Suns can offer Grayson Allen $75M extension starting Wednesday. How does he feel about it?

SAN ANTONIO — Grayson Allen has been more than a welcomed addition to the Phoenix Suns.

The NBA leader in 3-point shooting is having a career year in becoming that fifth starter to go along with Phoenix’s Big 3 of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal — and 7-footer Jusuf Nurkic.

He’s arguably been the team MVP this season.

Sounds like someone the Suns should keep as Allen will be an unrestricted free agent after this season, but doing so will come at a hefty price.

Phoenix can offer Allen a contract extension for four years, $75 million starting Wednesday and up until June 30 as the Suns have his Bird rights. It’s the most the Suns can offer.

“I haven’t been thinking about it or playing for the contract or anything, but I feel really blessed to be in a position where I’m on a team I fit perfectly on in an important year for me career wise,” Allen said before Monday’s game at San Antonio. “Very blessed to be playing this well and given the opportunity I’ve been given to help the team out as much as I have.”

That four-year deal would start at $16.4 million for Allen, but it’s projected to add between $65 and $70 million to the Suns luxury tax for the 2024-25 season. The team has limited roster flexibility because they already are over the league’s second tax apron.

'Try not to think about it too much'

So, the Suns might have to pay up to nearly $90 million to keep Allen, who is the final year of two-year, $18.7-million deal that’s paying him $8.5 million this season.

That’s adding to an already expensive squad. Booker’s supermax deal of four years, $224 million begins in 2024-25. He’s due $49.3 million next season.

Durant is due $49.8 million next season in the third of his four-year, $194-million deal while Bradley Beal is scheduled to make $50.2 million next season in the third of his five-year, $251-million deal.

Beal has a no-trade clause.

“I try not to think about it too much,” said Allen about his specific contract numbers. “One, because it’s not a done deal until it’s signed. You don’t want to count it, start counting stuff too early before it happens. Another part of is it’s March and we’ve got 11, 10 games left. We’re getting at a time where you don’t want to have stuff like that on your mind cause it’s an individual goal for me and right now, it’s the Suns and team stuff. I don’t want to think about that kind of stuff too much.”

Ishbia willing to spend

Suns team owner Mat Ishbia made two things clear after announcing March 7 that Phoenix is hosting the 2027 NBA All-Star weekend.

One, the franchise isn’t being reckless with its dollars.

“We’re not frivolous with money and just spending money to spend money,” said Ishbia, who paid $4 billion for the Suns and WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury. “What we’re trying to do is win a championship and build the best team possible.”

Two, Royce O’Neale and Allen are team priorities.

O’Neale will also be an unrestricted free agent after the 2023-24 season as the Suns traded for him in a three-team deal before the trade deadline.

“Royce and Grayson are two great guys,” Ishbia said. “Royce is new to the organization, has done an amazing job, everything you can think of, and Grayson has been here all year. He’s been a phenomenal part of the team and the organization. We hope and expect to have both of those guys back along with keeping this core team together because we love our team and we’re going to compete at the highest level.”

Allen in 50-40-90 contention

The Suns find themselves in a situation in which they essentially must pay Allen and it might be in their best interest to do so before free agency. He’ll draw at least $12.9 million for the first year of a new deal in free agency, but say he has a big postseason and helps the Suns make a deep playoff run.

Allen could command even more money in free agency. The Suns could pay him more than $16.4 for the first year, but Detroit, Orlando, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Philadelphia and Utah have major cap space.

Even if Allen, 28, were to struggle in the playoffs, the Suns don’t really have any leverage on this.

Allen has put himself in an ideal situation with his play as he is beyond flirting with the 50-40-90 club of shooting at least 50% from the field, at least 40% on 3s and at least 90% from the free throw line.

In his sixth season out of Duke, Allen is at 50.9% shooting from the field overall, 47.9% from 3, both career highs, and 88.4% from the line. Allen has started all 66 games he's played this season in his first season with the Suns.

“It’s about what I thought I could do on this team,” Allen said. “I felt before the season like I was playing the best basketball of my life and in position to have a great year even before I was even traded here. Given a little bit more opportunity here. Doing different things. It’s about in line with my expectations. It’s obviously been a great year. The specifics of it, the efficiency, whatever it has been, I didn’t have any thoughts about that. I just thought I could play really well and help the team.”

'Hell of a basketball player'

Allen is averaging career highs in points at 13.5 a game, rebounds at 3.8 and assists at 3.1.

“The consistency of his 3-point shot making would be at the top of the list,” said Suns coach Frank Vogel when asked what has stood out the most about Allen’s play this season.

“He’s a good, all-around basketball player. There’s a lot of shooters in this league that aren’t good basketball players and he’s a hell of a basketball player in so many different ways. His ability to handle off the bounce, to attack on closeouts. You can put him in pick-and-roll, you can put him in pin downs. Make him a screener and a pocket player in small-ball lineups. Has got a great IQ and he competes his tail off defensively. He’s just one of the most well-rounded players in the league and obviously, his shooting has been elite.”

Phoenix is Allen’s fourth NBA team as has he’s never been with a team more than two seasons. The Suns acquired him from Milwaukee in a three-team trade right before training camp that sent Damian Lillard to the Bucks, Deandre Ayton to Portland and Nurkic to Phoenix.

He was viewed as someone who’d be in the Suns rotation because his shooting, but Allen has become one of the team’s best players. Allen spaces the floor to help Booker, Durant and Beal have one-on-one matchups, has served as a secondary playmaker and competes on the defensive end.

Allen still struggles defensively in matchups, but he plays physical and hasn’t had those moments this season of playing dirty, a label he drew from his days at Duke and in the NBA.

Now he’s in position to find some financial and team security with the Suns.

“It would be nice to be playing in one spot for the rest of my career, but an extension doesn’t automatically give you stability. Milwaukee signed me to a two-year extension and I only played one year of that contract there, but yeah, that would be nice.”

Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Grayson Allen focused on Suns, not possible $75M contract extension