Suns News: 2026 Offseason Edition

[pickle]

My understanding is that with veterans of a certain year of service the league pays for whatever goes above 2 point something million for one year deals. And I did find this, which doesn’t quote specific cap sections but essentially says the same.

[pickle]

But I also checked with ChatGPT who says that the NBA only covers the portion of salary but not the tax bill. So this is all very confusing.

[Superbone]

Whatever it is, both parties must have agreed to it and it must benefit them both in some way.

[Mori Chu]

Whatever it is, both parties must have agreed to it and it must benefit them both in some way.

I mean, I don't know if HH "agreed" to get cut from the team and lose his 2-year contract. But he likely was happy to come back on the 1-year as a compromise rather than just be off the team.

This is just a small transaction, but it may be a hint that Ishbia needs to be tighter about money going forward. I also wonder if this would stop him from being interested in signing another veteran like Ben Simmons for the end of the bench. We'll see.

[Split T]

He was on year 2 already, so I don’t think this hurt Highsmith at all. He was guaranteed 1 million already before he was cut, so he’s getting 1 million plus the vet min, so he’s actually making more. Maybe it was a handshake deal previously?

It doesn’t seem to make sense from what I know about the cap. The league does cover part of the vet min salary, so we end up paying him 3.5 million while he makes like 4 million, but before he was making 3 million and we were paying 3 million. Maybe just a favor to get Highsmith an extra million that only costs us 500k?

Maybe there are some tax benefits…I saw someone say it might make him easier to trade as he’d now be absorbable by any team, before they had to match his salary(not that it was much).

[Split T]

Actually sounds like there might’ve been an injury protection on that 1 million and it wasn’t guaranteed…so probably this was to get the benefit of the league covering part of the vet min contract

[Split T]

[Superbone]

There ya have it. Thanks, Split.

[O_Gardino]

I think I've said this before, and I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer. But I don't really think players of the caliber of Amare Stoudemire should be in the Hall of Fame. Amare was a great player in his day; he won RotY, was a 6x all-star, was 1st team all-NBA once and 2nd team four times. But he didn't win a title nor come super close, he wasn't ever MVP or close to it, and arguably wasn't even the best player on the Suns during his prime. His career was a bit short due to injuries. He was really good, but should he be in the Hall? Are we really going to let in every guy who was one of the top 1-2 players for a fringe contender for a handful of years?

I would have to say the Hall of Fame hit a low point when Michael Cooper was voted in. He was a great defender, but the other great defensive guards of that era (Sidney Moncrief, Joe Dumars, Dennis Johnson) all did a lot more offensively. Cooper basically road the coattails of the great Showtime Lakers to get in. But K.C. Jones and Frank Ramsey did the same thing with the 1960s Celtics.

Being a role player on a championship team does not make you HoF worthy unless you were exceptional in college (like Bill Bradley). And the people championing Robert Horry need to realize this.

I agree in principal, and I know how much we hate Robert Horry, but I do think he's an exception. His impact is way greater than his talent because he normalized stretch 4s. He got rings for Olajuwon, Shaq, and Duncan, and that's how we got the Space part of Pace and Space.

[Superbone]

I think I've said this before, and I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer. But I don't really think players of the caliber of Amare Stoudemire should be in the Hall of Fame. Amare was a great player in his day; he won RotY, was a 6x all-star, was 1st team all-NBA once and 2nd team four times. But he didn't win a title nor come super close, he wasn't ever MVP or close to it, and arguably wasn't even the best player on the Suns during his prime. His career was a bit short due to injuries. He was really good, but should he be in the Hall? Are we really going to let in every guy who was one of the top 1-2 players for a fringe contender for a handful of years?

GTFOOH! However, I do agree with the first bolded phrase.

[Superbone]

I think I've said this before, and I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer. But I don't really think players of the caliber of Amare Stoudemire should be in the Hall of Fame. Amare was a great player in his day; he won RotY, was a 6x all-star, was 1st team all-NBA once and 2nd team four times. But he didn't win a title nor come super close, he wasn't ever MVP or close to it, and arguably wasn't even the best player on the Suns during his prime. His career was a bit short due to injuries. He was really good, but should he be in the Hall? Are we really going to let in every guy who was one of the top 1-2 players for a fringe contender for a handful of years?

I would have to say the Hall of Fame hit a low point when Michael Cooper was voted in. He was a great defender, but the other great defensive guards of that era (Sidney Moncrief, Joe Dumars, Dennis Johnson) all did a lot more offensively. Cooper basically road the coattails of the great Showtime Lakers to get in. But K.C. Jones and Frank Ramsey did the same thing with the 1960s Celtics.

Being a role player on a championship team does not make you HoF worthy unless you were exceptional in college (like Bill Bradley). And the people championing Robert Horry need to realize this.

I agree in principal, and I know how much we hate Robert Horry, but I do think he's an exception. His impact is way greater than his talent because he normalized stretch 4s. He got rings for Olajuwon, Shaq, and Duncan, and that's how we got the Space part of Pace and Space.

Could there BE a worse villain in Suns' history? (RIP Chandler Bing) First, he shoulder checks Steve Nash into the scorers table in a pivotal game. David Stern and Company fall for it and penalize the Suns possibly at the expense of an NBA Championship. THEN he plays for the Suns and throws a towel into the face of then Suns head coach Danny Ainge. GTFOOH!

