Draft Pick(s)
But what if the Spurs called offering Leonard and didn’t ask for a living, breathing player in return?
What if the Suns won the lottery (or at least sat in the top-three), and San Antonio asked for that pick for Leonard, straight up (or again, at least a small package of players that does not tear up the core of the team to make happen)?
What if any team in the league called offering a star player for the top pick straight up? Who would be acceptable in such a scenario?
It would just be so very Suns of the Suns, to land the top pick in the lottery and then trade it without making a pick. Yet, would that necessarily be the worst thing in the world?
There are zero guarantees that who the Suns select either pans out as a star or that that player would be enough to help the roster transform into a contending one anytime soon. So if another team offered a certified star, one who McDonough would either have restricted free agency rights to or was able to sign to an extension upon acquisition, then could the trading of that pick not be a viable move to help create a winning franchise right away?
The answer to that question is complicated because superstars are rarely publicly dangled unless there is some serious or significant issues with that player that might be enough of a red flag to even avoid acquisition in the first place.
And yet more superstars have been traded over the past few seasons than (seemingly) at any other point in NBA history as teams who do not feel like they are contenders move their individual stars to bulk up on younger players in quickened attempts to rebuild.
The Suns, with their own top pick coupled with what appears will be the 16th overall pick and the first pick in the second round (not to mention their own first round picks for the foreseeable future, Milwaukee’s first round pick sometime in the next two years, as well as Miami’s unprotected first round pick in 2021), and a legitimate package could be produced that wouldn’t necessarily need to include core players, and could be more than enticing enough to pry away a settled star to help formulate a competitive team right away.