On Saturday, November 26, Matt Moore of CBS Sports postulated on a series of trades that the Phoenix Suns could involve themselves in centering around the trading of Brandon Knight and/or Tyson Chandler.
Those two players have been the central pieces in most trade rumors surrounding the Suns for many months now, and for good reason:
- Tyson Chandler is an aging veteran center who – as his stats have shown this season so far – if placed on a contending team would be provide serious rebounding and defense. The Suns have no need or him in the future, so while he has become a fan favorite – and the team’s statistical MVP – getting youth and draft picks in return for the veteran would further help the Suns’ rebuilding effort.
- Brandon Knight is a redundant figure on the Suns roster. He is paid way too much to be a bench/role player, and has rotational expectations that are far too high for the Suns to keep him indefinitely.
For a team in the process of a rebuild, one who needs to acquire as many young pieces to help further the plan along, the Suns most assuredly see Chandler and Knight asset acquiring players.
So, what does Matt Moore hypothesize could be trade moves for the Suns involving those two players?
- Orlando Magic – He merely references how Knight could help the Magic, and does not offer a legitimate trade scenario.
- New Orleans Pelicans – He does not specifically mention who the Suns would get in return, but believes that both Knight and Chandler would significantly boost the Pelicans playoff chances noting that the New Orleans roster has plenty to offer the Suns in return.
- Brooklyn Nets – We have heard them mentioned in the past as a trade partner for Phoenix, and specifically mentions that if the Suns were to additionally part with some of their youth (I would speculate that Marquese Chriss would be the player) that the Nets might be willing to move Brook Lopez.
- Philadelphia 76ers – Noting that with Marquese Chriss on the roster the Suns would not need Nerlens Noel (who is generally the most talked about trade piece on the Philadelphia roster) and that Jahlil Okafor would be a good fit on the Phoenix roster. (YES PLEASE!)
These are purely hypothetical trade scenarios (and very vague) and Mr. Moore does not reference that these are founded in any legitimate rumors that he has heard through the NBA grapevine.
Regardless, it is generally presumed that the Suns must be looking to move Knight and/or Chandler at some point. Additionally, several teams keep coming up as possible, or likely, suitors
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based on the makeup of their rosters and the presumed direction of their franchises – most notably Brooklyn and Philadelphia.
The Suns could look to improve any one position in the starting lineup if they could, expect for Shooting Guard with Devin Booker looking to be the starting number two for many years to come.
Eric Bledsoe too potentially could be entrenched for the next few years, but I would surmise that even he – since his name also seems to come up in trade rumors – could be moved, or at least someone could be brought in as a future upgrade to him (think Jason Kidd with Kevin Johnson and Steve Nash already on the roster).
T.J. Warren looks like he could be a centerpiece small forward for the foreseeable future, however, if the Suns are able to find an upgrade at a similar age, do not be shocked.
Power forward is still very much in flux for the Suns, but Marquese Chriss and/or Dragan Bender should be expected to lay claim to the position in the future. However, they are still very young and rough around the edges, and either one of them could be added to a package for a dramatic upgrade to the position, so do not consider them to be untouchable, or the spot to not be un-upgradable.
Tyson Chandler is not the future, and while Alex Len shows flashes of exactly what you might want from the position, he often leaves much to be desired. It seems that he should be a double-double machine (I still see Len potentially developing into a 14/14 kind of player in the future, but has yet to show that he is capable). Thus at this moment could still be expendable, or at least reserved for the realm of reserves on the roster.
With that all understood, what could the Suns possibly do with these four teams in a non-complex, two-team trade?
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