Valley of the Suns
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Top-ten worst trades in Phoenix Suns history

By Adam Maynes

SACRAMENTO, CA - 1996: Jon Hot Rod Williams
SACRAMENTO, CA - 1996: Jon Hot Rod Williams /
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2. Trading Isaiah Thomas and a first round pick and only really getting Brandon Knight

BOSTON, MA – MARCH 24: Isaiah Thomas #4 of the Boston Celtics handles the ball against the Phoenix Suns on March 24, 2017 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA – MARCH 24: Isaiah Thomas #4 of the Boston Celtics handles the ball against the Phoenix Suns on March 24, 2017 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images) /

For many Suns fans this will be the worst trade in their lifetimes, and as it has all broken down so far, with good reason – especially now that Knight missed the entire 2017-18 season with a torn ACL.

General Manager Ryan McDonough was in a pinch. He had built a roster around a three point guard system with Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe, and Isaiah Thomas, but the three did not mesh. Not only were they the three best players on the roster and each deserved significant playing time, but they also all knew  that they were good and demanded playing time – Thomas and Dragic in particular.

In mid-February 2015  the three were playing well together and the Suns were four games above .500 while also sitting in the eighth spot in the Western Conference. However behind the scenes (and in Goran Dragic’s case also in plain view) contention broiled that the system was not going to work and Dragic and Isaiah Thomas wanted out.

Both players forced their hand, and some people – including myself – would argue selfishly so, placing Ryan McDonough in a corner at the trade deadline to try and relieve those players and his team of the problem.

Minutes before the deadline came, McDonough pulled off three three-team trades that eventually shipped Thomas to Boston and Dragic to Miami. For the Thomas part, the trade essentially amounted to:

Isaiah Thomas to Boston; the Los Angeles Lakers protected 1st Round Pick to Philadelphia

Brandon Knight to Phoenix

In Boston, Thomas immediately became the team’s starting point guard and an All-Star his first season, which he has been for the past two years. In 2016-17 he averaged 30.8 points per game, setting the season average franchise record for the most points per game.

The Lakers’ first round pick will finally be transferred in 2018, when the Suns are scheduled to already have two first round picks.

To his credit, Ryan McDonough has stated since that trading Isaiah Thomas was a mistake, something that Suns fans should appreciate. So many General Managers will stand by even their most egregious mistakes, no matter how obvious they are. McDonough admitting it, I believe, means that he has learned from his mistake and will never repeat that situation again.

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