The Phoenix Suns have broken the monotony of late August by waiving veteran forward Nassir Little and second-year guard EJ Liddell, according to Shams Charania. As a result, the Suns now have an open roster spot heading into the 2024-25 season.
After a number of high-profile moves in the last few years, the Suns have the highest payroll in the league by a wide margin at $219 million. They have soared well past the infamous "second apron," which has severely limited their flexibility. In addition to the tax bill, they can no longer aggregate salaries in trades, trade for more money than they send out, use any version of the mid-level exception or sign players on the buy-out market whose initial salary was more than non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
Signing free agents to minimum contracts is the easiest way for them to add players, as we saw earlier this summer when they added Tyus Jones. With an empty roster spot, they can now add someone else -- either now or in the middle of the season. Charania added that the Suns have been impressed with rookies Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro, who will have more opportunities to play with Little gone.
It's worth noting that the Suns are using the stretch provision to waive Little, which means his salary will stay on their books for the next seven seasons (the years remaining on his contract, multiplied by two, plus one additional year). Little had three years and $21 million left, so he'll get $3 million per year from the Suns until 2032.
Little, a first-round pick by the Portland Trail Blazers back in 2019, was traded to the Suns as part of the Damian Lillard-Jrue Holiday blockbuster, which turned into a three-team deal. In his lone season in Phoenix, Little put up 3.4 points and 1.7 rebounds in 45 games. He should have a chance to catch on with another team ahead of training camps next month.
Liddell, meanwhile, has had an unfortunate start to his professional career. A second-round pick by the New Orleans Pelicans in 2022, he tore his ACL during Summer League that year and missed his entire rookie season. He returned last season but only played eight games for the Pelicans and spent a lot of time in the G League. In July, he was traded from the Pelicans to the Atlanta Hawks as part of the Dejounte Murray deal, then sent from the Hawks to the Suns in exchange for David Roddy. Now, he'll be searching for yet another new team this fall.
