Welcome to Inside the Suns, your weekly deep-down analysis of the current Phoenix Suns team. Each week, the Fantable — a round table of Bright Siders — gives their takes on the Suns’ latest issues and news.
Fantable Questions of the Week
Q1: How important do you think it is for the Suns to re-sign Mark Williams this summer?
GuarGuar: For the right price, I absolutely would bring Mark back next season. It was very apparent after the All-Star break that we were a different team, and his absence during that time is no coincidence. His size and presence are things Oso doesn’t have, and we sorely missed them during our
OKC series. The health of Mark is a big concern for sure, so I wouldn’t commit too much to him, but I saw enough last year that I do want him back.
Diamondhacks: On the court, not even Dillon Brooks or Collin Gillespie was as integral to our early success as Mark Williams. But if you think he’s our center of the future, I have a bone to pick. The third metatarsal. It’s come to my attention (a year or so after Rob Pelinka’s) that this is a very important basketball bone, and further, that Mark Williams performing at the lofty standards he set is cumulatively bad to the bone.
Absent more hopeful orthopedic expertise, I guess Ishbia could foot the bill for a quality center, good for a thousand minutes or so, but more or less on the foot’s schedule.
Ashton: I can take it or leave it, but as it stands now, I think the Suns must do it. Giannis is not walking through that door anytime soon.
I was impressed with Oso’s development, but he needs another season, and I still question if he is a long-term piece. I really have no idea what affordable centers may be on the FA market to replace him.
And the draft to save the day? Centers are returning to school for big NIL paydays. Well beyond the money that the Suns could offer with their second-round pick.
Rod: At this point in time, I don’t think either Khaman Maluach or Oso Ighodaro should be starting at center for the Suns, so bringing back Williams is pretty important. That being said, it’s even more important to bring him back on a team-friendly deal because I believe Maluach could be ready to start in 2027-28 or perhaps even before next season ends.
I don’t want to let him walk this summer, but I also don’t see him as the Suns’ long-term answer at center, so if the price of bringing him back is too high, I would let him go rather than committing too much money to a contract longer than a year. Personally, I’d be fine with him returning to play on the 1-year qualifying offer of $9.6 millon.
Q2: There’s been talk of offering Dillon Brooks a 4-year contract extension worth up to $125 million this summer. What are your thoughts on this?
GuarGuar: I am okay with giving Dillon that type of contract. He isn’t a max player or close to one. I want to be clear about that. He’s a great culture setter and plays very hard and with so much energy, which I love. He can be a black hole offensively, though, and can really take us out of a rhythm at times. On the flip side, sometimes he’s the only one aggressive enough to keep our offense afloat, so you take the good with the bad with him.
I’d love to keep him here in Phoenix; he seems to get along really well with this group.
Diamondhacks: My thought is to do whatever the opposite of an extension is. Truncation? Swap Dillon for someone who does things the Suns actually and desperately need. Like pass and rebound the ball. Honestly, I’m not sure what Brooks does out there sometimes, other than miss a lot of shots and stare at people. He really is an exceptional starter. You have to go back a long way to find someone who stares like that. Kurt Thomas, maybe?
Brooks likely had a significant intangible influence early (i.e., in Flagstaff and beyond) on a younger, impressionable roster, and our FO appears to be “all in” on the idea that this will continue. My poker observation is that his performative intensity generated valuable returns but, eventually, trickled in, less of a river than the flop. Teammates modeled and internalized some of his toughness, which is great. Now seems like a good time for those cheaper and more active proteges (or possibly an outside ‘leader’ type) to run with the competitive culture Brooks instilled. Without some of his ‘thirtysomething’ basketball and adolescent excess.
Ashton: H-E-Double-Picks no. Four years?
Look, I realize that some fans want the Dillon Brooks Fanclub pinned to the sidebar conversations, and for good reason. He is a motivational speaker, and that is putting it politely.
I looked it up. Does everyone here know that Brooks led the charge in technical fouls last season? Sure, you did. But did you know Booker was third? These mouthy “shooting guards” are complaining about not getting the calls and what to you expect? Love Thy Ref and get the calls.
Personal fouls? Brooks is doing well in that area as well, ranking number four (Booker is 21st). I pulled my stats using team rankings if you want to double-check.
All of this to say that you want to extend a player who couldn’t even get through his first season without legal trouble. What is the encore? Buckeye prison system basketball team? You do not reward bad behavior in any system.
If an argument were to be made for Brooks, then consider him as future trade bait? I almost wish the Suns could do an incentive-based contract that stipulates staying out of the top 20 in both foul areas and making a million or two. That and it would save him fines,
But I am a solid pass.
