Call me…obsessed. Sometimes when I see something I want, I have to have it. I fixate on it. I do everything in my power to have it.
And I’m not just talking about a 3am bowl of ice cream.
I wrote a while back that it is possible for the Phoenix Suns to acquire the Brooklyn Nets’ unprotected first round pick from the Cleveland Cavaliers.
It is a highly valuable comadity and an asset that every rebuilding team in the league would love to have – including the Phoenix Suns.
Even though the Cleveland Cavaliers had acquired it themselves, the clock was immediately ticking towards it eventually being traded again in favor of a player (or players) already in the league who can help the Cavaliers win a title, before, perhaps, LeBron James leaves them high and dry once again.
Phoenix Suns
Since then I have not relented in my personal pursuit of the acquisition of that pick. To own an unprotected first round pick of a bad team is gold, especially in a draft when there could be upwards of six stars in the first six picks and at least two of those could very easily be superstars before you know it.
My pipe dream of pipe dreams is that with that selection Phoenix ends up with two top-5 picks almost guaranteeing them the ability to draft one point guard and one big. Personally, I continually imagine a DeAndre Ayton and Luka Doncic pairing. Or even a Trae Young and Marvin Bagley III pairing. Should one pick be in the top-5 with the other slightly out, then grabbing the best available first and Colin Sexton with the second pick.
Truly the possibilities are endless, and being able to enter next season with a couple of college All-Stars to place next to Devin Booker and Josh Jackson makes me giddy at the possibilities of this team over the next ten years.
But the Brooklyn pick does not have to be used to select a player in the draft and in fact makes the Suns’ ability to select the best player available that much easier.
Imagine that the Suns finish with the 5th overall selection and Brooklyn’s pick is in the 8-10 range, but the Boston Celtics finish 2nd overall. What if McDonough wants desperately to take a point guard and the best odds of a great one is to take either Trae Young or Luka Doncic. Boston, already with a superstar PG, could slide back to 5th, still take a big (either Marvin Bagley III, Jaren Jackson Jr., or Mohamed Bamba) then have the additional pick to play with, whether they take a backup guard Colin Sexton (to fill the void left by the restricted free agent Marcus Smart), or trade the pick themselves for a veteran further bolstering their roster. Either way, McDonough was able to spin a trade without giving up a player already on the roster.
I could easily come up with nine other examples off the top of my head that that Brooklyn pick could be utilized to move up, illustrating the ability to almost guarantee that Phoenix selects the player that they want regardless of their original draft placement that day.
That pick could also be used to acquire a star (or at least quality veteran) through trade, whether it be on draft day or before, specifically if the Suns finish in the top-3 and do not feel the need to select another young player (which, unless they were getting the two best players in the draft, could you blame them?)
Let us presume that leading up to draft day (FOR THE SAKE OF ARGUMENT) that Damian Lillard becomes available to Phoenix, with the Brooklyn pick at the heart of the return package. (This is not all that far-fetched of a situation for Lillard to potentially become available.) Without that pick, the Blazers would have demanded the Suns’ top pick, which McDonough most certainly would not want to include in a package.
However, with a second top-10 pick, suddenly the Suns become legitimate suitors and could make an honest run in a trade for an already dominant, superstar, point guard.
A long-shot, but even Lloyd Christmas had a one out of million chance.
The great, never-ending question is how the Suns can acquire that pick by the 1pm deadline this coming Thursday?
I wish I knew, but I do have a starting point:
The Cavaliers want pieces to help them win now, as well as in the long-term (especially if they are giving up a top-10 pick), as well as cap relief for the presumably inevitable rebuild following James’ departure, plus I am sure they would not turn down an additional first round pick his summer that could be used to help move up as well (especially since the Suns wouldn’t need three – or even four – first round picks this year anyway).
The Phoenix Suns might be in a position to offer a package that includes all three necessities, something that probably no other team could..
Cleveland gets a defensive-minded center who is undoubtedly more helpful on both sides of the court than Thompson and is cheaper (even though Tyson has a year left under his contract following this season). Chandler also has Championship experience so there wouldn’t be any playoff shock.
Troy Daniels is a better 3-Point shooter than Smith and would be a nice pairing with Kyle Korver in 3-point lineups. Cleveland would also not be losing any physicality as we all know how tough Daniels can be.
The Cavs also receive a piece to build with in Marquese Chriss, and while he would add depth this season, he would not be counted on until next season and into the future, with the ability to become a face of the franchise player in Cleveland if they work with him right.
The Suns lose a ton of cap space, and honestly, my hope would be that they could acquire Channing Frye instead of Thompson since Frye’s contract is up after this season, although I do believe that both Thompson and Smith can be traded again this summer (at least Thompson) giving back some of Phoenix’s lost cap space. (Not to mention Jared Dudley could also potentially be moved.)
Of course the crème de la crème is that Brooklyn pick which provides the Suns with a plethora of options as it will retain ton space of value in such a deep draft, even if they do not plan on using it to draft a player exactly where it lands.
Next: How the Phoenix Suns can putt off a trade for a Star
My ultimate dream for the Suns is to receive that pick and use it to acquire the likes of DeAndre Ayton and Luka Doncic (or Trae Young), a reasonable if not far-fetched dream. For those of you who have already shot this idea out of the water as the ramblings of a cockeyed optimist, I at least leave you with this minute piece of wisdom: The Phoenix Suns have zero chance of selecting two stars in this draft without the Brooklyn pick in their possession. The odds, however at least exist if they manage to pull off such a move.