Chances are the Suns aren’t going to get a Superstar in a trade this season.
Of the possible moving parts, the most valuable player on the roster is Devin Booker – although by all accounts he is pretty untouchable. The Suns want to build around Booker, have him grow with a young team around him, and become the perennial all-star that he projects out to be.
Besides Booker, T.J. Warren would probably garner significant interest if the Suns were willing to part with him. Yet his age and skill-set makes him exactly the kind of player Phoenix wants on a roster with a core of young scorers.
If the Suns felt that a fair trade package was put together, I believe that any of the three CUB rookies could be traded, especially if who was received in return would be a proven star in his early to mid-twenties.
From there, the pieces most likely to garner a return of decent value would be Eric Bledsoe or Brandon Knight.
Bledsoe’s past injuries probably lessen his trade value leaving Knight as the name that is floated around most in trade rumors. Suns fans hold out hope that his youth and scoring upside could entice another NBA team to trade a commodity that the Suns could use, especially if that player could be a budding star in the front court.
With how badly the team is playing now however, and the growing prospect of a high lottery pick offering the now yearly dream that the basketball gods could finally smile upon Phoenix and the bouncing balls bring the Suns their first ever #1 overall pick, could a trade have the unintentional effect of bringing the Suns more wins?
Currently Brandon Knight is offering nothing more than a modest chance of scoring 20 points on any given night. If the Suns could acquire a scoring power forward or center, that addition would help the offense, particularly on those nights when shooters are firing blanks. In those games, a low-post scoring presence might be the only way of putting points on the board.
Currently the Suns are getting very little offensively from their front court. 8.4 points from Jared Dudley (and calling him a front court player is a very loosely attached term), 6.4 from Marquese Chriss, and 3.0 from Johnathan Bender at power forward, followed by 8.9 from Alex Len and 7.2 from Tyson Chandler at center, is about as bad as it can get for a team as guard-heavy as the Suns.
Adding a low-post offensive threat would undoubtedly help the guards find space to score.
If through trade of Knight or in a subsequent move the Suns added a veteran guard, one whose desired role is shooting guard and who accepts the role of sixth man – both aspects of Brandon Knight’s persona that hurts Phoenix – than that alone could help the the rotation. Devin Booker currently does not have a direct backup as Knight spells both Book and Bledsoe. Furthermore the Suns play all three on the court at the same time quite often, especially in the fourth quarter, playing smallball, but without the pre-requisite outside sharp-shooting.
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With so many underperforming players and mis-placed parts the team as currently designed is destined to win very few games. It remains hopeful, however, that if they get the right draft spot, the future superstar that fans have been dreaming of could fall into the Suns’ lap.
Would it be great to have a fun season, finish with the 8th or 9th spot in the draft and then win the lottery? Of course! Unfortunately the odds are strongly stacked against that happening so losing now – as much as that hurts to say, and boy does it hurt – can only help in the long run.
Making a trade could make that run even longer.
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