Suns’ $194 Million ‘Untenable’ Dilemma Comes To Fore After Early End To Season vs Wolves

After losing four consecutive playoff games at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Phoenix Suns have become the latest team to be eliminated from the ongoing NBA tournament. The franchise’s focus will now shift toward the next season, with special emphasis being placed on determining which players to retain, acquire, and/or trade off. Until now, an impressive roster of players like Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, and Devin Booker have been the face of the Suns. However, a recent update reveals that certain ‘untenable’ circumstances may break apart the golden trio.

A few hours ago, NBA reporter Erik Slater took to his official X account to highlight what awaits the Suns going into the next season. According to reports, the franchise has committed over $194 Million in salaries to Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, Devin Booker, Jusuf Nurkic, Grayson Allen, Nassir Little, and David Roody. However, the recently launched ‘Second Apron’ initiative limits the money the Suns can spend to $189.5 Million. Once that limit is crossed, the franchise can only acquire players willing to come in under minimum deals. As Slater states, this situation is nothing short of “Untenable”.

The ‘Second Apron’ concept was introduced as part of the NBA’s most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). It imposes severe penalties for franchises that spend more than the threshold established by the Salary Cap and the Luxury Tax. It helps to level the field for big spenders and teams that may not have that much amount to spend on roster building.

Thanks to this initiative, the Suns are now in a dilemma. Either they will have to retain their current roster and fill up the rest of the lineup with not-so-impressive players possessing minimum deals, or let go of 1 or 2 of their top players to avoid getting imposed with penalties. Erik Slater highlighted that after the upcoming draft, the Suns will be unable to possess its top 2 draft picks until 2031. This will prevent them from building around their main stars with players possessing rookie deals.

Given their precarious position, many are urging the Suns to trade away Bradley Beal. Various reports have called his contract with the Suns one of the worst for the franchise since the player’s absence during several games of the regular season and his performance during the playoffs has allegedly not made him worthy of such a high payoff. However, the Suns still owe $161 million to Beal over the next three seasons. Even if Beal was to be traded to another team, it would be hard to convince the franchise to take up the high amount promised to the shooting guard.

Suns owner Mat Ishbia gave assurances that his franchise is not “frivolous with money”

The Phoenix Suns’ issue with the ‘Second Apron’ was a topic of conversation even before they entered the playoffs.

Back at the beginning of March, Suns owner and billionaire Mat Ishbia was questioned by a reporter about the new CBA guidelines and how the management would cope with them going forward. With NBA commissioner Adam Silver standing right beside him, Ishbia first proceeded to jokingly say “I don’t know what the ‘Second Tax apron is, what is that?” Later, however, he got to the main thing and said that his decisions about money would only come down to one factor: whether it would help his team win.

“We’re trying to win a championship…. and signing free agents is what it’s gonna take” said Ishbia. “And having someone’s Bird rights gives you an advantage to be able to keep those players even if you’re into the luxury tax. We’re not frivolous with money and just spending money to spend money. What we’re trying to do is win a championship and build the best team possible.”

Unfortunately for Ishbia, the Suns have failed to win this year’s championship. The current roster already takes up enough money, and going above the ‘Second Apron’ won’t probably allow the owner to sign the free agents he desires. Whatever the case may be, it is apparent that the Suns will need to make some big decisions moving forward.