Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images Your weekly Inside the Suns analysis straight from the BSotS community who live and breathe the team. Welcome to ‘Inside the Suns’, your weekly deep down analysis of the current Phoenix Suns team. Each week the Fantable - a round table of Bright Siders - give their takes on the Suns’ latest issues and news. Fantable Questions of the Week Q1 - By position, how do you rank the importance of the Suns roster needs? OldAz: Power forward #1 - 3. Followed by Center, then Small Forward/Wing. It may take trading Nurkic to fill the PF spots which moves center to the 2nd on the list and Wing stays in the top 3 until the Suns get a lot more length and athleticism. After these comes backup PG, assistant trainer, backup Gorilla, 3rd string ball boy, road masseuse and then shooting guard since they already have a few really good ones. Rod: I’m going to start with what the Suns need least, which is adding another shooting guard. They’re already overloaded with SGs and don’t need another one. As a matter of fact, this was the only easy ranking of the bunch and a case for the top positional need could be made for any of the other 4 positions but I do have my own preferences. As for what they need most, I’m giving the center position the top spot... but not by much. A strong, athletic, rim-running shot-blocker coming off the bench would be a great addition that would give the team a whole nuther feel when Nurk sits and change the way teams would have to game plan the Suns. A solid point guard for the bench would be a close 2nd on my list of needs. It’s so close to being number 1 on my list that it’s hard to list it at 2nd though. I can’t decide whether a SF or PF would be 3rd so I’ll just go with the best player they could get at either position... but it needs to be someone with length/height and not another undersized player for the position. I’d settle for a lengthy combo forward who could play either position. I’d love for whoever they get to be a quality defender and rebounder first as adding more offense to the team just doesn’t seem necessary if that player isn’t also going to make the Suns stronger on defense. Q2 - The NBA Draft is just a couple of weeks away. What is your “best guess” as to what the Suns will do with the 22nd pick and is that what you would do with it? OldAz: I have said it was 50/50 that they keep the pick, so for this exercise, I am guessing that they keep the pick and select an upper classman Big or Wing despite a better option PG being right there for the taking. I am not saying history will repeat itself but this just sounds like a very Suns type outcome. Rod: I’m betting that they will attempt to trade it but they can’t trade it just for a player (NBA rules) and they don’t have anyone outside of the big 3 to attach to it that would get them anything back in return that would make it a winning trade... even in their eyes. With that in mind, I think they’ll wind up either using it to draft someone or possibly trade it (and maybe the 2031 1st and/or a future 2nd rounder) to either get more picks in this draft or possibly even move up in the draft order. That seems more feasible and it’s also what I’d attempt to do (try to trade for more picks). Q3 - Adam Silver has begun talking about possible NBA expansion. One of the processes in expansion is an expansion draft in which the new franchise(s) can ‘draft’ players from existing teams’ rosters. Teams are allowed to protect up to 8 players from this draft. If the Suns fail (again) to make their current top-heavy roster work in 2024-25, would you consider leaving Bradley Beal unprotected if there was an expansion draft in order to get around his no-trade clause to move his salary (Note: The Suns would get a huge TPE in return if he was selected)? OldAz: I would absolutely leave Beal unprotected in this scenario. It allows them to protect a 9th player and then roll the dice that the expansion team would want Beal’s overpriced contract. It might be the only way to divest themselves of that contract early if the big 3 failed to work again next season, but what expansion team really wants a 32 year old $50M shooting guard who is coming off multiple disappointing seasons. It is also possible that in June 2025 the Suns could barely have 8 contracts to protect, so leaving him unprotected in that case would basically be saying “Please, take him off our hands!” And would look desperate. Rod: If the NBA were to expand after this coming season and the Suns’ big three fails to perform again then I would definitely do it. Beal’s under contract for 2 more seasons after 2024-25 and this could possibly be the only chance to move his contract and get a fairly favorable return because of that no-trade clause. It’s not ideal but getting a $50+ mil TPE back would at least give the Suns more options to add players to the roster moving forward. It also gives them the option of quickly dropping back below the 2nd tax apron and staying there if they want by not using the full value of the TPE to bring in other players. As always, many thanks to our Fantable members for all their extra effort this week! Last Week’s poll results Last week’s question was, “Would you want Kyle Lowry on the Suns if he was willing to sign for the vet minimum?” 79% - Yes. 21% - No. A total of 470 votes were cast. Important Upcoming Dates Day After Last Game of NBA Finals - NBA teams may begin negotiating with upcoming free agents who finished the season on their roster. June 26-27 - NBA Draft. June 29 - Deadline on Player Options for Gordon, Okogie, Eubanks and D. Lee. June 30 - Teams can begin negotiations with all free agents (6:00 pm ET). July 6 - Teams can begin signing free agents to contracts (12:01 pm ET). Jusuf Nurkic becomes Extension Eligible. July 8 - Kevin Durant becomes Extension Eligible. July 12 - NBA Summer League (Las Vegas) begins. This week’s poll is... Source: https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2024 ... adley-beal