Suns Receive A- Grade for 'Dramatic' Offseason
The Phoenix Suns have had quite the offseason.
We'll start just 48 hours after the Suns were eliminated from the postseason, where Monty Williams was relieved of his duties and the search for a new head coach began.
Frank Vogel was officially hired a bit later down the road before massive changes were made to the roster, the biggest coming via a monster trade with the Washington Wizards that saw Bradley Beal arrive to the Valley and Chris Paul depart.
The Suns then went into free agency and shocked most people by acquiring hefty talent on minimum contracts.
Now, Phoenix is ready to roll as the NBA Summer League begins after a busy offseason - one that not only graded well but was also deemed quite dramatic by Bleacher Report in their rankings.
"OK, time for the most dramatic offseason in the league (to this point)," wrote Andy Bailey.
"Team owner Mat Ishbia and the Phoenix Suns apparently weren't satisfied with 2022-23's midseason roster shake-up that landed them Kevin Durant and sent Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson to the Brooklyn Nets.
"And apparently, they're also not too worried about this new collective bargaining agreement, the "super-tax" apron and all the restrictions that come with going over that amount of salary.
"Because prior to free agency even starting, Phoenix traded for one of the most onerous contracts in the NBA, added it to three other max players and committed itself to nothing but re-signings and minimum deals for the rest of the summer.
"In the immediate aftermath of the Bradley Beal trade, it was easy to pan the Suns for spending all their cap space (and then some) on four players, three of whom have somewhat redundant skill sets.
"But then free agency started, and Phoenix snagged a number of quality, veteran role players for those minimum salaries. And suddenly, at least for 2022-23, it seems like this wild experiment might actually work.
"Of course, no one's guaranteed a title. And these moves signify the Suns are firmly in a 'title or bust' window. If they flame out and those four max deals are still on the books next summer, it'll be easy to question the strategy again.
"But right now, few short-term situations in the league look more promising.
"Grade: A-"
