By Gerald Bourguet

If there’s one thing the 2026 Western Conference Finals are broadcasting to the world, it’s that a more patient, methodical approach to team building — like the one the Phoenix Suns are employing this summer — isn’t the worst idea.

There’s a case to be made against complacency, and the Suns and the rest of the West aren’t just going to roll over and accept their new overlords in Oklahoma City and San Antonio, but a more restrained offseason makes sense for where Phoenix is currently situated.

Fans obviously enjoy daydreaming about Giannis Antetokounmpo trades (which we already shot down at Suns After Dark), or speculating about distressed assets like Ja Morant, Zion Williamson and Dejounte Murray, but the most likely scenario is that Phoenix largely runs it back with the same core.

Owner Mat Ishbia and general manager Brian Gregory spent a good portion of their exit interviews emphasizing continuity and player development, which seems to be their M.O. for the offseason.

Regardless of the path they take, there are a few items of business that will need to be taken care of either way. Over the last few weeks, we’ve covered Phoenix’s three key free agents in Collin Gillespie, Jordan Goodwin and Mark Williams to figure out what their next contracts might look like and how realistic it is for the Suns to re-sign them all.

One other item on the checklist that we have yet to address is a potential contract extension for Dillon Brooks, and what that might look like. Brooks is eligible to sign an extension for up to four years and $125.4 million, and while it’d be outlandish for him to get that type of money, there’s no question “The Villain” played a central role in laying a new foundation in Phoenix and helping establish the culture and identity the Suns wanted.

“Dillon represents everything we talked about,” Ishbia said during exit interviews. “When I talk about culture and identity and toughness and care and work ethic, that’s Dillon Brooks.”

So as fun as it is to imagine fake Suns trades, it wouldn’t be surprising if the majority of Phoenix’s offseason revolves around drafting a rookie in the second round, re-signing 2-3 of their key free agents, and negotiating a contract extension for Dillon Brooks. We’ll cover draft prospects in the weeks to come, but for now, here’s a look at Brooks’ career year and what he might be worth to the Suns on a new extension.

A look at Dillon Brooks’ career year

Forget about the off-court impact for a second, because just looking at the raw numbers, it’s clear Dillon Brooks had arguably the best year of his NBA career. In his age-30 season, Brooks put up 20.2 points on 17.1 shot attempts per game, both of which were career highs.

Brooks has long had an underrated arsenal of post-up and iso moves, but he took those elements of his game to new highs in Phoenix. According to Cleaning The Glass, Brooks placed in the 97th percentile in midrange shot frequency among wings, taking 50 percent of his shots from the midrange. He made a respectable 46 percent of those looks, which placed him in the 70th percentile.

Brooks also ranked in the 97th percentile in usage rating at his position, and despite never being mentioned in the same breath as the league’s most efficient scorers, he did finish the season ranked fourth among all qualified players in points per touch (min. 40 games played).

In a season where Jalen Green, Devin Booker, Mark Williams and a handful of other key players missed significant time, Brooks stepped up as a certified No. 2 scoring option.

Sure, the Suns needed him to take some of the audacious shots he was putting up, but Brooks filled a void and earned every look he got because of his unrelenting work ethic.

“Dillon Brooks made a massive jump,” Mat Ishbia acknowledged. “A lot of you will talk about his offense and he made a massive jump, and he earned that. He’s in early. He stays late. He comes in after the games and shoots. Comes in the morning before the games. This is in the playoffs. This is before the season. This is in the middle of the season. You get what you deserve in life. You earn it. And he earned it.”

That, combined with all the defensive attention that Devin Booker got from OKC in the first round, is probably why Dillon Brooks game out guns blazing in the playoffs. Over the course of that four-game series, Brooks averaged a team-high 26.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, shooting 45.9 percent overall and 43.8 percent from 3 on 8.0 attempts a night.

The tough shot-making and ability to create was on full display, and against the league’s best defense, no less:

However, there are some warts to his skill-set and his general approach to the game. Brooks’ tunnel vision and poor shot selection could be felt on the nights where he was off, and even on nights when he was on. He may have posted the second-best field-goal percentage of his career, but that mark was only 43.5 percent.

As a 3-point shooter, Brooks only made 34.4 percent of his 3s, which was disappointing coming off a year in Houston where he shot a career-high 39.7 percent from deep on similar volume.

Brooks’ scorching-hot start to the season also dropped off in a few key areas. After converting an unsustainable 72 percent of his looks at the rim over the first few months, he finished the season at a subpar 54.3 percent at the basket.

Brooks also went from the NBA’s 85th percentile in points per possession on post-ups through those first two months to the 60th percentile. And while his efficiency on turnaround jumpers (53.6 percent) and fadeaways (48.3 percent) was still impressive overall, both figures represented a five percent drop from where they had been just a few months earlier.

Even in the playoffs, there was a bit of that same uneven production. Brooks dropped 30, 33 and 23 points in Games 2-4 on 50 percent shooting or better, but his 18 points on 6-of-22 shooting in Game 1 also showed how bad the process can look when he goes overboard trying to take matters into his own hands.

