Report: Suns not tendering Aaron Holiday's qualifying offer, becomes unrestricted free agent
The Suns have reportedly opted to not tender point guard Aaron Holiday's $5.8 million qualifying offer for next season, per USA Today Sports' HoopsHype.
That move lets Holiday walk to another team as an unrestricted free agent without holding the right to match another team's offer. Opting against the tender also relieves Phoenix of how much it will spend over their expected $122 million salary cap and pay the NBA's luxury tax for the first time in a decade. The Suns have nine players on guaranteed payouts on their books for next season.
The 25-year-old Holiday is a defensive specialist, similar to his brothers Jrue and Justin Holiday who play for the Milwaukee Bucks and Sacramento Kings, respectively.
Holiday provided some occasional sparks in his spot minutes off the Suns bench during the regular season after he was traded by the Washington Wizards to Phoenix for cash considerations and a trade exception on the Feb. 10 trade deadline. He averaged 6.8 points, 3.4 assists, shot 41.1% overall and 44.4% from beyond the arc, 0.8 steals in 16.3 minutes through 22 games for Phoenix.
Holiday's best all-around performance for the Suns was in their 140-111 home win over the Los Angeles Lakers, in which he had 12 points, five assists, four steals, and four steals in 24 minutes.
He wasn't in their playoff rotation, and his numbers dwindled to 3.5 points, 1.5 assists and 3.3 minutes through six games played.
This is the second move by the Suns since Tuesday after they tendered Deandre Ayton's qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent before that market opens on Thursday. The Suns will be able to match or exceed any offer Ayton receives.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Suns make Aaron Holiday unrestricted free agent
