The Phoenix Suns have been reportedly linked to the Minnesota Timberwolves and Miami Heat as a third team facilitator in a Jimmy Butler deal. But if the only way the Suns can acquire a point guard in anyway requires dealing Mikal Bridges, then that deal needs to be a no-go.
Of all the issues with the Phoenix Suns’ roster at the moment, there are two in particular that stand out: they need a starting point guard (or at least they claim they need a starting point guard, even though running Point Book would be great), and they have a glut of wings.
It seems only natural at this juncture to use their surplus to make a deal for their apparent weakness.
At this moment, the question on who they should – or will – trade still remains up in the air.
Not that the issue isn’t pretty simple on paper (most fans would agree that the Phoenix Suns should trade T.J. Warren before moving either Mikal Bridges or Josh Jackson), but it doesn’t mean that other teams around the league would even want Warren.
For all of his pluses (and he has plenty of them, most notably that he is a very good offensive player and by all accounts a positive force in the locker room) he has one tremendous drawback – so far in his career he is an absolutely awful 3-point shooter, a potential killer in his trade value.
Mikal Bridges, on the other hand, was a 40%+ shooter from the outside last season with Villanova, and it is expected that his good outside shooting will continue into the NBA.
Warren too is on a veterans contract now whereas Bridges is on a rookie deal for at least the next four seasons.
More money, but poorer shooting. That might be a trade off that teams aren’t willing to take when being asked for a starting caliber point guard.
That said, there is another issue: the Phoenix Suns must also be receiving a player in return that is worth the loss of a young player, and yes, at 25, Warren too is a young player.
Like Jackson as well, if you must trade either of the three aforementioned small forwards – a scenario I can understand considering the team’s circumstances as one without a starting caliber point guard, and who is looking for a star to play alongside Devin Booker in the backcourt – then the player acquired must be around for a long time.
Both Bridges and Jackson have far too much potential and upside, not to mention they are about a decade younger than both Goran Dragic of the Miami Heat and Jeff Teague of the Minnesota TImberwolves (both who Phoenix has been tied to in a potential trade) and under contract for twice as long at half as much. They too are under contract for probably two more seasons (they each have a player option for 2019-20 that I’d be shocked if either didn’t pick up), while Bridges and Warren are under contract for four, and Jackson for three.
Even though we have never seen Bridges play a game, and it might take him two seasons or so to see him reach his potential, if the Phoenix Suns must move Bridges in a trade to make a three-team deal happen, then they must call off said deal.
My philosophy on Bridges is the same one that I had for Marquese Chriss: I’d rather see him fail here than succeed somewhere else.
The difference between those two is that I just see Bridges succeeding no matter where he is so I’d rather just keep him here and let him become one of the league’s most versatile players as a Phoenix Sun who’s prime will continue on long after both Dragic and Teague’s have ended.
You don’t trade a young player with upside for a veteran who is on the backside of his prime before the young player even begins his own.
Phoenix too doesn’t need a point guard. They can run a Houston Rockets/Golden State Warriors offense with Devin Booker in that spot no problem.
So if anyone from Minnesota or Miami asks for Mikal Bridges in a three-way trade involving Jimmy Butler, Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough must say “thanks, but no thanks,” and hang up the phone.