Suns Trade Options

[Shabazz]

I've been thinking a lot lately about how the Suns could improve via trade this season, and it's not so simple, so I figured I'd share some ideas and try and lay out the landscape. Sunsfanatic76 brought it up in the other thread, and I think it's worth a deeper discussion. All feedback welcome.

Our Needs:
In my opinion, our biggest need (N1) is someone who can swing between the 4 and 5 credibly and allow us to play big (in between Nurk and KD) or small, with this player and KD at the 4/5. Maybe Metu gets there, maybe not.
Our second biggest (N2) is a "set the table" PG who can organize our offense when Book sits. This player needs to at least be better than Jordan Goodwin.
We also have to trade for someone who can come in and play right away. Upside projects who haven't contributed yet to their own teams need not apply.

Our Assets:
We have two trade exceptions, worth $4.98M and $6.5M. They can't be aggregated with each other, nor with players to add someone at a higher salary. We also have a handful of tradeable second round picks. Then we have Nasir Little ($6.25 annual salary) and Grayson Allen ($8.93M). They can be combined with one another and also with some of our minimum players as of 12/15, however some of the minimum guys have a de facto no trade clauses.

Trade Path #1 - salary relief
One thing to consider when looking at the landscape is what can we offer our trading partner that they value. The 2nd rounders we have are not that valuable other than as sweeteners. However, Ishbia's deep pockets can prove lucrative to a number of teams that are looking to lessen or avoid a luxury tax payment by absorbing their players into our trade exceptions. For this scenario I looked at all the teams that are above or near the L-Tax threshold. Teams slightly below are included because they may want to create more room to make other moves. I then looked at which players they have that would 1 - fit our needs, 2 - fit within a trade exception and 3 - not be too much of a loss to the trade partner's rotation. There are some players that fit the bill here that are minimum-salaried players, but those moves only makes sense for the other team if they don't replace the the roster spot they traded away, which is unlikely. Here are the options:

Warriors - Cory Joseph (Fits Need 1, but Vet Min and not better than Goodwin, so unlikely)
Clippers - Mason Plumlee ($5M) - the best option in trade path 1, IMO. Even though you can't really play him next to Nurk or Eubanks, he's an upgrade on Drew and gives us a different look at C.
Bones Hyland - ($2.3M) - a little redundant with our existing guards. Not a true PG, but maybe an option if we trade Grayson.
Bucks - no one fits
Celtics - Luke Kornet. Probably not worth Boston trading when he's a rotation piece and they're contending
Heat - Thomas Bryant - Min player
Nuggets - Zeke Nnaji - My favorite option among those in this trade path, but unlikely the Nuggets trade with us
Sixers - Kenyon Martin Jr. ($1.9M) - a good option, but definitely undersized. Doesn't really fit Need 1 or Need 2
Pelicans - Kira Lewis Jr. They Pels are the most likely team here to make a salary dump trade and Lewis is more of a true PG than anyone on our roster, but he's probably not good enough to supplant any of our rotation guards.
Lakers - Christian Wood. Min player, so it doesn't make a ton of sense. Maybe they release him to find a better path to PT as he's out of their rotation. He's better than Bol Bol.
Cavs ($750K under the tax) - Dean Wade ($5.7M). A decent player who can stretch the floor, but doesn't really solve our size issues. I'd pass.
Bulls ($1.7M over) - siggghhhh. Torrey Craig (Vet Min).

Conclusion - not a ton to work with by taking this path. The best options would be Plumlee, KMJ, Zeke Nnaji or Kira Lewis.

Trade Path #2 - Grayson and/or Nas
For the record, I like Grayson. He's a very solid player. But if we have Beal, Book and Gordon healthy, he's a little redundant and we have bigger needs. I'd be willing to downgrade slightly to get a better fit who can handle playoff minutes.
Nas Little is one of the few cost controlled young players we have, so I'm not eager to trade him either. But you have to give to get.

