The Collin Gillespie Bandwagon Thread

[SirStefan32]

I was so used to forgetting about the MLE because of our previous cap situation but we should have the full MLE next year if we stay under the apron, right? We could use that to re-sign Collin and wouldn't need the early bird rights. Even if we just used it for 1 year to get his full bird rights.

I believe so, but the difference is not super significant. Collin would get an extra 500K or so, but the Suns would lose the MLE, which is the only thing they'll have outside of minimum contracts. I think they use the MLE on something else first, and then use early Bird rights on Collin and extend Williams because he's a restricted free agent.

 

[SirStefan32]

Pay him now. Don’t wait.

I don't think they can, can they?

 

[BooksOrangePlanet]

I don't think they can, can they?

i think they can tell him he is the top priority

 

[Hoop Head]

I believe so, but the difference is not super significant. Collin would get an extra 500K or so, but the Suns would lose the MLE, which is the only thing they'll have outside of minimum contracts. I think they use the MLE on something else first, and then use early Bird rights on Collin and extend Williams because he's a restricted free agent.

Ok. I was just curious if it came down to it that we could give him the extra cash. It's not a significant sum to most players but given this will be his first real deal, it may be.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I really want to keep CG but perhaps even more important, I really hate that we might lose him for little or nothing. I just hope the front office knows what his future will be, and whether that's likely to be with or without us. If they aren't confident, right now, that they can keep Collin, they need to start looking at trade partners before the trade deadline gets here.

 

[SirStefan32]

Only Brooklyn has more cap space than MLE or Early Bird rights. Few teams have MLEs which is only 500K or so more than early Bird rights. I don't see a scenario in which someone can pay Collin significantly more than the Suns so it just comes down to his preference. My guess is that Ishbia and Gregory already worked things out with Collin. It's just not a scenario where a random team can offer him $20M per year.

 

[BooksOrangePlanet]

Only Brooklyn has more cap space than MLE or Early Bird rights. Few teams have MLEs which is only 500K or so more than early Bird rights. I don't see a scenario in which someone can pay Collin significantly more than the Suns so it just comes down to his preference. My guess is that Ishbia and Gregory already worked things out with Collin. It's just not a scenario where a random team can offer him $20M per year.

freakin hope so right

 

[Mainstreet]

Does anyone know what we'd have to do to lock him up better? Would trading Devin open up enough salary room or are our penalties still in place even if we drop a lot of salary? I'm not saying I'd trade Devin to save CG, I just want to understand what our options might be especially if CG continues to perform at this level.

I really want to keep CG but perhaps even more important, I really hate that we might lose him for little or nothing. I just hope the front office knows what his future will be, and whether that's likely to be with or without us. If they aren't confident, right now, that they can keep Collin, they need to start looking at trade partners before the trade deadline gets here.

This has become a familiar topic for discussion. Personally, I don't think the Suns should have let it ever come to this.

They should have signed Gillespie to a multi-year contract his first season here. Then, they compounded the mistake this season by signing him to only a 1 year contract.

The Suns have Early Bird rights allowing them to sign him to a new contract starting at $13 million plus per season when he is eligible. Hopefully this will be enough to keep him.

Rather than going through what has already been said, I have linked an article from Rod Argent of Yahoo Sports dated 11-22-2025 which does a fairly good job of explaining it.

Can the Suns keep Collin Gillespie long-term?

It may not be as difficult as some may think it is.

sports.yahoo.com

 

[Superbone]

As long as we let him know how much we value him and eventually lock him up, I don't care how it happens. But I agree it would have been nice to be more proactive if possible. But it may be due to our delicate cap situation that we couldn't make it happen earlier.

 

[CarnoBC]

They should have signed Gillespie to a multi-year contract his first season here. Then, they compounded the mistake this season by signing him to only a 1 year contract.

Can the Suns keep Collin Gillespie long-term?

It may not be as difficult as some may think it is.

sports.yahoo.com

It takes two to tango. It's possible that the Suns tried to do this, but Collin's camp chose the one-year deal knowing that the Suns could offer more with the early bird rights next year. He may have bet on himself.

 

[Mainstreet]

It takes two to tango. It's possible that the Suns tried to do this, but Collin's camp chose the one-year deal knowing that the Suns could offer more with the early bird rights next year. He may have bet on himself.

It's possible but what happened the year prior?

 

[Hoop Head]

It's possible but what happened the year prior?

We had a lame duck GM and a bad head coach who wasnt playing Collin until we were an unfunny joke?

No reason to blame anyone until we can't fix it. It's not broken right now. I'll be right there to bash JJ if we lose Collin.

 

[CarnoBC]

It's possible but what happened the year prior?

He was already locked up on a 2-way; there was no urgency to sign him to a long-term deal. It would have taken up a roster spot that maybe they wanted to save for another transaction, and it would have counted against the luxury tax / apron. While Ishbia seems willing to spend endlessly, that doesn't mean spending needlessly.

 

[Covert Rain]

Doesn't this make it even more egregious that freaking Bud refused to play him until towards the end of the season?

 

[Mainstreet]

We had a lame duck GM and a bad head coach who wasnt playing Collin until we were an unfunny joke?

No reason to blame anyone until we can't fix it. It's not broken right now. I'll be right there to bash JJ if we lose Collin.

What's done is done but the Suns had a new GM this past summer and a chance to make things right. Let's hope it happens.

