Is Philadelphia Brandon Knight’s Ultimate Destination?
By Adam Maynes
Chicago Bulls
Roje looks to Chicago for an answer in the wake of the recent benching of Rajon Rondo. In need of a point guard that the Bulls can count on in the waning minutes of a game, he feels that Brandon Knight might be a good fit.
In return the oft-mentioned Taj Gibson is a possibility, although he also says that the Suns might request a younger player in either Jerian Grant or Doug McDermott.
If the Suns received Taj, one would assume that he would immediately jump into the starting lineup, although with this being a contract year, he may be kept on the bench as a rental and let go in the off-season.
To me, neither of the young players in either Jerian Grant nor Doug McDermott move the meter a whole lot, especially since neither would be starters, even on the talent-depleted Suns. If I could have a pick, I would choose McDermott as he could backup both Devin Booker and T.J. Warren, and thus would be the number one option in a move with Chicago.
Potential Trade Grade = B-
Dallas Mavericks
While I can see why the Mavericks are on this list from the Mavs’ perspective, there is nothing on their roster that I could see the Suns really wanting.
Unless somehow Dwight Powell is Hassan Whiteside part deux, I do not really see a future with him on the Suns should they acquire him, so the trade would be a dud from a Phoenix perspective.
Additionally, the Suns could potentially trade for Wesley Matthews, and he is currently a more consistent and solid scorer than Devin Booker, but he is also ten years older, and his contract sits between $17.1M and $18.6M over the next three years according to basketball-reference. There is no chance that the Suns bench Booker for Matthews, and there is no reason to have Matthews on the roster making that much when the Suns will need to pull the trigger on extending Booker in a couple of years.
Nothing with Dallas makes sense for Knight unless they want to give up their first round pick, and we all know what Dallas’ answer to that request would be.
Potential Trade Grade = D+
Sacramento Kings
As with almost every trade scenario in the past, there is no actual ‘rumor’ as to who the Suns might receive in return for Brandon Knight because much like Dallas, there isn’t a whole lot that the Suns would necessarily be interested in outside of DeMarcus Cousins.
In his particular post, Roje does not offer a full trade scenario, though he makes a compelling argument for why the Kings should trade for Knight and goes so far as to say that a third team might need to be involved to make the trade work from Phoenix’s perspective.
If Knight were to be traded to the Kings, as I have already illustrated a couple of possible trade scenarios here between only the two teams, a third team might need to be involved. How complex and to what degree of ‘blockbuster’ might a three-team trade be to get Brandon Knight to Sacramento, I do not know. But I do know, that outside of the Philadelphia trade, this is still the most interesting possibility.
Potential Trade Grade = B
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Let us know what you think, Valley of the Suns fans! Do you love any of these trade scenarios? Do you have any that you would like the Suns to try to work out?
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