Note: because we're above the first apron we're only able to take back 110% of their individual or combined salaries.

Here are some players I'd have some level of interest in and I could see the other team entertaining. I wouldn't do all of these. just consider them.

Group 1: Nas Little straight up (or we take back additional players)
Dwight Powell ($4M) - Fits N1
Precious Achiuwa ($4.4M) - N1
Jalen McDaniels ($4.5M) - N1
Nick Richards ($5M) - N1
Poku ($5M) - N1
Davion Mitchell ($5M) - N2, redundant with Goodwin and Okogie. I'd pass.
Jalen Smith ($5.6M) - Yep. N1
Kenrick Williams ($6.2M) - I like him better than Nas, but Nas has more upside, which is why OKC considers
Jae'Sean Tate ($6.5) - helps our rebounding issues, but doesn't space the floor.

Group 2: Either Nas + minimum player or Grayson alone
Zach Collins ($7.7M)- N1
Paul Reed ($7.7M) - N1
Trey Lyles ($8M) - N1
Delon Wright ($8.2M) - N2
TJ McConnell ($8.7M) - N2
Royce O'Neal ($9.5M) - Not really someone who solves either need, but an upgrade over Nas for sure and would more credibly stretch the floor.

Group 3: Grayson + a minimum player or Nas + 2 minimum players
Patrick Williams ($9.8M) - N1
Tre Jones ($9.9M) - N2
Larry Nance - ($10.4) - N1, would be pretty perfect. If we could create l-tax savings for NO, that may incentivize them.
Gabe Vincent ($10.5M) - N2
Maxi Kleber ($11M) - N1
Bobby Portis ($11.7M) - N1. My favorite option. the Bucks need a SG more than a PF/C, so maybe they'd bite. I don't think they would.
Chris Boucher ($11.8M) - N1. I'd pass.

Group 4: Grayson + Nas (+ minimums as necessary)
Marvin Bagley ($12.5) - N1. I'd pass
Isaiah Stewart ($4.4M, but extended) - N1
Dorian Finney Smith ($13.9M) - N1, wouldn't be worth it, IMO
PJ Washington ($16.85) - N1. This one would be really interesting. I think he's exactly what we're missing. Charlotte gets depth. Hmm.

Trade Path #3 - Teams doing right by vets
Here are some vets I could see becoming available as teams fall out of contention. These players could also be bought out and targets for us on the buyout market.

Danilo Galinari, Mike Muscala, Otto Porter, Thad Young, Monte Morris, Cedi Osman

[Kryptonic]

Solid work Baz…. I think Allen is a piece we absolutely need to keep until we figure out Beals durability. He’s a nice guy to have to spell these Booker/Beal rotating injuries and hard to beat at his value. I think Larry Nance Jr. would be solid but would N.O. do that for a division rival?

Thanks for taking the time to write that up

[Wally_West]

Great breakdown, ‘Bazz.

I think it’s very unlikely we trade Allen, he just too good of a fit for us. I don’t see us moving Little either, I think we’d be open to trading him for the right deal, but don’t really see a good deal for him at the moment. Little has a lot of positives that makes me not want to trade him anyway, he’s young, athletic and because of his great contract, he has a chance to grow and develop into a solid rotation piece for us for next few years. I feel his value will only get higher so maybe better to cash out on him in year or two anyways.

Bobby Portis be perfect, the reports of friction between him and Adrian Griffin cold lead him to being traded by the deadline but I don’t see how we can realistically get him tho.


I think we most likely use our exception and our 2nd round picks to get pieces. Precious Achiuwa would be a good pick up but not sure raps would be interested in just an exception tho.

What about this?

Raps- Bobby Portis

Bucks- Otto Porter, Metu, Bol Bol, two 2nds from us, one 2nd from raps

Suns- Precious Achiuwa



Saddiq Bey could be an interesting rental. Last year of his deal and don’t think the Hawks want to pay him after paying Hunter and Okongwu recently and he’s expendable with Jalen Johnson emergence. I’m sure they will try and include him in a deal to try and get Siakim or somebody like that but if nothing pans out, a last minute trade deadline deal using our trade exception and couple of 2nds could get it done so they get something for him instead of letting him walk. Unlikely tho.

