The Phoenix Suns haven’t had the season they hoped in 2023-24, but even with some ups and downs they managed to find their way into a guaranteed playoff spot in the West. The Suns will take on the Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs, which has been a favorable matchup for them as they’ve won all three meetings by double digits with Minnesota this season.
Phoenix built this team around a trio of stars — Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Bradley Beal — and their biggest issue this year has been figuring out who in the rotation beyond those three they can trust. While Beal was the most notable addition of the offseason, it’s been Grayson Allen who has emerged as their most reliable “other” offensively. Allen is shooting a rather ridiculous 46.1 percent from the three-point line, leading the league in that area by a healthy margin this season, and having a serious shooting threat around their star trio is vital to making their offense as dangerous as possible.
Given their cap situation is tight, to say the least, going forward, figuring out how to get and keep quality players on the roster is the biggest challenge for this front office. On Monday, the Suns decided that Allen was too good and too important to allow him to hit free agency this summer, and gave him a 4-year, $70 million extension (with a player option on the final year).
Phoenix Suns guard Grayson Allen has agreed on a four-year $70 million contract extension with a player option, Mitch Nathan, Aaron Mintz and Steven Heumann of @CAA_Basketball tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/RWX8VVsxGR
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 15, 2024
It’s a nice payday for Allen, who clearly valued the opportunity to stay in Phoenix where there’s an extremely comfortable role for him rather than testing the waters of the open market. While it’s possible he could’ve gotten a bit more, the Suns situation is ideal for him and he also had some leverage in extension talks given his importance to them, so he certainly didn’t have to take much of a discount to stick around. This takes at least one concern off the table for the Suns this summer, but they’ll also now be banking on Allen keeping his form for the long haul.