Insider Highlights Suns' Top Priorities

What are the Phoenix Suns' top priorities?

Suns owner Mat Ishbia speaks with the press during a news conference at Footprint Center in Phoenix / Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns have quite the offseason ahead.

After bowing out far earlier than anticipated, the Suns move forward with massive decisions to make from top to bottom to ensure the same embarresment doesn't ensue this time next year.

Here's what ESPN NBA insider Bobby Marks highlighted as Phoenix's priorities this offseason:

"The draft, O'Neale and depth. The Suns are allowed to trade their first-round pick starting the night of the draft, but the smart play would be to follow the example set last June by Golden State, Miami and Denver. Those three teams were financially limited in how they could add to their roster, so they focused on adding experienced college players who could contribute this season (Brandin Podziemski, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Julian Strawther)," said Marks.

"The Suns have O'Neale's Bird rights, so they can exceed the cap and aprons to re-sign him. However, bringing him back on a $10 million deal (his salary this season was $9.5 million) would cost the Suns an additional $55 million in tax penalties. O'Neale averaged 8.1 points and shot 37.6% from 3 in 30 regular-season games with the Suns. Phoenix could also have between three and seven roster spots to fill with minimum contracts, depending on what Gordon, Okogie, Lee and Eubanks do with their player options."

Marks also discussed Phoenix's finances:

"The Suns enter the offseason with $209 million in salary, the biggest payroll of any NBA team. Allen's extension has increased the Suns' projected luxury tax penalty to $116 million. They are also $16.3 million over the second apron. Gordon, Okogie, Lee and Eubanks have until June 29 to opt in to their contracts for next season. Phoenix has the veterans minimum to use in free agency to replace each player if they leave," he wrote.

Ahead of a critical offseason, Suns owner Mat Ishbia isn't worried about the nucleus of the squad.

“We have our starting five signed, for multiple years together. Do we have to make some adjustments because that starting five didn’t win a championship? Of course we do. And we will. You’ll see it, and we’re going to try to get some other free agents signed to kind of build us back and then figure out how to tweak and modify to win the championship," Ishbia told reporters at his end-of-season press conference.