We’ll probably just trade for Torey Craig or sign PJ Tucker when he gets bought out, I know Sauce would love that.

[Flagrant Fowl]

I completely agree the tweener 4/5 being the most in need position/role on this team. Someone who can credibly defend LeBron, Kawhii, Sabonis and maybe Chet, but also not be a Josh Okogie on offense. Unfortunately, I don't think any of those well thought out scenarios 'bazz presented are significantly more promising than where I hope the Suns imagine KBD and Metu being in 4 months. Most realistic scenarios are an outright downgrade or just open up another issue, mainly perimeter defense and shooting. Bobby Portis is the exception, but that's simply not happening without Dame or Giannis first suffering a major injury and the Bucks throw away the season in the next two months.

Maybe something happens on the margins of the rotation closer to the deadline if this team still can't figure it out with the big 3 healthy, but I think it's highly unlikely at this point. I doubt it was possible since he was immediately set for LA, but I wish the Suns took a shot at Theis after he was bought out by the Pacers. Also my dream player for this situation is Naz Reid, but much like Portis, that isn't happening.

I'm not terribly worried about the roster right now. Besides health, the main issues with this team are turnovers and pace. I understand the urge to slow down and work through sets because that's how a lot of playoff games are won. But they really need to learn to play in another gear without turning the ball over at a ridiculous rate because what's the point of going heavy on scoring if you can't reliably string together a plus-12 run every game let alone every half which they should be doing?

[ShelC]

Good post all around and covers a lot of what I've been thinking about so far with the roster. The only name I could come up with as a 3/4 option was DFS, who I don't even really like but fits the bill of what we could use in the frontcourt. Not sure he'd be worth Allen and Little tho. And the rest of the names probably aren't realistic for a trade. Potential buy-out vets probably wouldn't move the needle much, tho Gallo could be intriguing if he got bought out. Thad Young is another vet but he might be cooked. Same with Cousins and Harrell (who also fell out with Vogel in LA).

[LazarusLong]

Great thread.

December 15 is when the majority of the Phoenix Suns roster becomes available to trade. A free agent who signed a standard NBA player contract – or a player who signs, or is converted to, a standard NBA player contract while under a Two-Way Contract – can’t be traded for three months following the date the contract is signed or until December 15 of the Salary Cap Year when the contract is signed, whichever is later.
So, who is available to be traded (with my observations):

Eric Gordon: $3.2 million (dependable scorer, not really a pg)

Josh Okogie: $2.8 million (great defender and energy guy, shot often MIA)

Damion Lee: $2.5 million (meniscus injury, streaky shooter with limited skills elsewhere)

Drew Eubanks: $2.35 million (good backup center, foul prone)

Keita Bates-Diop: $2.35 million (potentially skilled player who’s been erratic and seems lacking in confidence)

Yuta Watanabe: $2.35 million (great long range threat, rest of his game is behind the curve)

Bol Bol: $2.02 million (he’s very tall, but wants to be a perimeter player. Hmmmmm)

Jordan Goodwin: $2.02 million (disrupter-type, young Pat Beverly without the @ssholiness)

[wpmiller42]

With the exception of Bol, if I were the Suns, I don't think I would be in a rush to trade most anyone on the roster in these realistic scenarios. Of course, if there's some great heist you go for it, but but I think realistically I like what we have more than what I think we could realistically get. It's too bad we couldn't have swapped out Biyombo for Bol back when that was an option.

I think the buyout market is where the Suns really need to keep an eye on. I think there are some potentially good targets there depending on what shakes out.

