Suns set to have NBA's first half-billion-dollar payroll in 2026 after re-signing Royce O'Neale, per report

Phoenix is projected to pay roughly $526 million for its roster during the 2025-26 season

By Sam Quinn Jun 29, 2024 at 3:22 pm ET• 3 min read

Royce O'Neale had the Phoenix Suns over a barrel the moment they traded for him at February's deadline. Because of the CBA's new second apron, Phoenix was always going to enter this offseason with no means of paying external free agents more than a minimum salary. They could either meet O'Neale's salary demands or lose him for nothing after paying three second-round picks and a (secondhand) first-round swap to get him. And so, they reportedly extended him for $44 million over four years on Saturday, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Another key 2024 free agent, Grayson Allen, had the Suns in the same position during the season. He extracted a four-year, $70 million extension out of them then.

The result of the aggressiveness of the new owner, Mat Ishbia, is an absolutely historic payroll. Assuming they fill their three final roster spots with veterans on minimum salary deals and make no other changes, Phoenix will enter next season with the second-highest combined payroll ever and a luxury tax bill at roughly $389 million, according to Yossi Gozlan's projections, only trailing last season's Golden State Warriors at $394 million. Don't worry, fans of historic spending. Next year'sSuns will blow those Warriors out of the water. Let's take a look at Gozlan's projection for Phoenix's 2025-26 balance sheet.

What's even crazier is the Phoenix Suns 2025-26 payroll projection. Their payroll and tax are projected to exceed $500 million next season.

That's because starting next season, tax rates increase by an additional $1 after the third tax level. Also, they'll be entering the… https://t.co/AvpUnO3JAZ pic.twitter.com/yEDPpo26Hk

— Yossi Gozlan (@YossiGozlan) June 29, 2024

No, your eyes aren't deceiving you. If Phoenix goes into the 2025-26 season with the 10 players it currently has under contract (which includes a team option on David Roddy) along with four veteran's minimum deals, they would be paying nearly $526 million in total salary and luxury taxes. That would make the 2025-26 Suns, barring some other team's surprise move ahead of them in the short-term, the NBA's first half-billion-dollar team.

So, why would the Suns be so expensive? As Gozlan notes, starting in the 2025-26 season, the luxury tax formula is going to change in a way that punishes repeat payers and teams that spend deep into the tax far more than the old system does. The Suns obviously check both boxes. The tax is calculated on a tiered basis. Essentially, the deeper you go into the tax, the more taxes per dollar above the tax line you have to pay.