[Mori Chu]

Could there BE a worse villain in Suns' history? (RIP Chandler Bing) First, he shoulder checks Steve Nash into the scorers table in a pivotal game. David Stern and Company fall for it and penalize the Suns possibly at the expense of an NBA Championship. THEN he plays for the Suns and throws a towel into the face of then Suns head coach Danny Ainge. GTFOOH!

Arguably that's also part of Horry's "impact." He may have swung a title to his team by shoving Nash into that scorer's table.

[Superbone]

Could there BE a worse villain in Suns' history? (RIP Chandler Bing) First, he shoulder checks Steve Nash into the scorers table in a pivotal game. David Stern and Company fall for it and penalize the Suns possibly at the expense of an NBA Championship. THEN he plays for the Suns and throws a towel into the face of then Suns head coach Danny Ainge. GTFOOH!

Arguably that's also part of Horry's "impact." He may have swung a title to his team by shoving Nash into that scorer's table.

He struck a nerve. That's for sure.

[Superbone]

Whoa. Very cool!

[SunsRIt]

I think I've said this before, and I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer. But I don't really think players of the caliber of Amare Stoudemire should be in the Hall of Fame. Amare was a great player in his day; he won RotY, was a 6x all-star, was 1st team all-NBA once and 2nd team four times. But he didn't win a title nor come super close, he wasn't ever MVP or close to it, and arguably wasn't even the best player on the Suns during his prime. His career was a bit short due to injuries. He was really good, but should he be in the Hall? Are we really going to let in every guy who was one of the top 1-2 players for a fringe contender for a handful of years?

I would have to say the Hall of Fame hit a low point when Michael Cooper was voted in. He was a great defender, but the other great defensive guards of that era (Sidney Moncrief, Joe Dumars, Dennis Johnson) all did a lot more offensively. Cooper basically road the coattails of the great Showtime Lakers to get in. But K.C. Jones and Frank Ramsey did the same thing with the 1960s Celtics.

Being a role player on a championship team does not make you HoF worthy unless you were exceptional in college (like Bill Bradley). And the people championing Robert Horry need to realize this.

I agree in principal, and I know how much we hate Robert Horry, but I do think he's an exception. His impact is way greater than his talent because he normalized stretch 4s. He got rings for Olajuwon, Shaq, and Duncan, and that's how we got the Space part of Pace and Space.

Could there BE a worse villain in Suns' history? (RIP Chandler Bing) First, he shoulder checks Steve Nash into the scorers table in a pivotal game. David Stern and Company fall for it and penalize the Suns possibly at the expense of an NBA Championship. THEN he plays for the Suns and throws a towel into the face of then Suns head coach Danny Ainge. GTFOOH!

I’m not sure if you realize the backstory, but a major contributing factor in Horry throwing the towel in Ainge’s face is Ainge drilling Mario Ellie in the face with a basketball during the playoffs. Horry and Ellie were teammates and good friends when they were with the Rockets. Horry was traded to the Suns and hated Ainge for that.

[Mori Chu]

Well that's great, but it is still totally inappropriate to throw a towel in your coach's face. And Horry is a little bitch, just like Elie.

[JeremyG]

I think I've said this before, and I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer. But I don't really think players of the caliber of Amare Stoudemire should be in the Hall of Fame. Amare was a great player in his day; he won RotY, was a 6x all-star, was 1st team all-NBA once and 2nd team four times. But he didn't win a title nor come super close, he wasn't ever MVP or close to it, and arguably wasn't even the best player on the Suns during his prime. His career was a bit short due to injuries. He was really good, but should he be in the Hall? Are we really going to let in every guy who was one of the top 1-2 players for a fringe contender for a handful of years?

I would have to say the Hall of Fame hit a low point when Michael Cooper was voted in. He was a great defender, but the other great defensive guards of that era (Sidney Moncrief, Joe Dumars, Dennis Johnson) all did a lot more offensively. Cooper basically road the coattails of the great Showtime Lakers to get in. But K.C. Jones and Frank Ramsey did the same thing with the 1960s Celtics.

Being a role player on a championship team does not make you HoF worthy unless you were exceptional in college (like Bill Bradley). And the people championing Robert Horry need to realize this.

I agree in principal, and I know how much we hate Robert Horry, but I do think he's an exception. His impact is way greater than his talent because he normalized stretch 4s. He got rings for Olajuwon, Shaq, and Duncan, and that's how we got the Space part of Pace and Space.

Could there BE a worse villain in Suns' history? (RIP Chandler Bing) First, he shoulder checks Steve Nash into the scorers table in a pivotal game. David Stern and Company fall for it and penalize the Suns possibly at the expense of an NBA Championship. THEN he plays for the Suns and throws a towel into the face of then Suns head coach Danny Ainge. GTFOOH!

“Then” he plays for the Suns? You mean a decade prior.

[pickle]

It looks like (as split first pointed out) the key was that the 1M was also saved due to the injury exception.

[Superbone]

TOO's favorite stirring up some sh-tuff.

[Superbone]

Here’s the whole thing: