What type of contract will it take for Suns to re-sign Collin Gillespie in free agency?
By Gerald Bourguet
Coming off a 45-win season and sudden journey to the playoffs, the Phoenix Suns have two choices heading into another important offseason. They can select to hold their new core intact, hoping that one other yr of continuity and inside progress will yield higher outcomes with extra damage luck, or they will strive to improve the roster wherever they will with out sacrificing an excessive amount of of the core that helped build their newfound identity.
If exit interviews with proprietor Mat Ishbia and normal supervisor Brian Gregory had been any indication, the Suns will largely look to run it again subsequent season.
“I think our continuity is going to be a big positive for us,” Gregory stated. “It’ll be the first time since I’ve been here, coach is coming back, staff’s coming back, players are coming back. We’re able to get into gym with them in two weeks instead of in July.”
The Suns will not be hanging up on commerce provides, however not like in years previous, they will not be as lively in in search of out offers. Taken at face worth, their focus seems to be supplementing this core, not tweaking it.
“Do we take calls about opportunistic trades and ideas? Of course we do,” Ishbia stated. “However, our large, large lean is, I like this staff. I like the place we’re going. I just like the route of the group. I just like the tradition that we have constructed. I just like the id that we’ve got. And we’re not gonna do something foolish to mess that up.
“We’re going to continue to read in on that, and I think the fans will be proud of that. And we’re going to continue to get better and we’re going to build something special for years to come here in Phoenix. And I think this was the foundational first year.”
Continuity clearly begins with navigating new offers for the Suns’ personal free brokers who performed significant roles in their success. Namely, Collin Gillespie and Jordan Goodwin will be unrestricted free brokers that Phoenix intends to re-sign, whereas Mark Williams faces a trickier scenario as a restricted free agent.
There is a case to be made for more calculated, bigger swings to improve this roster. It appears hypocritical to criticize the Suns for their daring and shortsighted “all-in” strikes during the last two years, after which flip again round and demand a extra aggressive method the minute they set up a brand new tradition and id…however that first-round sweep towards the Oklahoma City Thunder confirmed how far this group nonetheless has to go.
Whether the Suns plan on making larger strikes or resolve to financial institution on continuity and inside growth, they will nonetheless have to make choices about their very own free brokers at first. In both situation, Collin Gillespie is somebody they will need to convey again on a brand new deal.
Over the following few weeks, we’ll take a take a look at the case for re-signing (or not re-signing) each of Phoenix’s three predominant free brokers. Today, we begin with Gillespie, who’s coming off a profession season and needs to be Phoenix’s prime precedence this summer time.
The Suns’ cap scenario
Heading into subsequent season, the Suns have already got eight gamers underneath contract: Devin Booker, Jalen Green, Dillon BrooksGrayson Allen, Royce O’Neale, Khaman Maluach, Ryan Dunn and Rasheer Fleming. If you embrace the non-guaranteed offers and staff choices for gamers that may make sense to return, three extra are added to that tally with Haywood Highsmith, Jamaree Bouyea and Oso Ighodaro.
Between these 11 gamers, Phoenix already has roughly $162.5 million on the books. Unfortunately, additionally they have the useless cash for Bradley Beal, Nassir Little and EJ Liddell to fear about. That additional $23.2 million bumps them up to $185.7 million complete wage.
For reference, the NBA’s wage cap for subsequent season is $165 million, which suggests the Suns will be working as an over-the-cap staff. Fortunately, they will go over the cap to re-sign Gillespie as a result of they possess his Early Bird rights, which permits them to re-sign their very own free brokers to the next quantity with out regard to the wage cap. (This is the case with Jordan Goodwin as nicely.)
What they will want to take into account is the posh tax at $200.5 million and the primary apron at $209.1 million. Mat Ishbia by no means blinked whereas staring down astronomical luxurious tax payments when he thought his staff was definitely worth the funding, but when the Suns dive again into the tax subsequent season after ducking it this yr, they will be topic to the repeater tax once more.
Fortunately, that is an Ishbia downside, and the Suns proprietor has by no means minced phrases about how followers could not care much less about their favourite staff’s tax invoice. So if this group really is all aboard the Continuity Express, they could not have any selection however to dive again into the tax, since re-signing only one or two of their key brokers may rapidly push them again over that $200.5 million threshold.
Remember, the Suns are solely working with $14.8 million of house beneath that luxurious tax line. Re-signing Gillespie and Goodwin after which filling out their two remaining roster spots would possible be sufficient to push Phoenix again into tax territory.
A take a look at Collin Gillespie’s breakout season
Make no mistake about it: Collin Gillespie is predicted to be the Suns’ prime precedence to retain this summer time, and he is greater than earned his payday with this staff. For Gillespie’s half, he is equally invested in a return to the Valley.
“Yeah, it hasn’t changed,” Gillespie stated throughout exit interviews. “I still want to be here, and the front office knows that, everyone knows that in the building. So I’m sure we’ll figure it out when that time comes.”
It is smart that each Gillespie and the Suns need to get a deal completed, because the 26-year-old loved a breakout yr in his first season as a professional NBA rotation participant in Phoenix. Gillespie averaged 12.7 factors, 4.6 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals per recreation, all of which had been profession highs.
