Being smart and knowing where to be helps a ton for those two areas as well. Lee’s off-the-dribble game won’t wow anyone and he gets picked on defensively but he plays his tail off to make up for the latter. Lee was a winning player too, making timely defensive efforts or key ball rotations in big moments. He was a knockdown shooter all year, especially in the fourth quarter. Lee was candid during exit interviews about how much this past year meant to him because he absolutely cemented himself as an NBA player that should be around for the next half-decade plus.Īt 30 years old, Lee shot 44.5% from 3-point range, third leaguewide for players with at least 200 3s attempted. He had his share of moronic critics from his time in Golden State, claiming Lee was only on the Warriors because of his brother-in-law Stephen Curry. Last year was the biggest season of Lee’s career. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) It’s just a matter of if the Suns have a spot left for him. His banter is a welcome dynamic to the locker room as well. In just two seasons, he’s established himself as one of the best shot-blockers in franchise history. He’s not much of a finisher and his free throw percentage took a big dip last year but the defense really is worth a roster spot. Among players with at least 500 minutes, Biyombo’s 9.0% block percentage was second behind Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr., per Stathead.īiyombo is an awesome communicator defensively and has an innate understanding of where to be. And sometimes you’ve got to remind yourself, while Biyombo has been in the league since 2011, he doesn’t turn 31 years old until late August.īiyombo was one of the NBA’s best shot-blockers last season. The only reason not to pursue Biyombo would be if the Suns want to get younger at center. That last bit says a lot about his smarts and reliability, and new head coach Frank Vogel will probably find him as a fine, physical option. He averaged 6.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, can act as a ball mover and quickly found a rhythm as a roll man with Durant. Unlike Craig, Landale is a restricted free agent with a $2.2 million qualifying offer. Like Craig, the Suns have early Bird rights on the 27-year-old big man, who despite his three-point shot never gaining traction brought value from the traditional avenues of hard screens, rim-rolling and knowing where to be on defense. Then he defended the heck out of Ayton toward reporters! While paying Craig more adds to a massive tax number, it will be worth it over scrouging for 3-and-D wings on veteran minimum deals.Īdding low eight-figure deals also gives the Suns contract flexibility in making the math work on trades (see the throw-in of Landry Shamet’s contract in the Beal trade involving Chris Paul).Ī quick way to explain the value of Landale is that he got Ayton benched in a brief period against the two-time MVP and eventual Finals MVP during the playoffs. Phoenix has early Bird rights on him, meaning the team can sign him for at least two years and up to about $12 million per year (105% of the league average). While some reckless decision-making would rear its head at times, it of course was always a product of high effort and energy.Ĭraig thrived especially playing off the Suns’ stars, shooting a career-best 40% from three-point range on top of his usual solid defense. Sure, the roster shuffling and injuries and Jae Crowder’s absence made that the case. He earned the trust of former head coach Monty Williams to play 24.7 minutes per game with 60 starts in 79 regular season games last year. Phoenix Suns’ own free agents F Torrey CraigĬraig, 32, put together perhaps his best NBA season of 7.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. Phoenix has a $5 million trade exception to use into February as well.īefore we get into free agents to be signed starting Friday, let’s look at all of the Suns’ own free agents, their situations and the likelihood they re-up with Phoenix. Warren and Wainright could also be retained, as could point guard Saben Lee. The Suns project to land over the new second tax apron at a projected $182 million, meaning they can only sign outside free agents to veteran minimum exceptions.Īccording to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the Suns will also attempt to re-sign free agents Torrey Craig, Josh Okogie, Damion Lee, Jock Landale, Bismack Biyombo and Terrence Ross. That leaves six roster spots and a pair of two-way deals to hand out. Dayton coach: Suns' Toumani Camara knows 'who he is' as player
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