Exec: Phoenix Suns Might Not Use League-High Cap Space This Summer

Often criticized for their unwillingness to spend on free agents, the Phoenix Suns are once again sounding like they won’t pay to improve the squad this summer (surely, soon-to-be unrestricted free agent Steve Nash will love hearing this.) From the AZ Republic: “Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby was part of the team that represented John Hinckley Jr. when he was tried for an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan. Thirty-one years later, he said he awakes each day feeling the same level of obligation to running the Suns because of the community’s passion for the team. Babby is not looking for shortcuts to please them. As much as he hopes that two years of retaining flexibility will pay off this summer, Babby warned that the Suns might not use their salary-cap space if it is not prudent. After missing the playoffs in successive seasons for the first time in 24 years, the Suns might ask for more patience rather than misspend or make decisions that don’t fit the goal of becoming a team that annually competes for championships. The Suns will have a league-high $23 million in cap space that could be used to sign free agents in July or make a one-sided trade that takes on salary. ‘There’s a distinct possibility that we don’t use our cap room this summer,’ Babby said. ‘We’ve worked hard to put ourselves in this position to have this kind of flexibility, to have a range of opportunities, but I’m absolutely determined that we are going to be disciplined in how we approach this because we cannot get ourselves right back in the same spot we were in by doing bad contracts, not assessing value properly, not making the right choices in terms of personnel.’ The Suns already made one decision on a free agent. Babby said that it is ‘quite likely, if not certain, that we’re going to match’ any offer sheet on restricted free agent Robin Lopez, a four-year Suns center.”