[Split T]

Ya I agree…I’d be pretty hesitant to move Allen or Little. Some of the vet min guys are whatever, but they aren’t going to bring back anyone of note. Maybe that bigger exception can get someone, but I’m not holding my breath. I think KBD or Metu will need to step up and be the guy we need.

I’d still also look at Kai Jones. He’s talented, 2-way eligible, and available. Not sure if he’s in a good place mental health wise though.

Also I know how most feel about Bol, but maybe we give him a shot too. He’s looked pretty awful in any minutes he’s gotten(almost all pre-season) and for the record I don’t think he’s the answer, but he’s on the roster, might as well try him. Though I’d wait until we’ve had an opportunity to get our normal rotation with Beal established first.

[Mori Chu]

Thanks much for this detailed and thorough thread. I look at it and kind of come away thinking there's not much we can / should do to our roster right now. My #1 wish for this team is that they ran the offense better, fewer turnovers, more passing / ball movement, etc. But the only way to fix that would be to take the ball out of Book and KD's hands more, and I don't want to find some min-level guy and hand him the ball over two top-10-in-the-NBA players. If it isn't a PG on CP3's level, I wouldn't want to hand the car keys back to him.

And the business about needing a big bruising 4/5, I'm not really sure I agree with it. There are a few big opposing teams like the Lakers, but most of the league isn't as big as that. And I don't know how you'd play this hypothetical 4/5 guy when we have KD who needs to be in for most of the game, and Nurk/Eubanks as a very solid C rotation. That's almost all of the 4/5 minutes right there. And if this guy isn't some All-NBA caliber player, who exactly do you want out there that is better than KD, Nurk, Eubanks, and KBD? Those names listed, they don't really strike me as difference makers mostly.

I'd love to have somebody like maybe Caruso on this team, or maybe Precious. But I don't want to give up Grayson Allen for those guys; he's one of the few non-big-3 players who can generate offense.

I kind of just think we need to spend the season getting better, playing together, getting to know each other, learning plays, just becoming more cohesive and familiar and a better team. And getting HEALTHY, #1, for the Big 3 and others. That's all we really need.

[Sunsfanatic76]

Great post Shabazz! You really covered everything exceptionally well and your options list was very impressive and scenarios realistic andon point. Getting Portis or Reed or Stewart or Morris or Gabe Vincent for potential guard options would be awesome if somehow possible too. I really like the mention of 4/5 options like Kai Jones and Nik Richards as reasonably attainable pieces with our available assets. And as Split also mentioned in a follow up post, Kai Jones is an interesting consideration for us. I honestly think that Kai Jones could possibly provide a legit impact/productive role for us at the 4/5 as long as he has a clear simplified role to just focus on the defensive end of the floor rebounding, rim protection/ post defense and rim running utilizing his athleticism, length and mobility for us. And I'd think that with all of Durant, Book, Beal, Nurkic, and other top notch vet mentors, he could keep his head straight and excel in that simplified role for us. And I think that Nik Richards could fill a similar role too, but with much higher potential outcome if we could steal him away from Charlotte somehow.

Our assets and salary matching options are so limited, I'd think we'd really have to get creative and possibly make some concessions (if necessary) to acquire value via trades? When I say concessions, of course i'm referencing value exchanges that we might not prefer to include in trades in order to get pieces that better address our needs or could eliminate potential positional redundancy. I really like Allen for us, kinda like Little so far as well. But they might offer the only legit value of our remaining limited assets to return solid value as well as necessary salary exchange in trades if we go that route. Otherwise our best bet as has been already mentioned would be the vet min and buyout or unsigned options.

