Rumor: What if the Suns had made a HUGE Trade?

With about 15 minutes before the Trade Deadline, Phoenix Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough received a phone call. On the other end was a team that offered a BLOCKBUSTER trade opportunity.

This Morning, during the Doug and Wolf Show on Arizona Sports 98.7FM, McDonough sent shockwaves through the Valley of the Suns when he shared information that a team had reached out to him very late before the deadline with a major trade proposal.

Of course he cannot give any specifics of who or what was discussed, but with the vaguest of explanation, he did share that the team was in the Eastern Conference, and that it was essentially a 3-for-3 trade that was centered around the three best players on each team.

This Afternoon, following a second interview with McDonough, when the Suns GM revealed that the call came with about 15 minutes before the deadline, John Gambadoro of the Burns and Gambo Show said that he had information that led him to believe that there was a very good chance the team in question was the Detroit Pistons. Per his sources, the Pistons had called several teams looking to make a roster-shaking blockbuster deal, and that the three players they were looking to move was center Andre Drummond, point guard Reggie Jackson, and shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

Gambo then speculated that it was possible that the three players the Pistons requested in return was Devin Booker, Eric Bledsoe, and Tyson Chandler. Chandler might not necessarily be the Suns’ third best player, however, he would at least be a solid defensive replacement of Drummond at center for the Pistons over the next two seasons and would help them in any playoff runs they might make.

Obviously the first hangup in that trade is that the Suns would be losing 20-year old shooting star Devin Booker. Booker has the potential to develop into one of the best shooters in franchise history, not to mention that he may bloom into one of the best shooters in all of the NBA.

However, the Suns would be replacing Eric Bledsoe and his contract with Reggie Jackson and his slightly larger deal. Whoever the player is, if the Suns land a top-2 pick in this year’s draft they will likely select a point guard to replace him and would need to trade him anyway.

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With that in mind, if acquired, Reggie Jackson would have then too be a tradable asset this off-season should the Suns get that coveted rookie point guard. But if Phoenix didn’t land one of the top points guards in the draft, Jackson is only 26-years old himself (although only about four months younger than Bledsoe) and would be a a solid player with which to keep for the future, should the Suns like him enough.

Losing Devin Booker would be huge, but gaining Andre Drummond would be a big deal as well. Sure, Booker hasn’t scratched the surface of who he might become, but Drummond is young as well and already a dominating center averaging 14.6 points and 13.8 rebounds this season. His addition would likely also mean the subtraction of Alex Len at the end of the season, and being a restricted free agent, the Suns would probably be able to land a return of some kind in a sign-and-trade deal. Phoenix too would also move on from the aging Tyson Chandler and his final two-years remaining as part of the trade as well.

Finally, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is a very nice, young shooting guard in his own right, and would be a not so terrible replacement (I am not comparing the two) in a move where the Suns traded Booker. Pope is only 23-years old, is averaging 14.5 points, and is shooting 37.7% from beyond the arc this season, slightly above Booker’s 36.7%. There is no reason to believe that Pope couldn’t become a 20 point scorer himself, even by next year.

So for the sake of argument, let’s say McDonough had said yes to the trade, and the two sides came to a nearly immediate agreement. This is how the starting rotation would look, at least for the rest of the season:

Point Guard: Reggie Jackson (26) 14.9/2.2/5.5

Shooting Guard: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (24) 14.5/3.5/2.8

Small Forward: T.J. Warren (23) 12.8/3.9/1.0

Power Forward: Marquese Chriss (19) 7.6/3.5/0.6

Center: Andre Drummond (23) 14.6/13.8/1.0

With that trade, it is presumed that no draft picks would have been moved from either side; that Chriss and Bender would have each stayed behind as well; and that the Suns were fully willing to accept Drummond’s massive new contract where he is already making $22.1M this season, and up to $28.7M in 2020-21 – the Suns would be acquiring about $12M more than they would have sent to Detroit this season alone.

Anyway, I am personally glad that McDonough did not have a momentary lapse in sanity and pull the trigger on this trade within the 15 minute window that the Pistons proportedly offered them.

However, for those of you who love a great roster shakeup, this would have been one for the ages.