The Potential for Trades
I’m not really sure if an extended Booker injury would necessarily effect any trades the Suns could make, however, I could see one particular thing happen:
They stand pat.
Phoenix Suns
Granted, outside of Booker himself, the Suns don’t have anyone on the roster that could garner them a whole lot in a trade. As highly valued as Josh Jackson was to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a potential trade for Kyrie Irving, it is unlikely that a team would call the Suns for Jackson with anything other than a single first round pick, or multiple that are heavily cordoned off.
Unless someone throws something currently unfathomable at the Suns for for Greg Monroe, Tyson Chandler, Alex Len, or Jared Dudley, I could see McDonough actually stepping away from the phone for a while and let the process of dealing without Booker’s injury play out.
As is expected, the Suns would presumably take a significant step back in the standings without Booker and thus losing would play into the hands of trying to add a few extra ping-pong balls. Leaving the team as-is will guarantee that, while also guaranteeing a team that could still compete enough to give Booker an extra incentive to rehab to his fullest preparing for a later return, with the team otherwise entirely intact.