Around $20 million a year.

That’s what the Toronto Raptors could pay point guard Fred VanVleet to stay in O Canada and still have a “maximum salary slot for 2021,” the Toronto Star wrote last month.

Up to $16 million a year.

That’s how much Denver Nuggets power forward Jerami Grant could command as he can opt out of his contract,The Denver Post reported last week.

Phoenix is reportedly interested in both, but probably couldn’t land the two even if they made major moves starting with trading Kelly Oubre Jr..  

So, which one could turn the Suns into a playoff team next season?

The idea of VanVleet or Grant leaving playoff teams with championship aspirations to join a squad that hasn’t reached the postseason since 2010 is as unlikely as the Raptors or Nuggets letting them leave.

VanVleet is on track to replace 34-year-old Kyle Lowry while Grant showed his value in helping Denver come back from 3-1 deficits twice in the playoffs in the Orlando Bubble.

There’s also uncertainty with the salary cap. The NBA lost millions when Commissioner Adam Silver shut down the season March 11 after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19.

So, there may not be much movement in free agency.

Then again, Phoenix is starting to look like an attractive destination again after an 8-0 bubble run. The Suns have established an identity and culture to build up going into their second season under Monty Williams.

MORE: Phoenix Suns would be on wrong end of Ben Simmons-Devin Booker trade

Devin Booker is a rising superstar. Phoenix plays fast, aggressive and unselfish. Launches threes. Has good chemistry. The Valley Boyz movement has taken full root. 

Talking Stick Resort Arena is undergoing a $230 million renovation project. The $45-million practice facility is near completion.

The Suns are in a good place. Adding Grant or VanVleet could put them in an even better one.

Championship player

VanVleet is coming off a career year as he averaged 17.6 points, 6.6 assists and 1.9 steals in 35.7 minutes a game. VanVleet is another ball handler who can run the offense.

He’s a career 39.3% shooter from 3. His ability to knock down shots and create offense for himself and teammates would give Phoenix another versatile offense threat.

VanVleet’s only 6-1, which makes him a defensive liability at times, but his competitive nature and championship experience of winning an NBA title more than overrides that issue.

He’s a very good player, but VanVleet’s also playing for a very good team featuring all-stars Lowry, Pascal Siakam and NBA coach of the year, Nick Nurse.

VanVleet’s been with Toronto his entire career. He’s developed his game there. Raptors’ fans love him. He’s probably used to those brutal winters by now, too.

That positive and winning environment can make a really good player look great, but it doesn’t guarantee he’ll flourish and mesh with a new team.

Talent should translate, but you’re asking someone who can be a starting point guard for several teams, including the one he’s on, to play behind veteran Ricky Rubio.

Could see VanVleet finishing games, though. He’d allow Booker to play off the ball and make teams pay for doubling Booker.

Wonder if Rubio would be willing to come off the bench?

Team guy, but Rubio has started in all but one of his last 465 regular-season games.

Williams looked to play Rubio fewer minutes. VanVleet could make up the difference. He’s 26 and played more this season than he ever has in his four NBA seasons, but how’d backup Rubio make the three-year, $51-million deal he signed last summer look?

Exactly.

Even if Phoenix did all it could to sign VanVleet, would he leave a playoff team in the Eastern Conference to rage war in what will be an even tougher Western Conference next season?

Oklahoma City is the only playoff team that may fall short of that next year, but Memphis will be improved. San Antonio will remain a contender under Gregg Popovich.

A healthy Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson puts Golden State back in the playoff conversation.

Could VanVleet help Phoenix compete for a postseason bid?

Versatile big on both ends

As for Grant, he’s also just 26, but has played for three teams in six NBA seasons.

That’s a more common career path in today’s NBA, but Grant could use a more permanent place where his game could really blossom.

That place could be Denver.

Grant averaged 12 points, 3.5 rebounds and shot 38.9% from 3 in the regular season. Then he elevated his game in the playoffs.

The 6-8 forward posted four double-digit games in each of Denver’s first two series. He shot 40.3% from 3 against Utah and nailed two 3s in Game 5 and Game 7 wins over the favored Los Angeles Clippers.

Grant also took on the challenge of guarding Kawhi Leonard, the 2019 finals MVP who went scoreless in the fourth quarter of Game 7.

The Los Angeles Lakers ended Denver’s historic run, but Grant averaged 15.8 points in the series. He shot 50.2% from the field (43% from 3) and scored a playoff career-high 26 in Denver’s lone series win.

Grant once again drew a tough defensive assignment and held his own against LeBron James.

The Suns could certainly use a player of Grant’s talents. He can score, but his ability to guard multiple positions and switch would take Phoenix’s defense to another level.

While Dario Saric struggles defending more athletic fours, Grant doesn’t. Size gives him problems, but Grant uses his quickness and athleticism to help nullify that disadvantage.

Grant moves without the ball, finishes above the rim and runs the floor. Imagine Grant and Deandre Ayton on the break with one running to the rim and the other stopping for a trail 3.

Ayton could use Grant’s help on the glass. He’s only averaging 3.9 boards in his career, but Grant’s capable of six to eight a game.

Cam Johnson started at power forward in the bubble as Saric injured his ankle in the exhibitions.

It worked out well, but the 3-point sniper shot 15-of-43 (34.8%) from 3. That’s five percentage points lower than he shot pre-bubble – 39.7% (91-of-229).

Johnson grabbed 12 rebounds in two “seeding” games in posting his first career double-doubles, but he went 2-of-9 from 3 in the second one.

Johnson handled the extra duties as he added muscle during the season hiatus, but could he do it in an 82-game season and still have the legs to hit 3s at a 40% clip?

Mikal Bridges and Johnson are natural wings. That creates a log jam at the three, though. Grant has come off the bench as recent as this season, but that’s with a team that reached the conference finals.

Would Grant be willing to do that for the Suns?

Hmmm, but he’d be an ideal fit in Phoenix – and Denver.

Paul Millsap is a free agent at age 35. Michael Porter Jr. is extremely talented, but he’s better suited playing on the wing. The Nuggets may believe they need Grant more than they did before the playoffs.

is Phoenix adding a point guard with all-star potential or an athletic, versatile power forward enough to become a playoff team for consecutive years?

No, but VanVleet or Grant could put Phoenix in a better position to reach the postseason next year.

So, which one should the Suns choose could they only pick one?

Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

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