5-on-5: Is Goran Dragic now a villain?

2. Given the circumstances of the situation, did Ryan McDonough make the best of the cards he was dealt at the trade deadline?

Bourguet: I’d say so. Not bringing in any rebounding or defense hurt but putting together trades for a roster like this would’ve been difficult before we knew Dragic wanted out (48 hours before the deadline, no less). Losing that valuable top-five protected pick from the Los Angeles Lakers is still the leading cause of inanimate objects being kicked in my house over the last week, but other than that McDonough did a decent job stockpiling assets. Of course, this answer really depends on how you feel about Brandon Knight’s potential…and the possibility that he will be vastly overpaid this summer.

Chasen: I thought McDonough did a strong job establishing a core and lining up ages, but that’s only half of it. He absolutely nailed the PR side of things at the press conference after Dragic was traded. I loved how feisty he was, and in particular, I love that he threw his full support to Eric Bledsoe, Markieff Morris and Brandon Knight. It’s never easy when a player comes out and says he doesn’t trust management, but McDonough absolutely did his job to the best of his abilities.

Hann: Every transaction McDonough made at the trade deadline was for the future of the team and should be judged by those standards. Having said that, absolutely he made the best moves. The Suns are now set up with a 23-year old Brandon Knight, 25-year old Eric Bledsoe, 25-year old Markieff Morris and a 21-year old Alex Len as the core of the team moving forward. Even after Phoenix signs Knight (probably to a deal similar to Bledsoe’s) the team will have less than 50 million a season committed to these players for the next three years and enough money to afford a max free-agent this summer and beyond.

Saar: Oh, definitely. With the information leaked that Dragic would not re-sign with Phoenix, all the leverage was gone. He was able to “push back” the first round picks (which is important in my opinion) as well as make the team better defensively and younger. They are now all able to grow together and be in their primes together. In an impossible situation, McDonough was able to sort of hit the reset button and see what can be done in the offseason.

Schall: No, but he definitely didn’t blunder it either. The move to get Brandon Knight was absolutely necessary once Thomas was dealt, even though I hated giving up the Lakers pick. The Isaiah Thomas trade was a surprise and I still feel Phoenix could/should have gotten more for him. As for Dragic, in the context of the demands it wasn’t a horrible return, but given how good he was last year and how well he projects to age I thought they should have gotten back at least one concrete piece (read, not a pick).