obviously bringing him back 8 million a year was probably more than some people were expecting but does it make sense for a team in that position to kind of sign him to that type of deal well I think you got to look at it big picture it’s not just for a Suns fan is he worth $8 million at face value the bigger picture is given their roster construction and the salary cap rules that they have to follow getting a guy like him on an $8 million deal gives them somewhat flexibility to potentially trade him and use him as an asset in that regard the second year of the deal is non- guaranteed so essentially uh you’re working with a n um an expiring contract and so that was the value there and it’s maybe a little higher and inflated uh than some would have thought but a similar thing happened with Philadelphia with KJ Martin so for Phoenix they get a guy that they can have as a rotation guy that they’ve had before for a couple of years but bigger picture uh Josh kogi becomes an expiring contract and a trade asset essentially for the Phoenix Suns looking ahead as they’re trying to Tinker the roster and and make an eventual what they hope to be a championship run to your point about that they brought back several of their own free agents bow Damen Lee for a lesser cap hit there uh Royce O’Neal with that bigger deal kind of what is your read on you know the the efficiency of those moves well I think certainly for Phoenix getting back BB I’ve always liked B B I think he’s he’s a really good talent it’s just about harnessing it um Damen Lee really good shooter and when you can get a guy that can shoot around 40% on a minimum deal that’s a win um but I think you touched on also Royce O’Neal uh Roy is a guy and I had him in Brooklyn with the Nets um so Roy is a guy that can fill multiple roles as a wing guy you can play a little bit of small ball four if you need him and a guy that is a really good locker room guy for the value they got to have him under a midlevel uh exception territory I thought it was a fair deal I think maybe some wondered if it would be three years instead of four but um you know that’s that’s the only thing that maybe was a little bit of a surprise but uh Royce O’Neal and Kevin Durant in particular uh good friends and certainly uh that chemistry is going to be needed as Phoenix tries to take that next step this year for sure yeah obviously they’re bringing back most of the core they were able to go out and add two players in Monte Morris and Mason plumbley uh how do you feel about those moves especially considering you know all they had were basically vet minimums to work with yeah you know I thought uh the Monty Morris deal was a little interesting because Phoenix had been aggressively pursuing Kyle Lowry you as well touched on it in your reporting as well um and I thought Kyle would have been an interesting fit for them but once uh Philadelphia excuse me made their moves and got Paul George for him for him to stay close to home and have maybe a little bit of a clearer path to Championship contention in the East uh that played in in Kyle Lowry’s return to to Philly there but um you know Mason plumbley a guy that uh another former net that I had previously um in my turf but a guy that uh low maintenance can fill uh up a box score in a in a variety of ways moving the ball maybe sometimes on a hockey assist um but a good value for him and he also some some ties from Brooklyn that I think could have played into that Matt tellum the new assistant GM for the Phoenix Suns he was in Brooklyn when Mason was a Youngster there uh before he eventually got moved to Portland so I I think that some of those relationships had something to do with it and quite frankly the opportunity to play I I think he is going to have a role Off the Bench for this team and get consistent minutes so if you’re a Suns fan look out for that last one I had for you obviously this summer The Big Talk has been about the tax APR in the new CBA you’re seeing some teams like the nuggets and Clippers do what they can to duck under that second tax apron and then you got Phoenix on the complete opposite end just diving head first what’s your read on how this new second tax apron is affecting teams and if you’re a Suns fan should you feel good about your owner being willing to go that far so I’ll answer that in two parts to to to the latter part of your question I think if you’re a Suns fan and you’ve got Matt ishia just light and it’s like in The Wolf of Wall Street when Leonardo DiCaprio’s on the boat and he’s just like throwing it away into the ocean I mean he’s but but that’s what you want if you’re if you’re a fan of a team you want an owner that’s willing to spend whatever it takes in Matt ish’s opinion he thinks that this can be a championship team and he’s going all in and spending so you’ve got to commend him for that I think to your first part of your question across the league uh the second apron I would say essentially is like a hard cap for a lot of teams around the league because uh one with the flexibility roster wise and the construction of that but I also think for some owners they don’t want to you know in smaller markets they don’t want to go that far and I think for Phoenix that’s been one of the advantages of having Matt ishia and I mean look Matt’s done his own press conferences we’ve seen not a lot of owners do that I think he’s a bold guy and I think you know he’s he’s trying to go all in as best he can to build a good team they’re going to need help uh certainly with Bradley Beal it’s always been the ex factor for him uh you know KD played a lot of games last year uh certainly you know that that warm weather seemed to help him and I I I just think that like I said for other teams that’s been almost a hard cap but to your question Matt ishia just hasn’t cared about it and and for Suns fans again from where they were previously I think they they want that if you’re going to have a guy that spends that much money it’s hard to really question how he spends it because a lot of teams and a lot of owners in the league they don’t even get that far
HoopsHype NBA Insider, Michael Scotto spoke with PHNX Suns’ Gerald Bourguet at 2024 NBA Summer League about the Phoenix Suns offseason. The free agents they brought in, Monte Morris and Mason Plumlee. As well as the players they brought back, Bol Bol and Royce O’Neale.
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2 Comments
Did okay with all the limitations they did okay.
Loving Geralds work this off-season