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

3. Do you feel that it was necessary to deal both Isaiah Thomas and Dragic?

Bourguet: Necessary? No. But I can also see why it happened. Thomas was a consummate professional during his time in Phoenix and always said all the right things to the media…but he wasn’t necessarily a great fit either. Thomas will bring the ability to score with him wherever he goes. I thought the Suns could’ve done better cashing in on his value in their trade with Boston, but again, all of these deals were happening simultaneously within minutes of the trade deadline.

Chasen: Yes. Thomas wouldn’t work as a starter with Bledsoe, and he didn’t want to come off the bench. Dragic made his own bed; both needed to go.

Hann: The chances of Dragic re-signing was close to none, forcing the Suns to deal him. Since Dragic was going, the Suns ABSOLUTELY had to trade Thomas as well. Fair or not, Thomas was looked at as the main reason why Dragic (a fan favorite) would be leaving the organization no matter, creating a potential disconnect or problem in the locker room if he would have stayed. Not only that, Thomas stopped the ball movement on offense, forcing the Suns to play a completely different offense at times with him in the game.

Saar: While the three-point-guard lineup was effective in limited minutes, it ultimately failed because Dragic wanted to leave, it was not great defensively or rebounding-wise as well. It just didn’t work. The Suns were already bad at defense and rebounding and that made it worse. An important part of trading Thomas was now Archie Goodwin gets significant minutes. He’s a regular NBA size and can defend much better as a younger player for much less money. He was frustrated at not getting enough minutes, now he’ll be happy.

Schall: Goran was gone the second that report came out. I didn’t think they should have moved Thomas, but I’m not privy to what’s been going on in that locker room. Once Dragic was dealt I thought it would have made more sense to keep IT and just skip the Knight trade. Wouldn’t you rather have Thomas, the Lakers pick, Plumlee and Ennis versus Knight and the Cavs 2016 pick that’s likely to be in the 20’s? Advanced statistics paint Thomas as the better player despite Knight being the superior defender. It’s an impossible question to answer without knowing exactly what was going on in that locker room, but it’s one worth asking.