Miles Bridges may have walked into Phoenix with a built-in advantage.
The Suns’ failure to land Jonathan Kuminga, who ended up with the Minnesota Timberwolves, leaves them without the younger forward they had once circled as a possible answer at the position. That opens the door for Bridges to become the long-term fix next to Dillon Brooks - and, if that happens, to put himself in line for a lucrative extension from his new team.
Phoenix now needs a forward who can stick around for the long haul, and Bridges fits the job description. He brings the kind of offensive punch and sturdy build that could allow him to occupy the same kind of role Kuminga might have filled.
The difference is cost. Kuminga would have been a lower-stakes swing.
Bridges is entering the final year of his current deal, and with the Suns already past the first apron, it is far simpler for them to keep their own players than to shop the open market for replacements.
That matters because Phoenix has already shown its hand with Dillon Brooks. Bridges, who is 28 and has averaged over 20 points per game in three of the last four seasons he played, could easily become the team’s second-leading scorer. If that happens, the Suns may have no practical choice but to pay him the maximum amount they are allowed to keep him.
The price of getting to this point was steep. Phoenix sent out Grayson Allen, Royce O'Neale, and an unprotected 2033 first-round pick to bring Bridges in. After paying that kind of freight, letting him leave after one season would make little sense, especially with Kuminga no longer available as a fallback.
The Suns have already lived through a similar dynamic with Mark Williams. They gave up two firsts for the center last offseason, then locked him into a three-year, $38 million extension this summer. That deal is far more team-friendly than what Bridges would likely command, but it was also the kind of move Phoenix had to make to avoid losing the asset for nothing.
Now Bridges enters a situation where the leverage sits squarely with him. In a league that values scoring forwards who can handle physical play, he has the chance to become a major piece for Phoenix. If he performs well, another contract seems inevitable, and he could wind up more valuable than Brooks in the process.
If he plays at a high level and stays out of trouble, the Suns could end up keeping him for the rest of his career.
And all of it traces back to a missed shot at Kuminga - a sliding-doors turn that could end up defining Phoenix’s forward picture.
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The bigger issue is that Phoenix does not have a clean exit ramp if the pairing never clicks. Greens trade market is thin right now, and his value has been dulled by the injury setbacks that limited him to a career-low 32 games last season. The Suns may eventually explore a sixth-man role to stabilize things, with a possible deadline move lingering as the sort of next step the front office could prefer to avoid if Green and Booker can find a workable rhythm. [Read more 🡒]