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Here's how Chris Paul decision will impact Phoenix Suns bench makeup next season

Dana Scott, Arizona Republic
·7 min read
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The Phoenix Suns will be kicking the roster's overhaul into high gear this summer, and a big part of that will impact how the team's bench will look next season.

Much of that is connected to Chris Paul and what the team decides to do with the veteran point guard.

Paul will be entering his 19th season later this year. The team is "exploring" options with the legendary point guard about his future with the Suns. Phoenix and Paul have until June 28 to decide how to move forward on paying him for the two years left on his four-year deal for $120 million. That's two days before the free agency market opens.

The financial implications will influence how much Phoenix can revamp its lineup of players who come off the bench, a key area that drew attention during the playoffs.

Here's what could happen: Both the Suns and Paul could agree to trade him; waive and let him walk to another team; waive and re-sign him for less money at a $3 million veteran minimum, as his $30.8 million owed for next season is partially guaranteed; or waive and stretch the guaranteed $15.8 million after the deadline.

The decision between both parties could determine what the team can afford among the bench's eight soon-to-be free agents to re-sign or let walk to other teams starting this month.

Phoenix's new coach Frank Vogel wants to have a blue-collar style of play to complement superstars Kevin Durant and Devin Booker next season.

During Vogel's introductory news conference at the Footprint Center on Tuesday, Vogel's brief opening speech about his plan for the team culture combined some boilerplate rhetoric and bombastic grit.

"We are committed to bringing in championship-level talent. I will be committed to bringing a championship-level culture both on and off the court," Vogel said. "The culture centered around hard work, toughness, intelligence, teamwork, and when we get out there and play we’re gonna be scrappy as hell!”

Phoenix's backup forward Ish Wainright, who signed a two-year deal in February, which includes a team option for next season, was the only player in attendance.

Wainright said he hadn't met Vogel before the news conference, but was intrigued by Vogel's pitch.

“When he made the comment about us being a scrappy team, we got a lot of scrappy guys, and even our superstars are scrappy," Wainright said to The Arizona Republic. "When he made that comment, I kind of looked around like, ‘Yeah, OK!’"

These are Phoenix's pending free agents, which comprise more than half of the team's 15-man roster:

It would be surprising if Paul caves for a $3 million veteran minimum to stay in Phoenix after he clears waivers and surveys the free agency market for more money. That veteran minimum wouldn’t count against Phoenix's cap, preventing them from crossing the second apron of $17.5 million, which enables Phoenix to sign a player for the $7 million mid-level exception (MLE) as a luxury tax-paying team. The MLE can help Phoenix rebuild their roster for another potential starter or solid sixth man. Paul could want to re-sign for that MLE to keep playing with his friends Booker and Durant, and remain close to his family based in Los Angeles.

Phoenix remains over the cap from the max contracts for Booker, Durant, and Ayton and Paul’s guaranteed $15.8 million puts Phoenix into the luxury tax. The waive and stretch option for Paul is to have his $15.8 million guaranteed for around $3.2 million per year for the next five seasons. That puts Phoenix below the luxury tax line and gives the team wiggle room for the full $12.2 million non-tax MLE to revitalize the bench with key contributors to make a deeper playoff run.

But Phoenix would still be over the cap in that case after he clears waivers, and they can't re-sign Paul after he’s waived and stretched. However, that $3.2 million on the books through 2028 (when he’ll be 43 and likely retired) might hinder finding someone they’d want to use that money to sign or replace him at point guard in the coming years or sooner.

Phoenix's general manager James Jones was asked during the news conference about the looming changes to the Suns' bench. He didn't specify his plan, but acknowledged all of the reserves' contributions during the team's past season.

“Those are roster decisions that I never talk about what we do with the roster. But I will say this: Every guy on our team, they were on our team for a reason because we believe that they’re capable of getting us where we need to be," Jones said. "And so we’d love to have our guys back, but we know that some of our guys perform really, really well and have opportunities where they may not be back with us.

“But our commitment is to fill out a team that we believe can win in the postseason, and I truly believe that last year and the year prior to that we’ve had enough on our bench. We just need to find a way to build that chemistry, bring it together and win games because we’re not that far off despite all the outside narratives. Every single player on our team won us games and made winning plays in the postseason. We just need to collectively make a little bit more.”

To be at a championship level, the team's tenacity on hustle plays has to match its offensive and defensive efficiencies. But that wasn't the case in Phoenix's recent postseason performance, especially from its second unit.

Phoenix's second unit was near the middle of the pack at 11th in bench scoring at 36.2 per contest during the regular season. That numbered dwindled for Phoenix to second to last at 13.6 in the playoffs. Typically coaches shrink their rotations between the starters and bench players during the playoffs. But Vogel's predecessor Monty Williams went deep into his bench to desperately find what could stick to match Denver's offensive firepower in the semifinals.

It was heavily exposed in Phoenix's season-ending blowout home loss to top-seed Nuggets in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals. Three of Phoenix's usual backups, Landry Shamet, Cameron Payne and Jock Landale, started with injured Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton out, and Josh Okogie taken out of the starting lineup. Phoenix's second unit scored just 12 points to the Denver bench's 28, and was outrebounded 11 to six.

Like Jones, Wainright understands this is a business in which players will go where they get more money, or play wherever they can with few options to maintain an NBA income if Phoenix doesn't bring them back.

But Wainright's optimistic about what will come next from the Suns' bench next season.

“We all played. We all won games in the postseason, even in the regular season like we needed," Wainright said. "Guys will understand their role. I’m pretty sure that’s probably the main focus that we’re gonna have. … I’m just looking forward to seeing how it’s gonna be.”

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Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul works out before the Western Conference semifinals against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena in Denver on May 9, 2023.
Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul works out before the Western Conference semifinals against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena in Denver on May 9, 2023.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Chris Paul decision will impact Phoenix Suns bench makeup next season