The Phoenix Suns signed Collin Gillespie to a one-year contract worth $2.3 million in July. The next contract he signs will be worth significantly more. It’s a good thing for the Suns that they retained Gillespie on a steal; it also means he could price himself out of the team’s reach, a concern ESPN’s Tim Bontemps brought up during Wednesday’s episode of the “Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective” podcast.
Bontemps said: “Collin Gillespie has been an incredible story, shooting 44 percent from three. He had eight threes in that game last night. He’s turned himself into a starting point guard. He’ll be an interesting guy to see how much money he gets as a free agent next summer.”
Gillespie started in LA against the Lakers with Grayson Allen out. It was his best performance of the season so far, as he scored 28 points and, as Bontemps said, shot 8-of-14 from three. He added five assists, four rebounds and two steals in 34 minutes en route to the Suns’ 125-108 victory.
Collin Gillespie is preparing for a big payday
If Gillespie continues to play the way he has over the first few months of the season, he will have several suitors when he hits unrestricted free agency this summer. Phoenix does have its Early Bird rights, meaning the most the Suns can offer Gillespie without using cap space (which they don’t have anyway) is 175% of his previous salary or 105% of the previous season’s average league salary, whichever is greater.
If you’re wondering what 175% of Gillespie’s current salary is, it’s only a little over $4 million, which is obviously not enough. However, according to Basketball Reference, the average annual league salary for 2025-2026 is $11,925,480, so the most the Suns can offer Gillespie in the first year of his next contract is approximately $12.5 million, with an 8% raise in each of the next three seasons (assuming he signs a four-year deal).
Considering Gillespie went undrafted in 2022, signing a four-year deal would be an incredible feat in itself.
Maybe that’s the route Phoenix will take, but other teams with available cap space could make Gillespie a better offer. Or teams that exceed the cap can take advantage of the full taxpayer mid-level exception ($15,139,000 based on the $166 million salary cap for 2026-2027) to lure him away from the Suns.
The great thing is that Gillespie likes being in the desert. He didn’t start his NBA career in Phoenix, but the Suns did sign him to his first standard NBA deal. He’s earned the opportunity he has, but it means something that it came from Phoenix.
It’s only early December, so you probably don’t want to think about Gillespie leaving, but it’s hard not to as he seems to make headlines every time he steps on the field.
Hopefully the 2025-26 season won’t be Gillespie’s last in Phoenix, but unfortunately that’s a possibility.
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