<\/p>\n
By Gerald Bourguet<\/p>\n
Coming off a 45-win season and unexpected trip to the playoffs, the Phoenix Suns have two options heading into\u00a0<\/span>another important offseason<\/a>. They can choose to keep their new core intact, hoping that another year of continuity and internal growth will yield better results with more injury luck, or they can try to upgrade the roster wherever they can without sacrificing too much of the core that helped\u00a0<\/span>build their newfound identity<\/a>.<\/p>\n If exit interviews with owner Mat Ishbia and general manager Brian Gregory were any indication, the Suns will largely look to run it back next season.<\/p>\n \u201cI think our continuity is gonna be a big positive for us,\u201d Gregory said. \u201cIt\u2019ll be the first time since I\u2019ve been here, coach is coming back, staff\u2019s coming back, players are coming back. We\u2019re able to get into gym with them in two weeks instead of in July.\u201d<\/p>\n The Suns won\u2019t be hanging up on trade offers, but unlike in years past, they may not be as active in seeking out deals. Taken at face value, their focus appears to be supplementing this core, not tweaking it.<\/p>\n \u201cDo we take calls about opportunistic trades and ideas? Of course we do,\u201d Ishbia said. \u201cHowever, our massive, massive lean is, I like this team. I like where we\u2019re going. I like the direction of the organization. I like the culture that we\u2019ve built. I like the identity that we have. And we\u2019re not gonna do anything silly to mess that up.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re gonna continue to lean in on that, and I think the fans will be proud of that. And we\u2019re gonna continue to get better and we\u2019re gonna build something special for years to come here in Phoenix. And I think this was the foundational first year.\u201d<\/p>\n Continuity obviously starts with navigating new deals for the Suns\u2019 own free agents who played meaningful roles in their success. Namely, Collin Gillespie and Jordan Goodwin will be unrestricted free agents that Phoenix intends to re-sign, while Mark Williams faces a trickier situation as a restricted free agent.<\/p>\n There is a\u00a0<\/span>case to be made for more calculated, bigger swings<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>to upgrade this roster. It seems hypocritical to criticize the Suns for their bold and shortsighted \u201call-in\u201d moves over the last two years, and then turn back around and demand a more aggressive approach the\u00a0<\/span>minute<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>they establish a new culture and identity\u2026but that first-round sweep against the Oklahoma City Thunder showed how far this group still has to go.<\/p>\n Whether the Suns plan on making bigger moves or decide to bank on continuity and internal development, they\u2019ll still have to make decisions about their own free agents first and foremost. In either scenario, Collin Gillespie is someone they\u2019ll want to bring back on a new deal.<\/p>\n Over the next few weeks, we\u2019ll take a look at the case for re-signing (or\u00a0<\/span>not<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>re-signing) each one of Phoenix\u2019s three main free agents. Today, we start with Gillespie, who is coming off a career season and should be Phoenix\u2019s top priority this summer.<\/p>\n Heading into next season, the Suns already have eight players under contract: Devin Booker, Jalen Green,\u00a0<\/span>Dillon Brooks<\/a>, Grayson Allen, Royce O\u2019Neale, Khaman Maluach, Ryan Dunn and Rasheer Fleming. If you include the non-guaranteed deals and team options for players that would make sense to return, three more are added to that tally with Haywood Highsmith, Jamaree Bouyea and Oso Ighodaro.<\/p>\n Between those 11 players, Phoenix already has approximately $162.5 million on the books. Unfortunately, they also have the dead money for Bradley Beal, Nassir Little and EJ Liddell to worry about. That extra $23.2 million bumps them up to $185.7 million total salary.<\/p>\n For reference, the NBA\u2019s salary cap for next season is $165 million, which means the Suns will be operating as an over-the-cap team. Thankfully, they can go over the cap to re-sign Gillespie because they possess his Early Bird rights, which allows them to re-sign their own free agents to a higher amount without regard to the salary cap. (This is the case with Jordan Goodwin as well.)<\/p>\n What they\u2019ll need to consider is the luxury tax at $200.5 million and the first apron at $209.1 million. Mat Ishbia never blinked while staring down astronomical luxury tax bills when he thought his team was worth the investment, but if the Suns dive back into the tax next season after ducking it this year, they\u2019ll be subject to the repeater tax again.<\/p>\n Fortunately, that\u2019s an Ishbia problem, and the Suns owner has never minced words about how fans couldn\u2019t care less about their favorite team\u2019s tax bill. So if this organization truly is all aboard the Continuity Express, they may not have any choice but to dive back into the tax, since re-signing just one or two of their key agents could quickly push them back over that $200.5 million threshold.<\/p>\n Remember, the Suns are only operating with $14.8 million of space beneath that luxury tax line. Re-signing Gillespie and Goodwin and then filling out their two remaining roster spots would likely be enough to push Phoenix back into tax territory.<\/p>\n Make no mistake about it: Collin Gillespie is expected to be the Suns\u2019 top priority to retain this summer, and he\u2019s more than earned his payday with this team. For Gillespie\u2019s part, he\u2019s equally invested in a return to the Valley.