Phoenix Suns: Brandon Knight and Marquese Chriss Trade Tree

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)

Sometimes the moving pieces over time to pull of a trade in any one moment come from extensive trade trees. This was no exception for the Phoenix Suns and the trade of Brandon Knight and Marquese Chriss.

I often like to look back at trades made and see where it all started, find out where each piece in a particular trade originated, and how far back those trade trees go.

Trades are organic. Players moved were often acquired from other trades or picks who were once property of other teams in years past.

So when a team moves players like the Phoenix Suns did with Brandon Knight and Marquese Chriss, I couldn’t help but wonder, how were they acquired, and where did all the moving parts to get to this moment in time ultimately begin?

When the Suns traded Knight and Chriss a few weeks ago for Ryan Anderson and De’Anthony Melton, one thing immediately struck me about who Phoenix moved: both Knight and Chriss were acquired in blockbuster trades in the first place, so since their careers did not ultimately end in Phoenix, were the trades made to acquire them in the first place worth it? What about the trades made to acquire the trade pieces that allowed those trades to happen in the first place? And so on.

Trading in the NBA is a very organic thing. The pieces used in trades rarely ever come from just the two yearly draft picks that franchises own simply by existing in the league.

The Suns’ own 2019 first and second round picks, for example, are just there. They exist because the Suns exist. Phoenix didn’t have to make any moves to acquire them, they are just gifted by the spirit of David Stern (or something like that) and can be used however the Suns want: they can keep and use them as they are designed to be used, they can be traded, or they can be forfeited.

But if a trade is made that has anything other than a team’s two built-in draft picks, than other trades had to have been made to acquire those secondary pieces.

In the trade of Brandon Knight and Marquese Chriss, let’s break down exactly where each of those players came from, and what the cost ultimately is in acquiring Ryan Anderson and De’Anthony Melton.