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Chad Ford’s Blockbuster Trade Adjustments

By Noah Strackbein

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Chad Ford, ESPN’s NBA Insider, recently created a trade scenario involving the Phoenix Suns, New York Knick, and Cleveland. The players included in this massive trade, were Carmelo Anthony, Kyrie Irving, Eric Bledsoe, Kevin Love, the No. 4 and No. 13 draft picks, and other players. What the Cleveland Cavaliers winning the NBA Finals did to this trade, was end it.

After watching LeBron James and the Cavs come back from a 3-1 series deficit to defeat the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals, it’s evident that Kyrie Irving, is there to stay. For the first time since Cleveland’s big three of LeBron, Kevin Love, and Kyrie Irving were formed, Irving looked like he found his place on the team. It wasn’t playing the true Point Guard role that everyone thought he should have. It was attacking, spreading the floor, and doing what he does best. Score.

What this did to Chad Ford’s trade theory, was end it. Or at least adjust it. The way Ford believed this trade could take place, was by sending a lot of Phoenix players to New York and Eric Bledsoe and Carmelo Anthony to Cleveland.

Cleveland Gets: Eric Bledsoe, Carmelo Anthony, Robin Lopez.

New York Gets: Brandon Knight, Alex Len, P.J. Tucker, Archie Goodwin, No. 4, and No. 13.

Phoenix Gets: Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, Mo Williams, Sasha Kaun.

As realistic as this trade may be, Cleveland winning the title proved that LeBron and Kyrie can win. Yes, Love was a part of this Cleveland storybook ending, but he wasn’t a factor whatsoever. 7.3 PPG, 5.9 RPG, and shooting 36% from the field, nothing impressive about those stats. The entire NBA world knows it’s time to move on from Love. Nothing has shown he’s a promising player in Cleveland. He plays in a system that isn’t built for his style of play, and has almost completely lost all trust from LeBron and Kyrie.

That means Love is still on the market. But Kyrie most likely isn’t. Ford’s blockbuster trade scenario may still be able to take place, but it will need to remove Irving from the list and adjust

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who ends up where.

For one, Phoenix isn’t going to give up Bledsoe, Knight, Len, Tucker, the No. 4, and No. 13 pick for Kevin Love. It just isn’t a sense able trade. Giving up Knight, possibly Tucker, and No. 13 would make more sense. Cleveland would want Bledsoe. That doesn’t mean that he can’t be worked into the trade, there just needs to be adjustments.

Love’s trade value isn’t nearly as high as the rest of the stars in this scenario. He is still a top-tier player, but has a lot of question marks after his two-year run in Cleveland. Because of that, he isn’t worth all Phoenix is giving up. Assuming Bledsoe is still headed to the Cavs.

The Suns, who would be dealing a good chunk of their team, would still be looking to receive Love. Love can provide the size and floor spacing ability Phoenix is in desperate need of at the Power Forward position. However, the Suns will need to receive a Point-Guard with the ability of replacing Knight and Bledsoe. It doesn’t seem like the Cavs or the Knicks have a player with enough stardom to replace these young talents. So, the Suns will have one of two options; retract Bledsoe or the No. 4 pick.

Best option, keep the No. 4 pick. The draft is full of talented guards. At No. 4, the Suns would have a chance to draft a player like Kris Dunn out of Providence or possibly Jamal Murray out of Kentucky. Either player can provide immediate help to the Suns and be a great supporting cast to Devin Booker and Kevin Love.

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The Knicks won’t give up Carmelo without receiving their fair share of players and picks, and Brandon Knight, Tucker, Len, Goodwin, and the No. 13 pick isn’t going to make New York toss their best player to the Cavs. A little collaboration of Cleveland and Phoenix will need to be done in order for this to work. Possibly, the Suns could send Tyson Chandler, who would work well with Kristaps Porzingis, a PF who plays outside as much as he plays inside. The Cavaliers would have to send players as well. They’d most likely have to give two players, one to Phoenix and one to New York.

Matthew Dellavedova and Iman Shumpert look like promising guys. With Shumpert already having a run in New York, it isn’t likely he’d be happy to go back nor is it likely he’d like to stay there. Therefore, he’d be sent to Phoenix. That makes this trade look like so –

Cleveland Gets: Eric Bledsoe, Carmelo Anthony, Robin Lopez, (Keep Kyrie Irving)

New York Gets: Brandon Knight, Alex Len, P.J. Tucker, Archie Goodwin, Tyson Chandler, Matthew Dellavedova, No. 13 pick

Phoenix Gets: Kevin Love, Mo Williams, Sasha Kaun, Iman Shumpert, (Keeps No. 4 pick).

The last issue is that Phoenix won’t have a single Center on the roster besides Kaun, who has one-year of experience in the NBA at age 31. Now, neither team can offer a player that can help this issue. As frightening as it may seem, the Suns will have to rely on the draft and free agency to secure a big man.

For the Suns, their depth chart would like somewhat like –

Point Guard- Mo Williams, Ronnie Price

Shooting Guard- Devin Booker, Iman Shumpert, John Jenkins

Small Forward- T.J. Warren, Chase Budinger

Power Forward- Kevin Love, Mirza Teletovic, Jon Luer, Alan Williams

Center- Sasha Kaun 

Providing the Suns add a quality PG with the No. 4 pick and possibly a player like Thon Maker, Stephen Zimmerman, or maybe even Diamond Stone with the No. 28 and No. 34 picks, their roster can be young and talented. Don’t forget, there is also players like Joakim Noah, Al Jefferson, Zaza Pachulia, and other centers looking for a new home this summer as well.

It’s a lot of change. Maybe more change than most hope. But with the second-worst record in the NBA in 2015-2016, the Suns are in need of change. Chad Ford has a good idea, and with a few adjustments, it may work.

If it does, the Suns may be looking at an entirely new team.

Next: Phoenix Suns' 3 First-Round Picks: Absolute Steals

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