With the offseason officially underway for the Phoenix Suns, discussion on offseason plans will begin to run rampant over the next few weeks. Many have already started with fake trade proposals, and we will explore that here, too, but not today.
Instead, we will discuss the recent tweet from known Suns insider John Gambadoro, as he said this early this morning (for us East Coast people) and late last night for Suns fans.
Gambadoro stated that two of the Suns’ four free agents should be top priorities to retain. Those would be Collin Gillespie and Jordan Goodwin. This would make sense for the Suns as both players were key pieces to the new culture and identity Phoenix wants to present, and both were hidden gems for the franchise as well.
Gillespie coming from the Denver Nuggets on a two-way deal and then Jordan Goodwin being waived by the Los Angeles Lakers allowed the Suns to get this dynamic duo. Early this week, I wrote about Collin Gillespie’s exit interviews, in which he stated that he and the franchise knew he wanted to be back in Phoenix next year. So hearing the news from Gambadoro is not much of a surprise, but the other name is nice to see as well.
As I stated earlier, Goodwin came over from the Lakers after being waived and had to compete for his roster spot at the beginning of the year against Jared Butler. He ended up winning that battle, and, luckily for both parties, that was a great benefit. Goodwin had a career year in his return to the Valley, averaging 8.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.5 steals while shooting 41/37/70 in almost 23 minutes per game.
He had a career-high 6 threes in one contest vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder, allowing them to win that game while also being a key disruptor on the defensive end for Phoenix. His energy and hustle also earned him the Dan Majerle Hustle Award, which he was definitely the most deserving of. Goodwin would always throw his body on the line to make a winning play, and Jordan Ott fell in love with that from the get-go.
For Goodwin retaining him, like Gillespie, makes sense for the Suns, as he fits everything this team stands for and has carved out bigger roles for himself with this franchise. Both will have a market in free agency, but with the Suns knowing how much they mean to the core, it would make sense for them to come back on long-term deals.
Now, there is another free agent that Gambo mentioned as well, and that was Mark Williams.
It seems Williams is still on the Suns’ priority list, and that is a good sign. Even if Oso Ighodaro and Khaman Maluach may be the future of this frontcourt, Williams is a great starter who can still help bridge the gap for the young bigs next year. The one issue the Suns may run into with him, though, is that he is a restricted free agent.
This allows the Suns to match any offer the team makes to Williams, unlike with Gillespie and Goodwin, but it also means a team could price the Suns out to secure him. That being said, last year, most restricted free agents did not get long-term deals; many just received the qualifying offer. Will Williams get that? I don’t think so. Even if he was injured for the last third of the season, he did play a career-high 60 games and was a nice change of pace for Phoenix in the front court. He will find himself with Phoenix, a team friend who also makes sure he can still develop here long term.
Phoenix likes most of its pieces and will retain their major features. Does that mean there are things they do not need to address? No, they will find a larger size, but it also shows that this internal development still has some ways to go. It’s exciting to see the team sticking together and buying back into a winning culture.
