With the offseason officially underway, the Suns have several questions to answer with their own free agents. They want to bring back multiple players and are expected to prioritize Collin Gillespie and Jordan Goodwin. Fans are also wondering what that could cost the team. Two other names fans want back are set to be restricted free agents.
Those two names are Mark Williams and Koby Brea, and even if only one got real playing time last year, both have a path to success in the Valley. The Suns also
seem to agree, as they do not want to lose them for nothing. That is why today’s news dropped that the Suns have extended qualifying offers to both players.
This means the Suns have extended one-year contracts to each player, allowing them to become restricted free agents. It also allows other teams to send offer sheets to either Williams or Brea to try to steal them from Phoenix. The silver lining, though, is that Phoenix can match those offer sheets and retain those players if they feel the contract they received is something they would pay.
Williams comes in at $9.6 million, as he reached starter criteria. In Brea’s case, since he was on a two-way, his offer is only $680k, but he has a cap hold of $2.2 million.
Even though the Suns could let either player or both walk, it would make sense for them to consider offers from other teams. Since Brea did not play much, it would seem his market would not be large, which could ensure he returns to Phoenix either on a two-way or, finally, on the roster, competing for a spot.
In Williams’s case, though, this could get interesting. With restricted free agency last year, most players accepted their qualifying offers, as teams had little money to spend in free agency and players sought large contracts. Players like Jonathan Kuminga, Quentin Grimes, Josh Giddey, and Cam Thomas were among those who headlined that saga, and even though some of them did get long-term deals, some situations did not end well.
Now, I am not going to say that Williams will fall into that same category, as I expect a team like the Chicago Bulls, which has money, to be interested. They have been linked to other center names in Walker Kessler and Jaren Duren, so it would make sense that Williams is on their radar, too. Since they also have 60M in cap space, it could be a concern for Phoenix if they strike out on other names.
Could they swing an offer that puts Phoenix out of his price range? Maybe, but even with the number change to Devin Booker to take Williams 15 from last year, that does not simply close the door. Williams was someone who, even if he got injured later in the season, was healthy for the majority of the year. He hit a career high in games played with 60, and for stretches of the season, looked like he could be a solution in the front court.
With Khaman Maluach and Oso Ighodaro expected to see larger roles, it could make sense to move off Williams, but ultimately, it is not the plan. If they can get him on a one-year prove-it qualifying offer, I think they would be happy. Even if they had to work on a deal that was like 2-3 years worth $30-40M, I’d still think they would entertain that.
Thought we truly won’t see until free agency kicks off on June 30th, when the dominoes start to fall. All eyes will be on what this team does to truly improve, and even though fans may not want to hear it, sticking with what worked and seeing some internal development could be that path.
