Two years ago, the Denver Nuggets let Collin Gillespie walk in free agency, thinking he was someone they could afford to move on from. He signed a two-way contract with the Suns, which led to him signing a one-year, guaranteed deal last summer. The guard is set to be a free agent once again, but as Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported, Phoenix is trying to iron out a new deal (subscription required).
League sources say Phoenix has opened discussions with two of its own free agents in this early negotiation window: Collin Gillespie and Jordan Goodwin. Rival teams are already operating under the assumption that the Suns will strike new deals to retain both of them.
Gillespie's new contract will look very different from his past ones, as he should make more than $10 million annually, roughly 10 times as much as his salary in 2025-26. He has earned it after averaging a career-high 12.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.2 steals per game, shooting 41.8% from the field and 40.1% from three.
Suns want to keep Collin Gillespie in free agency
Denver didn't know just how good Gillespie would be, or else he'd still be with the Nuggets, but that doesn't mean they still shouldn't have brought him back on a two-way deal.
After he spent the entirety of his first season (2022-23) with the team recovering from a fractured leg, Gillespie averaged 21.1 points, 11.0 assists, 8.9 rebounds, and 2.0 steals per game in the G League. The sample size was small (eight games), but he did win G League Player of the Month in December 2023. It was clear that something was there.
Phoenix saw it. Gillespie had some big moments in his first season with the team, enough for the Suns to keep him around. It paid off. He went from being undrafted in 2022 to starting the majority (58) of the games he played (80).
If the Nuggets had kept Gillespie, and he had maintained the upward trajectory he had with the Suns, Denver would be scrambling to find a way to pay him what he deserves. The thing is, it would've been worth it on its own to have him the past two years, as they could've certainly used another shooter and playmaker off the bench in their quest to win another title.
Other teams are interested in getting that, too, but Phoenix has the luxury of getting to negotiate with him before free agency officially begins. If things go the Suns' way, Gillespie will stay in the desert. If only the Nuggets had never let him get there in the first place.
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