Brooks finished the year ranked in the league’s 69th percentile in points per possession on isos, so it’s not like he’s incapable of getting his own bucket. That combination of skill, work ethic and irrational confidence was something the Suns needed with Jalen Green missing 50 games due to hamstring injuries, and it’s something they’ll continue to need as long as defenses overload on Devin Booker.

But since Brooks’ biggest flaws overlap with Green’s, it’s worth questioning whether the Suns’ new “Big 3” is properly suited to play well together. Booker is at his best when he’s paired with another ball-handler who can play on or off the ball and put the Suns’ franchise player in attack mode. Playing next to historically inefficient scorers like Brooks and Green, who routinely attack with blinders on, just puts Book in more of the facilitator role we saw against OKC, which doesn’t completely optimize him or the Suns offense.

With that being said, all of the off-court attributes like Brooks’ leadership, toughness and competitive fire have undoubtedly had an impact on Phoenix’s surprising one-year turnaround. Last season, the Suns were a talented but listless team with zero bite, identity or discernible playing style. This season, there were multiple areas of the game one could identify as defining traits of “Suns basketball” on a nightly basis, and Brooks had a hand in establishing almost all of them.

Although he missed 26 games due to injury, most of those were because of a fractured hand, not some type of wear-and-tear injury. Brooks is slightly undersized at 6-foot-7, but he can play up a position because of his punishing strength, physicality on defense and ability to attack on offense. Couple all of that with his growth as a scorer and his immediate impact on Phoenix’s rapid turnaround, and it’s easy see why the Suns would entertain the prospect of a contract extension for The Villain.

“His villain persona, I love,” Ishbia said. “Technical fouls, I’ll say I love ’em. The other ones may not love it love as much, I’d rather him not get suspended, but I take him as he is. Can he get better at things? Absolutely. But he’s a leader. He cares. I love him, I love having him here.”

So how much will Dillon Brooks’ contract extension be worth?

Dillon Brooks undoubtedly had his most “Dillon Brooks” season yet. And as we’ve covered here before, there is a certain duality that comes with the experience of employing “The Villain.”

The question is, what does an extension look like for a player who’s clearly imperfect but has played a central role in getting Phoenix back on the right track?

Brooks, who will turn 31 next January, is eligible for a deal up to four years and $125.4 million. According to a source who spoke with Suns After Dark, Phoenix is unlikely to extend the dollar amount that high, but a lucrative three- or even four-year deal is still feasible.

With one year still remaining on his contract, a four-year extension for Brooks wouldn’t affect the Suns’ cap situation for this summer, since it wouldn’t kick in until his age-32 season in 2027-28. However, that means such an extension would run through his age-35 season in 2030-31.

Paying Dillon Brooks a sizable salary for the next 4-5 years sounds daunting, but according to a source, Phoenix might not mind keeping him into his mid-30s — not because the Suns believe his performance will continue to match the career year he just had in the Valley, but because of his locker room leadership.

The Suns value the off-court components that Brooks brought to the table almost as much as his actual on-court production, which makes sense, given how the former has actually been more consistent throughout his career than the latter.

“Leadership and toughness doesn’t age,” as one source put it.

If Brooks gets a three- or four-year extension that keeps him in the Valley for the next half-decade, the question then becomes what the salary will look like. Last year, Brooks earned $22.1 million. This upcoming season, he’s set to earn $21 million on his expiring salary. Ideally, the Suns find a way to keep his annual salary somewhere in that range.

Brooks’ camp likely believes he’s entitled to a big payday after submitting a career year and helping Phoenix re-establish the culture, and both the Suns and Brooks want to keep him in Phoenix for the foreseeable future. The question is whether the Suns can keep that annual salary closer to $20 million — especially on the back-end of the extension, when his role and production are likely to diminish — instead of the mid-to-upper 20s.

Bearing all that in mind, don’t be surprised if the Suns sign Brooks to a three-year deal in the $70-75 million range, or a four-year deal around $90-100 million. That type of extension might look dicey in the last year or two of his contract, but it’s clear that Dillon Brooks’ value to Phoenix extends beyond what he contributes on the court, thanks to his impact on a culture built around toughness, grit and work ethic.

“He’s the epitome of that,” Ishbia said. “We love Dillon, I love his persona. I think the fans love him here. I think they’ve really embraced him in such an amazing way, and I think he loves that too. And he deserves it. You get what you deserve in life. Dillon deserves everything he’s got, and he’s earned it. He put the work in, gets the most shots up. Guess what? He starts making more shots. And he cares, and he leads, and when he speaks, people listen because he puts in the work.”

“Excited for him to continue to be here and be a huge part of our organization.”

For more of Gerald Bourguet’s Suns work, check back with Sports360AZ on a weekly basis, subscribe to his Patreon articles and podcast at Suns After Dark, or follow him on Twitter.