Jody Oehler has a radical idea, and I love it
By Adam Maynes
What is the move
That really is a ridiculously radical idea, isn’t it?
That is why I love it.
The Phoenix Suns have been playing this rebuilding game for three years now and have done absolutely nothing outside of the box in an attempt to land a superstar player over the entire stretch of missing the playoffs, so why not do something like this now to simultaneously stop the losing, but also potentially change the culture of the franchise moving forward?
In case you didn’t listen to his link (which for starters, c’mon: you should, and he has no idea that I am writing this), then here was his plan in two steps, one of which is entirely out of Phoenix’s control:
- Draft Zion Williamson – yeah, yeah, the Phoenix Suns have no control over whether or not they will have the first overall pick in the draft, but while the odds of landing the top pick are excruciatingly slim (the lottery is fixed, after all), I personally do not think that for step two to be successful, step one even needs to happen. Drafting Zion would be insanely exciting and would actually act as a bit of an insurance policy too if step two doesn’t work. But either way, that draft pick will have value to Phoenix, which I will expand upon shortly.
- Trade Deandre Ayton, Josh Jackson, an unprotected 2020 first round pick, and potentially additional draft pick considerations, to the New Orleans Pelicans for Anthony Davis.
Imagine, for even one season, a starting lineup of:
PG – Tyler Johnson (…or really anyone else)
SG – Devin Booker
SF – T.J. Warren
PF – Zion Williamson
C – Anthony Davis
Dependent upon other moves made or not made, that lineup right there, even with Tyler Johnson, is potent enough to immediately leapfrog at minimum seven teams currently ahead of the Suns and lead them into the playoffs in 2020.
Would the New Orleans Pelicans make the deal centered around Ayton, Jackson, and at minimum one additional first round pick over what the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics would offer?
It is hard to say, but there is no doubt that the Phoenix trade would absolutely be competitive.
It is also fairly obvious too that the Pelicans do not want to trade Davis to the Lakers, so it only stands to reason that even with a new general manager (Dell Demps has been fired, so take that for what it’s worth), New Orleans probably wants to both screw the Lakers and Davis by not explicitly following through with his demand of being traded to a small list of teams rather than whoever can offer the Pelicans the best deal.
If an offer centered around Anthony Davis is just as good as any other deal or at least really close (and especially if New Orleans management sees the Suns as a bit of a black hole), then why not pull the trigger and accept Phoenix’s offer and move on?