T.J. Warren should not be a part of any Kyrie deal

If the Suns desperately wanted Kyrie Irving, they could have him: if they included Josh Jackson in the trade package.

And like the franchise, the fans are also totally against the Suns trading Jackson to the Cleveland Cavaliers, thus no trade has yet to be consummated between the two teams.

However, I would argue that fans should not only be equally as hesitant in trading T.J. Warren in such a trade, but that the Suns should set an equal “no-trade clause” for the veteran as they are for the rookie.

I have long compared T.J. Warren to Cedric Ceballos – and for good reason. Both are/were athletic, excellent scorers who could not only create their own shot from within the arc, but are able to get a shot off from any angle against any defender. Give them enough space one-on-one and they will each fly by the defender for either an easy layup, or an emphatic jam.

Neither are outside shooters, but that shouldn’t be a kink in Warren’s armor. Still at only 23-years-old, Warren has plenty of time to adapt his game to the modern NBA and learn to hit three’s with greater consistency. Although, even if he doesn’t, his inside game will be enough to force defenses to remain honest on honest as a quick cut through a slim lane will easily equate to a layup or dunk after a quick pass from a guard.

Speaking of quick, Suns fans seem to be quick to forget the kind of numbers that Warren put up at times last season. In his first 11 games before his mysterious head injury, he averaged 20.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.1 assists, shot 47.4% from the field and 81.0% from the free throw line. In those 11 games he scored a minimum of 18 points eight times, including a 30 points career-high against Oklahoma City.

Over his final 22 games, Warren averaged 17.6 points, this time on 56.0% from the field and 32.0% from the beyond the arc. he also averaged 7.7 boards to go along with 1.1 steals. Granted he had the injury that slowed his season down considerably, but had he been able to keep even that 22 game pace up for an entire season, not only would he have put up very impressive numbers for a player in only his third NBA season (and first as a nearly full-time starter), but would have also been the only player on the roster to average double-digit scoring, and record an average of at least seven of anything in a second category. As it is, his season average of 14.4 point and 5.1 rebounds made him one of only two players to average at least 14 points and over five in any other category (Eric Bledsoe with 21.1 points and 6.3 assists).