Valley of the Suns
Fansided

Calling Vlade Divac: Could the Phoenix Suns trade with Sacramento

By Andrew Clark

LAS VEGAS, NV - OCTOBER 08: Vice president of basketball operations and general manager of the Sacramento Kings Vlade Divac watches warmups before the team's preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers at T-Mobile Arena on October 8, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Los Angeles won 75-69. 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. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - OCTOBER 08: Vice president of basketball operations and general manager of the Sacramento Kings Vlade Divac watches warmups before the team's preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers at T-Mobile Arena on October 8, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Los Angeles won 75-69. 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. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 4
Next
WIZINK CENTER, MADRID, SPAIN – 2018/05/03: Luka Doncic, #7 of Real Madrid pictured prior to the 2017/2018 Liga Endesa Regular Season (game 29) between Real Madrid and Kirolbet Baskonia at WiZink Center in Madrid. (Photo by Jorge Sanz/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
WIZINK CENTER, MADRID, SPAIN – 2018/05/03: Luka Doncic, #7 of Real Madrid pictured prior to the 2017/2018 Liga Endesa Regular Season (game 29) between Real Madrid and Kirolbet Baskonia at WiZink Center in Madrid. (Photo by Jorge Sanz/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images) /

Let’s Lose Our Minds:

The last time the Suns struggled between whether to draft Chriss or Bender they came up with a simple solution: call the Kings and make a deal that allowed them to draft both. That trade looked like a steal for the Suns at the time, but in retrospect it was a win-win for both clubs. Why not repeat history with much higher stakes?

The only thing better than getting to choose between Ayton and Doncic is getting to draft them both. Phoenix has enough assets that they should push in the chips and get that deal done without giving up their current core or even their own draft picks.

The Kings aren’t going to compete any time soon, even with this high pick. They’d be better off to play the long game and build up a huge stockpile of assets. They are in particular need of draft picks because they gave away their 2019 1st round selection to the 76ers in that terrible Nik Stauskas deal.

They might take a lot of heat now for giving away the 2nd overall pick, but in the long-term they can easily “win” this trade with enough assets to hit the reboot button.

Giving the Kings two quality young starters with three quality 1st rounds picks should be a tempting start. If they need a fourth 1st round pick, the Suns have plenty to offer.

Do they want Bender instead of Chriss? We can do that.

Do they need a sweetener like Troy Daniels? No problem.

Next: DeAndre Ayton makes the Phoenix Suns relevent again

The Suns have more than enough chips to shove into the Kings’ face to tempt them to making a deal and McDonough should try everything he can to make this happen.

A future core of Doncic, Booker, Jackson, Bender, and Ayton is just silly to think about. If the Suns can pull that trade and dump Chandler and Dudley, they could make a pretty compelling case to elite free agents. They might have to overpay to get it done, but now is the time to get crazy and complete the core that can compete for a championship.

Home/Suns Draft