3. Let Young Guys Get Minutes
The Suns are in the middle of a playoff chase and before the last few weeks, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who thought Green was a detriment to the cause. But in the last few games, Hornacek has been riding his starters a bit more and he’s given a lot more minutes to Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Morris and Brandan Wright off the bench.
Those things have all contributed to Green’s lack of playing time. But another factor that should be contributing to Green’s lack of minutes — which would be another benefit of trading him — is an increase in minutes for the younger guys like Reggie Bullock, T.J. Warren and especially Archie Goodwin.
Bullock has played a grand total of three minutes since the Suns traded for him three weeks ago. Warren has touched the floor in only 15 games, averaging 8.9 minutes per contest despite showing that he can score at the NBA level. And the cries for Goodwin (13 games, 7.4 MPG) get louder with each passing day, especially since we know he’s capable of this:
Goodwin (20), Warren (21) and Bullock (23) are still incredibly young, so there’s not a particular rush here. But one undeniable boon from trading Gerald Green would be that these promising players would get a chance to actually crack the rotation and contribute to a playoff cause, earning valuable experience in the process.
Hornacek’s No. 1 priority is getting the Suns back to the postseason, because that’s the only way young players like Eric Bledsoe, Alex Len, the Morris twins and even Goran Dragic will learn how to take the next step forward. But his next priority should be giving these young talents minutes whenever he can spare them, and trading Green — who’s being phased out anyway — furthers that cause.
Next: No. 2