Rod: I really like having Brooks on the team, but $125 millon over 4 years seems a bit too high to me. As important as he is to the team, I don’t want to insult him with a low-ball offer either. Hopefully they can come to an agreement closer to $100 million over 4 years instead or, my personal favorite, agree to put off talking about an extension until the 2026-27 offseason begins. By then, we should have a much better idea of whether the team is indeed headed in the right direction with the current core and really worth making big investments to keep it together.
Q3: Both Collin Gillespie and Jordan Goodwin will be unrestricted free agents this summer. If the Suns could only afford to bring one of them back, which would you choose?
GuarGuar: This is a very tough question, but if we could only afford to bring back one, I would bring back Collin. He’s a true playmaking PG, and when he’s hot, he can literally take over games offensively, which Goody can’t do. Gillespie isn’t a starter for a championship team, but he is a very serviceable rotation guard on one. Would hate to lose either of those guys though!
Diamondhacks: No two Suns executed Ott’s up-tempo Chaos Culture better – or frankly, as well — as Gillespie and Goodwin. These G-stringers won’t win you a sexy championship, but they personify a timeless ethic about how basketball should be played. Relentless, physically courageous, unselfish, opportunistic – and self-controlled. And since we’re not winning a title anyway, I suspect that ethic and execution may have more currency to some fans — and perhaps even to Mat Ishbia — than the Illusory Trophy itself.
I would, with appropriate compensation, sooner move on from more established players like Green, Brooks, or one of Allen/O’Neale, than part with either Jordan Goodwin or Collin Gillespie. Sorry. I’m keeping them both.
Ashton: Some chatter about how some teams could really use Collin Gillespie, and I wonder if he is being over-valued. Loved Goodie, but in the same vein of trade conversations later down the line, it has to be Collin Gillespie. He is generating the most NBA interest.
Also, if you study mock drafts for 2026, you are going to scroll past a lot PGs and PFs in the first round. A playmaker position is valued this year.
Rod: In all the years I’ve been doing Inside the Suns, this is the first question that I’ve ever put forth to the Fantable that I didn’t already have some idea of how I would answer it. Goodie vs Gillespie is a tough one because I love having both of these guys on the team.
Of the two, Collin is the better point guard while Goodie is the better all-around player. They’re both very important to this team and losing either one would be a shame, but I’m going to have to give Collin the nod as being the more important of the two to keep…by a very narrow margin.
As always, many thanks to our Fantable members for all their extra effort this week!
Quotes of the Week
“With the continuity of our players, with the continuity of our staff, with a huge focus and emphasis on development, we’re going to take big jumps this summer and you’re going to see it next year.” – Brian Gregory
“There’s never a point where we’re not always looking and having communication on are there players out there that fit what we’re all about .” – Brian Gregory
“I like this team, I like where we’re going, I like the direction of the organization, I like the culture that we built, I like the identity that we have and we’re not going to do anything silly to mess that up.” – Mat Ishbia
Suns Trivia/History
On May 9, 2010, the Suns defeated the San Antonio Spurs 107-101 in San Antonio to sweep the Spurs 4-0 in the Western Conference Semifinals. It was only the 2nd time in franchise history that the Suns had swept a team in a 7-game playoff series. The First occurred 5 years earlier when the Suns swept the Memphis Grizzlies 4-0 in a first round series.
On May 11, 1992, the Suns lost 153-151 to the Portland Trail Blazers in a double overtime Western Conference Semifinals game. Phoenix’s 151 points are the most ever scored by a Suns team in a single playoff game and the most points scored by the Suns in a loss.
On May 14, 2007, after defeating the San Antonio Spurs 104-98 to tie their Western Conference Semifinals series 2-2, Amar’e Stoudemire and Boris Diaw were suspended for one game by the NBA for stepping off the bench and onto the court after Robert Horry’s hit on Nash in the final minute of the game even though Stoudemire and Diaw never got close to the altercation on the court. Horry also received a two-game suspension from the league for his flagrant foul on Nash and for striking Raja Bell above the shoulders in the subsequent fracas.
On May 15, 1994, Kevin Johnson posterized Houston’s Hakeem Olajuwon.
Important Future Dates
May 10-17 – NBA Draft Combine (ESPN2/ESPNU/NBA App/YouTube TV)
Mid-June (date TBD) – Teams can begin negotiating with their own free agents (following the Finals)
June 23 – NBA Draft First Round, 8 ET (ABC/ESPN)
June 24 – NBA Draft Second Round, 8 ET (ESPN)
June 30 – Free agency begins
July 6 – Moratorium ends, official free agent contract signings can begin
July 9-19 – NBA 2K Summer League 2026 in Las Vegas
