The Phoenix Suns will have plenty to consider when free agency begins June 30, but they've already signed a major addition in the offseason.
Monty Williams, the Suns' fourth head coach since 2014, inherits a roster that has gone 40-124 in the last two seasons.
Here are the decisions and questions Williams and the Suns will face in the offseason, starting on June 20 with the NBA draft.
Get more team-by-team NBA offseason guides here
The challenge of manufacturing cap flexibility
Had the Suns waited a year to extend Devin Booker, it would have preserved them an extra $17 million in cap space to use this summer. Sure, waiting presented a risk to both sides -- Booker could have been injured or another team could have presented an an offer sheet with fewer years -- but the Suns missed an opportunity to sell Booker on the benefits of waiting a year to sign his $158 million deal.
Booker has made it well-known that he wants to be part of the process when it comes to the offseason. Here is what he told the Arizona Central back in late March:
"When I signed my deal, I think it was an understanding, through the franchise and myself, that moving forward, we both have the same goals at hand and that's to get better," Booker said. "It's not a one-sided thing. It's not whatever I view, whatever they view. I think it's a collective agreement. Moving forward, throwing in any advice I can, stay in the loop and watch what's going on and know what's going on."
Though an admirable sentiment, the contract represents a missed opportunity. What could have been $25 million in cap space this summer is now $10.8 million.
How the Suns generate additional flexibility will come down to four options:
1. Tyler Johnson and the first-rounder owed from Milwaukee in 2022
Moving the $19.5 million Johnson contract and a future first would leave Phoenix with $29 million in room.
2. Josh Jackson
After two years of inconsistent play, the former No. 4 pick is owed $7.1 million with an $8.9 million team option in 2020-21. Can Monty Williams help Jackson make an impact or will the Suns go in a different direction?
3. T.J. Warren
Warren was having a solid season -- 48.6 FG%, 42.8% from 3, 18 PPG -- before a late-January ankle injury sidelined him for the remainder of the season. The 25-year-old is owed $35 million over the next three seasons.
4. Renounce the Kelly Oubre Jr. hold
Though it is likely the last resort, letting the small forward go would open up $9.6 million in room.
The search for a starting point guard
When the season ended a year ago, the Suns were in search of a permanent solution at point guard. One year and 27 different starting lineups later, the search remains active.
Nine different players handled point guard duties this season, per Basketball-Reference -- including a combination of De'Anthony Melton, Elie Okobo, Isaiah Canaan, Booker and Johnson -- with last year's second-round picks Melton and Okobo seeing the bulk of the minutes.
How the Suns address the point guard position will come down to three factors:
1. The draft
Phoenix slid from No. 2 to No. 6 in the lottery, costing the Suns a shot at drafting point guard Ja Morant. With Morant now likely heading to the Memphis Grizzlies at No. 2, does Phoenix take a player at a position of need or the best available prospect? ESPN's latest mock draft has Texas Tech shooting guard Jarrett Culver slotted to Phoenix at No. 6 while North Carolina point guard Coby White comes off the board with the Bulls' No. 7 pick.
There would need to be little separation on how Suns' scouts rank their draft board before June 20 for Phoenix to pass on selecting the best available player. Otherwise, expect the Suns to take Culver and either use free agency or the trade market to address the point guard vacancy.
2. Free agency
The Oubre free-agent hold has Phoenix with $10.8 million in room but technically over the salary cap after factoring in the Suns' full midlevel and bi-annual exceptions. For the Suns to use room, both exceptions would need to be renounced, leaving the $4.8 million room midlevel available.
With Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, D'Angelo Russell, Malcolm Brogdon, Ricky Rubio and Terry Rozier out of Phoenix's price range, the team would be looking at this list of guards (ranked by positional real plus-minus):
Patrick Beverley
Tomas Satoransky (restricted)
George Hill
Delon Wright (restricted)
Tyus Jones (restricted)
Darren Collison
Cory Joseph
Elfrid Payton
TJ McConnell
Rajon Rondo
3. Trade market
There will be a temptation to trade for a quick fix at point guard -- namely Mike Conley of the Grizzlies. The veteran guard would be an upgrade at point guard, accelerate the rebuild and give the Suns one of the best backcourts in the West.
Conley, however, comes at a price -- $67 million, to be exact. That number doesn't include what Phoenix would need to send Memphis in return: a combination of Johnson, Warren and Jackson to make the money work, plus the 2022 first-round pick from Milwaukee. The No. 6 pick should not be in play in any circumstance.
Kelly Oubre's free agency
The addition of Oubre benefited the Suns in multiple ways. First, it gave Phoenix a 40-game audition period to evaluate the 23-year-old. During that time, Oubre had career-high averages in minutes (29.5), FG% (45.3), 3P% (32.5), rebounds (4.9), assists (1.6) and points (16.9). The forward also had a career-high PER (16.4) and offensive rating (107.7).
And had Oubre not been acquired early, the Suns likely would not have had the budget to sign him in free agency -- or they would've needed to overpay on an offer sheet.
Now, not only do the Suns have the right to match any offers, they can also exceed the cap to sign him because he has Bird rights. The early number for Oubre projects to be in the $9 million to $11 million range, comparable to the $9.2 million midlevel exception. Anything north of that would be considered an overpay.
There are also these two questions to ponder.
How does the small forward fit with the new head coach?
Was the 40-game sample a result of the contract year or Oubre finally finding the right role?
Summer cap breakdown
Resources available to build the roster
The draft
Cash to buy draft picks
Cap exceptions
Own free agents
Potential cap space
Dates to watch
• Considering that it would take four years for Johnson to recoup his $19.2 million salary, expect the guard to opt into his contract for 2019-20 by June 29. Johnson started 12 games after he was acquired from Miami and provided a band-aid at point guard. Johnson is more of a scoring guard, however, and would fit best in a bench role next season.
• Phoenix has until June 29 to exercise the team options of Ray Spalding ($1.4) and Jimmer Fredette ($1.9). The Suns will owe either player $250K if the option is exercised.
• The Suns will extend Oubre a $4.9 million one-year qualifying offer by June 29. Oubre will become a restricted free agent and Phoenix will have the right to match any offer sheet from opposing teams.
Restrictions and extension candidates
• Booker has a poison pill restriction that will expire on June 30. Because he signed a rookie extension, his outgoing salary would count as $3.3 million and his incoming salary for a receiving team would count as $26.9 million. Until the restriction is lifted, Booker is considered not tradable.
• The Suns received $1.8 million cash from Miami as part of the Johnson trade and are restricted to receiving no more than $3.4 million cash before July 1. The Suns also sent out $1 million when they acquired Richaun Holmes in July and can only send out up to $4.2 million.
Johnson is the lone player on the roster who is extension-eligible this offseason. Because he amended his trade bonus, the guard is not extension eligible until Aug. 6.
The draft assets
Lottery picks have not been kind to Phoenix. Since 2011, Phoenix has had six picks in the top 10 -- among those, only Deandre Ayton and Jackson remain on the roster.
Phoenix once again finds itself in the lottery, this time with the No. 6 pick. The Suns also have their own second-rounder (No. 32).
Here's how ESPN's Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz have Phoenix selecting in June:
No. 6 (own): Jarrett Culver | SG | Texas Tech
No. 32 (own): Grant Williams | PF | Tennessee
The Suns own all their future first-round picks. From the 2017 Eric Bledsoe trade, Phoenix will receive a first from Milwaukee in 2020 (top-seven protected, then unprotected in 2021).