Suns news: Phoenix can still trade Ryan Anderson at fully guaranteed 2019-20 salary value

Ryan Anderson slashed some guaranteed money in 2019-20 in order to get traded to the Phoenix Suns, but his fully guaranteed contract for that year can be used in a trade.

While the recent Ryan Anderson trade is considered by some as the immediate answer to a need that the Phoenix Suns have, it may actually prove beneficial for the team in the long run.

A recent bit of information regarding the technicalities of Anderson's contract was pointed out by NBA analyst Tim Bontemps. According to The Washington Post writer, the Suns could use the 30-year-old as a useful trading piece next summer:

One note about the recent Rockets-Suns trade: while Ryan Anderson did lower his guaranteed salary to $15.4 million for 2019-2020, because his contract was signed under the previous CBA it can be traded for the prior fully guaranteed value of $21.2 million.

— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) September 7, 2018

When Anderson signed for the Suns, he agreed to slash his 2019-20 guaranteed salary by almost $6 million. He did this not only to make the deal work, but also as a gamble on himself for the upcoming season.

Going back to Bontemps' point, the fact that Anderson can be traded next summer for the original, un-slashed value of his contract means that this actually becomes a win-win situation for the Suns. The team will give Anderson the entire year to prove his worth, and should he succeed in doing so, Phoenix may decide to keep him on for another season until his contract expires in the summer of 2020.

However, if the Suns want to move on, they could opt to trade him at the original value of his contract, which is worth $21.2 million in 2019-20. This could matter when it comes to next summer:

Interesting. There are scenarios where this could matter next June/July when teams are trying to clear space. https://t.co/Yu6pq4ynu0

— Danny Leroux (@DannyLeroux) September 7, 2018

The Suns could potentially help another team trying to clear space, while getting an asset in the process.

Suns supporters already know how this move allowed the team to part ways with some dead weight in the form of Brandon Knight and Marquese Chriss. However, as it turns out, the acquisition of Anderson actually holds short-term and long-term value for the organization.