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Valley of the Suns Live! Special Trade Edition!

Adam Maynes|
PHOENIX, AZ - OCTOBER 30: Marquese Chriss #0 and Brandon Knight #11 of the Phoenix Suns talk things over during the game against the Golden State Warriors on October 30, 2016 at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. 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 Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)
PHOENIX, AZ - OCTOBER 30: Marquese Chriss #0 and Brandon Knight #11 of the Phoenix Suns talk things over during the game against the Golden State Warriors on October 30, 2016 at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. 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 Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)

Valley of the Suns Live! streams weekly on Monday’s at 6pm AZ on Twitter, Periscope, and YouTube! Join us and join in on the conversation!

We were all taken by surprise when the Phoenix Suns traded Brandon Knight and Marquese Chriss to the Houston Rockets, and not just because those two were the two most controversial players on the roster, but because we had no idea such a trade was coming and had already been led to believe that each would be a part of the roster this season.

While Brandon Knight was far from an ideal point guard for the Suns, he was better than they have now, and was absolutely better than every point guard interim Head Coach Jay Triano was forced to run out there last season following Eric Bledsoe‘s famous hair salon claim.

There was a lot of hope and optimism that Knight’s play this season could have been decent enough to keep the Suns relevant into the second half of the season, and if nothing else, keep them as far away from “tanking” as they possible could – although some would have argued that Knight’s place on the roster meant they were still  tanking, but I digress.

Marquese Chriss too was a top-ten pick just two summers ago, and cost Phoenix three first round picks plus another first round pick in Bogdan Bogdanovic who was a European 3-point specialist who was expected to, and did, come to the NBA the following season.

While his first two seasons in the NBA left much to be desired, Chriss was at least a young member of the core with enough of an athletic upside to make fans believe that there was still a chance that as he matured and developed, he could still become a salvageable power forward for the franchise for years to come.

Not only were the two traded though in one fell swoop, but they were so for an aging backup stretch-four with two years left on his contract (Ryan Anderson), and a yet-to-be signed second round pick point guard (De’Anthony Melton) who – for all the supposed attractiveness as a possible lottery selection – was taken 15 picks after  Phoenix selected Élie Okobo.

The trade drummed up a lot of instant emotions and many fans were left wondering what in the world the direction is for the roster now and why they let go of such a young prospect and a starting point guard.

My opinions, and that of the participating members of Valley of the Suns, on this matter plus much, much more can be found by watching the replay of this week’s Valley of the Suns Live!

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