Suns waive Nassir Little and EJ Liddell to create open roster spot ahead of season, per report

The Suns are reportedly high on rookies Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro

By Jack Maloney Aug 21, 2024 at 7:30 pm ET• 2 min read

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.