NBA free agency arrives on Monday (officially, we all know plenty is already done behind the scenes). Here are some of the latest rumors circulating around the league, starting in Phoenix, which has already had a busy offseason.
Booker expected to extend with Suns
Phoenix’s offseason checklist:
1) Trade Kevin Durant. Done.
2) Hire a new coach. Done (Jordan Ott is a deserving hire).
3) Have a strong NBA draft. Done (Khaman Maluach is a quality addition).
4) Trade Bradley Beal. Good luck with that (more on this below).
5) Extend Devin Booker. Working on it.
During the draft, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst talked about how Booker — the guy the Suns are now building around — was active in the coaching search and is talking with the Suns about a two-year, $150 million extension. He doesn’t have to sign that, but he can if he wants to show an extra level of commitment to the franchise. If that comes together, it would lock Booker in Phoenix on a what would now essentially be a five-year, $320 million contract. That is a serious commitment to their star.
So no, the Suns aren’t trading Booker anytime soon.
Beal open to trade but it’s unlikely
Bradley Beal is owed $110 million over the next two seasons and holds a no-trade clause that would let him reject a trade anywhere he doesn’t want to live and play. That means Beal is likely to be on the Suns next season, and new coach Jordan Ott will play him heavy minutes early in the season, hoping to raise his trade value.
Beal is “open” to a trade, Fred Katz reports at The Athletic, but that comes with conditions:
Beal would be open to the right trade that sends him to the right destination, but his preference is to remain in Phoenix, even if the team won only 35 games a season ago and just downgraded from Kevin Durant, who it dealt to the Houston Rockets last weekend.
Beal will make an average of $55 million each of the next two years, and this is a player most teams believe to be worth more like $15 million a season at this point in his career (Katz confirmed that for The Athletic). No team is taking on that extra cash…
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