Despite an enormous uptick in minutes and shot makes an attempt, he additionally remained the 40 p.c 3-point sniper he is been since his taking pictures days on a Fisher Price hoop. Gillespie canned 40.1 p.c of his triples on a career-high 7.2 makes an attempt per recreation, and he even broke the Suns’ franchise file for made 3-pointers in a single season (232), surpassing Quentin Richardson’s earlier file (226).
The solely gamers in the whole NBA who made extra 3s than Collin Gillespie this season had been Kon Knueppel, LaMelo Ball, Luka Doncic, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jamal Murray and Donte DiVincenzo. Among these six gamers, everybody however Murray tried a minimum of 50 extra 3s than Gillespie.
The younger Villanova product additionally performed 2,282 minutes over 80 video games — a major improve for a man who had solely logged a grand complete of 687 minutes in 57 video games over the primary three years of his profession mixed.
Near the tail-end of Phoenix’s disastrous 2024-25 marketing campaign, Gillespie got here on robust late in the season, however it was exhausting to inform how a lot of that was him being legitimately good, and the way a lot was him standing out on a dull roster by the advantage of merely attempting. Given his first professional shot at rotation minutes on an ordinary contract, Gillespie definitively proved that he belongs.
Gillespie really began in 58 of his 80 appearances this season, and the Suns’ most-used lineup — Gillespie, Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks, Royce O’Neale and Mark Williams — boasted a +10.4 Net Rating. Their second-most used lineup — Gillespie, Booker, Jalen Green, O’Neale and Oso Ighodaro — additionally boasted a +10.4 Net Rating.
Collin Gillespie is the perfect backcourt companion for Booker is debatable. He was an incredible complement for Book earlier than Green returned to the lineup, and on the season, lineups with Booker and Gillespie in them posted a +7.0 Net Rating. Gillespie’s taking pictures makes him a terrific spot-up risk off the ball, and his capacity to deal with the rock and facilitate allowed Booker to function off the ball a bit too — one thing that carries extra weight for a franchise that needs to build properly around its star player.
However, as a lot as Gillespie scraps on the defensive finish, he is nonetheless a tad undersized at 6-foot-1, which might make him a goal for mismatches. He does not possess overwhelming athleticism on both finish, and regardless of the “wiggle“He has when getting into the lane, he still needs to work on creating separation. Gillespie also shot just 51.4 percent at the rimdue to that lack of dimension, bounce and skill to create house from his defender.
Gillespie could have saved the Suns some cash after hitting a bit of a wall during the last six weeks of the season, which coincided with Jalen Green getting back from his hamstring accidents to rejoin the beginning lineup. From March onward, Gillespie’s numbers dipped to 10.1 factors per recreation on 36.9 p.c taking pictures general, together with 34 p.c from 3.
Whether that was a byproduct of adjusting to Green’s presence or just coping with that fatigue of enjoying extra minutes than he ever had in a season, Gillespie will want to discover a means to be extra productive with fewer touches and alternatives (assuming Green stays more healthy subsequent season).
With all that being stated, Gillespie proved that on the very leasthe is a high-end backup. Assuming the Suns’ predominant trio of Booker, Brooks and Green is again once more subsequent yr, the Suns want to add extra dimension to their beginning lineup, which suggests Gillespie could make extra sense as one of the primary subs off the bench. But even when he isn’t ideally suited to be the fifth starter on a professional contender, Gillespie confirmed he can produce as an occasional spot starter and pure backcourt companion for Booker.
So how a lot will Collin Gillespie’s subsequent contract be value?
In phrases of contract worth, if the Suns re-sign Gillespie, his deal have to be for a minimal of two years, not together with any choices. Thanks to these Early Bird rights, he is eligible for a contract value up to 4 years and $67 million, which might include a beginning wage of about $14.9 million in his first season.
It’s exhausting to see him getting that full quantity, which might instantly push Phoenix into the posh tax. However, one thing in the $10-12 million annual vary appears like a good deal for either side. Gillespie has understandably pushed again on the TJ McConnell comparisons, however one thing like McConnell’s four-year, $45 million extension appears becoming for each events. Adjusting for the league’s growing wage cap since McConnell signed his deal, maybe Gillespie’s payday stretches to the $50 million vary over 4 years.
Anything in the $7-9 million annual vary can be a discount for a high-end backup who can double as a succesful starter in a pinch, particularly since Gillespie did common 13.3 factors and 4.7 assists per recreation on 40.4 p.c taking pictures from 3 as a starter. If accidents flare up, or if the Booker-Green-Brooks trio tanks with out the suitable dimension round them and Jordan Ott appears to be like for a extra drastic change of tempo by demoting Green to a sixth man position, the Suns can relaxation straightforward realizing Gillespie can instantly come in and provides them stable minutes as a spot starter.
After a breakout season in his first yr as a fully-rostered NBA rotation participant, Collin Gillespie has earned the primary payday of his skilled profession. He flourished with this group underneath Jordan Ott, and assuming he can proceed to keep wholesome, he has an excellent probability to construct on that. All of that has undoubtedly fed Gillespie’s sense of loyalty to the group and his want to return to the Valley, and the sensation is mutual with the Suns, given how he was one of the primary to embody the grit and hustle that Phoenix needed their new tradition to stir round.
Granted, his numbers may not look as spectacular if he is moved to a full-time bench position, however the influence ought to nonetheless be there, and that is greater than definitely worth the $9-13 million annual wage that Collin Gillespie is probably going to command with a pay elevate this summer time.
