After a career year in Phoenix, Dillon Brooks got his payday.
Brooks has agreed to a three-year, $73 million extension with the Suns that ties him to the franchise through the 2029–30 season, as reported by ESPN’s Shams Charania on Wednesday night. The pesky wing arrived in Phoenix as part of the trade that sent Kevin Durant to Houston last summer, and Brooks enjoyed his best season yet as he averaged 20.2 points per game on a surprising Suns team.
He was the team’s second option after Devin Booker, scoring at career-best rates with increased volume on a reshaped Suns roster. With minimal expectations after Durant’s departure, Phoenix finished with a 45–37 record, good for seventh in a stacked Western Conference. Through the play-in tournament, the Suns entered the playoffs as the No. 8 seed and were swept by the top-seeded Thunder.
Brooks’s future was the biggest question that faced the Suns this offseason as he entered the final year of his current contract. Phoenix committed to Mark Williams, Collin Gillespie and Jordan Goodwin with new deals over the offseason, while it also traded for Miles Bridges and signed Luke Kennard in free agency.
The raise for Brooks puts him on the same timeline as Booker, who has a huge $68.8 million player option for the 2029–30 season according to Spotrac. Phoenix remains outmatched by the Western Conference powers that be in the Thunder and the Spurs. However, Brooks’s new contract is a positive for both sides and gives Phoenix some flexibility to improve its roster in the future if it deems necessary.
Dillon Brooks answers a long-term question for Phoenix
Through the Bridges trade, the Suns parted with Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale—two high-level role players that provided impactful minutes in Phoenix. The franchise got an upgrade at forward (at least for next season) in Bridges, which Brooks’s leap allowed the franchise to chase. Bridges brings another 20-point scorer into the mix—he averaged 19.8 points per game last year with Charlotte—to bring the offense more juice alongside last year’s primary trio of Booker, Brooks and Jalen Green.
The core four along with Williams and bench depth in Gillespie, Kennard, Goodwin and second-year big man Khaman Maluach isn’t enough to topple one of the Western Conference giants. However, at an annual value of $24.3 million, Brooks’s new contract locks up the NBA’s biggest villain at an affordable price tag. Yes, I realize how ridiculous it is to say $24.3 million and affordable in the same sentence, but Brooks is one of the best two-way players in the entire league.
Brooks’s new number puts him in the range of players like Cameron Johnson, Kyle Kuzma and Dyson Daniels—all impactful players. Daniels specifically stands out defensively, but none are giving you 20 points a night like Brooks. Of course, there’s the possibility that Brooks takes a step back offensively with some of the shot volume going to Bridges. He was a key part in new Phoenix coach Jordan Ott’s offense last year, though, and he’d be wise to keep it that way.
What’s most beneficial for Phoenix is the room Brooks’s new deal gives the franchise to add another star next to Booker in the future if that’s what needs to be done to truly compete in the West. Bridges’s $22.8 million salary comes off the books after next season, while Green will make $36 million for the next two seasons, assuming he picks up his player option for 2027–28 next summer. After Booker and Brooks, the Suns have only committed to Gillespie, Goodwin and Williams—all of whom are on affordable contracts—further out.
After Phoenix outperformed expectations last year, next season the franchise will determine whether its roster moves were enough to improve record wise and win a playoff series. If that’s the case, the Suns could be just one move away from becoming a real threat in the West and they could use Green’s $36 million and salary filler to get Booker a co-star. Once next season is over, Phoenix will have the room for another big contract on top of Booker’s if the franchise is alright with moving Green.
With the season Brooks just had, he easily could have netted $30 million per season or even a bit more. It’s a small discount in exchange for a longer-term deal. Considering the scoring leap Brooks made while maintaining his standing as one of the league’s peskiest defenders, Phoenix is happy to commit to him through the end of the decade.
Listen to SI’s NBA podcast, Open Floor, below or on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on SI’s YouTube channel.
MORE NBA FROM SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
- NBA Championship Power Rankings: How Do Lakers, 76ers Stack Up Against Fellow Title Contenders Post-LeBron James?
- The Five Best Under-the-Radar Moves of the NBA Offseason
- Kevin Durant’s Latest Social Media Controversy, This Time Involving the Warriors, Is Both Strange and Wrong
- Jaylen Brown’s First Comments on LeBron James Joining 76ers Were All About One Important Thing