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, it hasn\u2019t changed,\u201d Gillespie said during exit interviews. \u201cI still want to be here, and the front office knows that, everybody knows that in the building. So I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll figure it out when that time comes.\u201d<\/p>\n It makes sense that both Gillespie and the Suns want to get a deal done, since the 26-year-old enjoyed a breakout year in his first season as a legitimate NBA rotation player in Phoenix. Gillespie averaged 12.7 points, 4.6 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game, all of which were career highs.<\/p>\n Despite a massive uptick in minutes and shot attempts, he also remained the 40 percent 3-point sniper he\u2019s been since his days shooting on a Fisher Price hoop. Gillespie canned 40.1 percent of his triples on a career-high 7.2 attempts per game, and he even broke the Suns\u2019 franchise record for made 3-pointers in a single season (232), surpassing Quentin Richardson\u2019s previous record (226).<\/p>\n The only players in the entire NBA who made more 3s than Collin Gillespie this season were Kon Knueppel, LaMelo Ball, Luka Doncic, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jamal Murray and Donte DiVincenzo. Among those six players, everyone but Murray attempted at least 50 more 3s than Gillespie.<\/p>\n The young Villanova product also played 2,282 minutes over 80 games \u2014 a significant increase for a guy who had only logged a grand total of 687 minutes in 57 games over the first three years of his career\u00a0<\/span>combined<\/em>.<\/p>\n Near the tail-end of Phoenix\u2019s disastrous 2024-25 campaign, Gillespie came on strong late in the season, but it was hard to tell how much of that was him being legitimately good, and how much was him standing out on a lifeless roster by the virtue of simply\u00a0<\/span>trying<\/em>. Given his first legitimate shot at rotation minutes on a standard contract, Gillespie definitively proved that he belongs.<\/p>\n Gillespie actually started in 58 of his 80 appearances this season, and the Suns\u2019 most-used lineup \u2014 Gillespie, Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks, Royce O\u2019Neale and Mark Williams \u2014 boasted a +10.4 Net Rating. Their second-most used lineup \u2014 Gillespie, Booker, Jalen Green, O\u2019Neale and Oso Ighodaro \u2014 also boasted a +10.4 Net Rating.<\/p>\n Whether Collin Gillespie is the ideal backcourt partner for Booker is debatable. He was a great complement for Book before Green returned to the lineup, and on the season, lineups with Booker and Gillespie in them posted a +7.0 Net Rating. Gillespie\u2019s shooting makes him a terrific spot-up threat off the ball, and his ability to handle the rock and facilitate allowed Booker to operate off the ball a bit too \u2014 something that carries more weight for a franchise that\u00a0<\/span>needs to build properly around its star player<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, as much as Gillespie scraps on the defensive end, he\u2019s still a tad undersized at 6-foot-1, which can make him a target for mismatches. He doesn\u2019t possess overwhelming athleticism on either end, and despite the \u201cwiggle<\/a>\u201d he has when getting into the lane, he still needs to work on creating separation. Gillespie also shot just\u00a0<\/span>51.4 percent at the rim<\/a>, due to that lack of size, bounce and ability to create space from his defender.<\/p>\n Gillespie may have saved the Suns some money after hitting a bit of a wall over the last six weeks of the season, which coincided with Jalen Green returning from his hamstring injuries to rejoin the starting lineup. From March onward, Gillespie\u2019s numbers dipped to 10.1 points per game on 36.9 percent shooting overall, including 34 percent from 3.<\/p>\n Whether that was a byproduct of adjusting to Green\u2019s presence or simply dealing with that fatigue of playing more minutes than he ever had in a season, Gillespie will need to find a way to be more productive with fewer touches and opportunities (assuming Green stays healthier next season).<\/p>\n With all that being said, Gillespie proved that at the very\u00a0<\/span>least<\/em>, he\u2019s a high-end backup. Assuming the Suns\u2019 main trio of Booker, Brooks and Green is back again next year, the Suns need to add more size to their starting lineup, which means Gillespie may make more sense as one of the first subs off the bench. But even if he\u2019s not ideally suited to be the fifth starter on a legitimate contender, Gillespie showed he can produce as an occasional spot starter and natural backcourt partner for Booker.<\/p>\n In terms of contract value, if the Suns re-sign Gillespie, his deal must be for a minimum of two years, not including any options. Thanks to those Early Bird rights, he\u2019s eligible for a contract worth up to four years and $67 million, which would come with a starting salary of about $14.9 million in his first season.<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to see him getting that full amount, which would immediately push Phoenix into the luxury tax. However, something in the $10-12 million annual range feels like a fair deal for both sides. Gillespie has understandably pushed back on the T.J. McConnell comparisons, but something like McConnell\u2019s four-year, $45 million extension seems fitting for both parties. Adjusting for the league\u2019s increasing salary cap since McConnell signed his deal, maybe Gillespie\u2019s payday stretches to the $50 million range over four years.<\/p>\nThe Suns\u2019 cap situation<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n
A look at Collin Gillespie\u2019s breakout season<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n
So how much will Collin Gillespie\u2019s next contract be worth?<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n