As for our other greatest need in a legit point guard to facilitate and limit turnovers, I'm not sure who we could really get with our assets in a trade. I don't see Indy having interest in Allen with already having Hield, Mathurin, Brown, Duarte and even Nesmith already on the roster. They might have some interest in Little or Okogie at SF, or Eubanks as a backup option for Turner as they're currently limited at those two positions depthwise. So not sure if we could actually pull McConnell. Perhaps we could possibly flip Allen or maybe even Little/Gordon/fillers to Philly though for some combination of Melton and pieces? Othrwise, looking at the unsigned/ buyout options, I'd try to be openminded and consider names like Wall (still decent assists and scoring somewhat as a really cheap stopgap option). Or my favorite young option with size and potential at 6'5. A really solid G league consideration in RJ Nembhard perhaps? George Hill seems too old honestly but maybe there'll be other buyout options soon?

[Sunsfanatic76]

One last name for guard consideration that is kinda out there and i'm sure that no one will like at all, but the talent and opportunity is still there and maybe just maybe on this team with strong leaders in Durant, Book, Beal and other vets we could stabilize well to our benefit as a big gamble reclamation project is (brace yourselves)!!........................

Kevin Porter Jr. I get that (if true) he screwed up monumentally and we shouldn't touch him under any circumstances!! However, IF he's found innocent and his image can be rehabilitated or reproved, then his potential value is still very solid for his versatile skillset, size, iso scoring, ballhandling, passing and ability to breakdown defenses. And maybe just maybe this situation may humble and mature his mentality a bit?? But for potential, just check out this recent comparison:
https://stathead.com/tiny/B1OMO
KPJr and DeJounte Murray. If found not guilty, then for a really low pricetag/risk, we could have him prove himself and earn his way back into the league by leading our bench in a backup guard/6th man role as well as spot minutes if we might go ultra small with book at the 3 and Durant at the 5 in specific matchups? We'd also not be handicapped with him long term if the situation isn't optimal and could just cut him or flip him elsewhere if we sign him on a small prove it deal? I know it's a crazy idea, so go nuts about it if you guys feel so moved.....lol.

[wpmiller42]

Even if he's found innocent of this latest assault, the guy hasn't exactly been a model citizen prior beforehand. So absolutely no on Porter for me.

[Shabazz]

Would you guys do Allen + Little for PJ Washington?

[Mori Chu]

Would you guys do Allen + Little for PJ Washington?

But Allen and Little have been great. Do we really expect to be able to trade them for anything better?

[Flagrant Fowl]

I think I'd make that deal if I were James Jones, but I'd need to find out if Damian Lee is healthy enough to play in the rotation because we'd definitely need another capable guard.

I don't think Charlotte would do it. PJ is on a great deal and they're already opening up roughly $40M in cap space with Hayward and Bridges expiring this summer. Is Allen's extra expiring $9M really worth the downgrade from PJ to Little? I guess they could justify it if they're going to chase Siakam and want to maximize space, but I think that would be a poor strategy for them.

[Split T]

I’d do that deal. I like PJ, but like FF says, you’d be banking on a lot from your injury prone guards. It balances the top 7 better though with a guard and a big off the bench…you’d have to figure out a 5th starter though and might be stuck with Okogie. Or start big with PJ or start all 3 guards.

[Sunsfanatic76]

11 minutes in: The Hawks, Kings and Pacers are in on a Siakim/ Anunoby trade. Any ideas on how we might be able to get in on a trade like this as a 3rd team facilitator to add a guard option and/or a mobile, athletic shotblocking 4/5 from one of these teams??

16:02 minutes in, The fakers and 76ers might explore a trade (stated interest) for Zach Lavine. As much as I'd despise the fakers somehow getting Lavine (I'd much rather facilitate 76ers getting him)! I wonder if there might be options for us as a 3rd team facilitator to any of these teams in order to bring back a legit guard and or 4/5 option?? what players would you guys prefer back (if possible) from these teams??

[Superbone]

Could Suns Make a Trade Soon? Three Potential Targets
Dec. 15 marks then first day newly signed players can be traded from the Phoenix Suns.

https://www.si.com/nba/suns/analysis/co ... al-targets

Spoiler (targets): Torrey Craig, Delon Wright, JaVale McGee

[Split T]

Pass on all 3

[Wally_West]

Lol