 

[Mainstreet]

He was already locked up on a 2-way; there was no urgency to sign him to a long-term deal. It would have taken up a roster spot that maybe they wanted to save for another transaction, and it would have counted against the luxury tax / apron. While Ishbia seems willing to spend endlessly, that doesn't mean spending needlessly.

Wrapping up talent on inexpensive long term contracts with team options is a way to save money.

 

[SirStefan32]

Mainstreet, I completely agree with you, but I really don't think it's fair to blame them or criticize them for not locking him in. They found him, they signed him, and they put themselves in a good position to lock him in long-term next summer. In my book, they did everything right. Would it have been nice if they locked him into long-term contract on the cheap side? Sure! However, that is a lot to ask.

 

[Mainstreet]

Mainstreet, I completely agree with you, but I really don't think it's fair to blame them or criticize them for not locking him in. They found him, they signed him, and they put themselves in a good position to lock him in long-term next summer. In my book, they did everything right. Would it have been nice if they locked him into long-term contract on the cheap side? Sure! However, that is a lot to ask.

The draft is a way to acquire talent on reasonable contracts. Signing free agents flying under the radar is another way.

If the Suns didn't recognize talent when they see it, shame on them. Why is it a lot to ask?

This is what the Suns should be all about with limited draft assets... scouting.

 

[Chaplin]

The draft is a way to acquire talent on reasonable contracts. Signing free agents flying under the radar is another way.

If the Suns didn't recognize talent when they see it, shame on them. Why is it a lot to ask?

This is what the Suns should be all about with limited draft assets... scouting.

Well, financially, our situation this summer was EXTREMELY complicated. The Beal buyout didn't happen until late, so there was that consideration as well. Who knows? It's possible we made a promise to Colin about next summer, so he took the 1 year in anticipation of that.

This is a team that didn't expect Collin to outperform his contract. To think otherwise is just plain wrong. This is a very happy surprise, and I'm sure the braintrust is working hard trying to figure out the best way to keep him. As of today, we are 100% in the drivers seat, so what's the problem?

 

[SirStefan32]

The draft is a way to acquire talent on reasonable contracts. Signing free agents flying under the radar is another way.

If the Suns didn't recognize talent when they see it, shame on them. Why is it a lot to ask?

This is what the Suns should be all about with limited draft assets... scouting.

But they did recognize talent. They found him last year and brought him back this year while setting themselves up to be able to offer him $13M/ season. How do you know they didn't offer him four years on the current contract and he turned it down? It's not like they had cap space or exemptions to work with. They literally did everything right as far as we can tell.

Even beyond him, they have been very good at finding talent. They got Oso in the second round, Dunn at the end of the first round. They got Williams, who has been one of the keys to their season so far. Beyond them, you can look at Goodwin and Bouyea. They are doing Heat-level of scouting and finding good players who have been overlooked.

They did everything right with what they had to work with.

 

[Hoop Head]

If the Suns didn't recognize talent when they see it, shame on them. Why is it a lot to ask?

A rookie GM was tasked with getting us under both aprons, trading our top scorer, moving our biggest contract, drafting in the lottery despite having no pick until 3-4 days before the draft, and filling out the roster. I could probably add more but I think we'd agree on all that.

If Gregory signed Collin for an extra $12 million last summer, the MLE, he would have been eviscerated. Could he have signed him for more years? Sure. We don't know if there was a deal to make things right after this year when we get the books a little more in order. We have him now and are in a good spot.

 

[taz02]

can we also offer a longer term 5 instead of 4 and higher increases 8% vs 5%?

If accurate it would help to sweeten the deal.

Include a player option if needed.

 

[Hoop Head]

can we also offer a longer term 5 instead of 4 and higher increases 8% vs 5%?

If accurate it would help to sweeten the deal.

Include a player option if needed.

We can offer higher raises, the 8%, vs what others can, 5%, so that will help him some on the backend. It seems early bird deals are limited to 2-4 years though.

I think a 2 year deal with a player option could be in play so if he continues balling out then he can drop the 2nd year and we can re-up him without the early bird restrictions.

 

[Mainstreet]

But they did recognize talent. They found him last year and brought him back this year while setting themselves up to be able to offer him $13M/ season. How do you know they didn't offer him four years on the current contract and he turned it down? It's not like they had cap space or exemptions to work with. They literally did everything right as far as we can tell.

Even beyond him, they have been very good at finding talent. They got Oso in the second round, Dunn at the end of the first round. They got Williams, who has been one of the keys to their season so far. Beyond them, you can look at Goodwin and Bouyea. They are doing Heat-level of scouting and finding good players who have been overlooked.

They did everything right with what they had to work with.

A rookie GM was tasked with getting us under both aprons, trading our top scorer, moving our biggest contract, drafting in the lottery despite having no pick until 3-4 days before the draft, and filling out the roster. I could probably add more but I think we'd agree on all that.

If Gregory signed Collin for an extra $12 million last summer, the MLE, he would have been eviscerated. Could he have signed him for more years? Sure. We don't know if there was a deal to make things right after this year when we get the books a little more in order. We have him now and are in a good spot.

The Suns should have wrapped up Gillespie two seasons ago to a multi-year contract. I haven't been shy about it.

They wouldn't be sniffing having to pay possible MLE type money if they had.

I'm glad everyone is finally on board. Now let's hope they can keep him.

 

[Ronin]

https://www.axios.com/local/phoenix/2025/12/11/phoenix-suns-collin-gillespie-breakout-season