Should They Trade Out Entirely
Could the Phoenix Suns make any other draft day trades?
There is another chance that James Jones does not like anybody he might potentially target in the lottery, and if he cannot find a way to sneak up to two and take Ja Morant, maybe he really would rather add veterans all the way around and ignore the possibility of adding any more rookies.
The roster, as it stands, is young enough.
Presuming the re-signing of Kelly Oubre, five of the six key players on the roster as it stands have four years of NBA experience of less:
Phoenix Suns
Devin Booker – four years NBA experience
Josh Jackson – two years
Kelly Oubre – four years
Deandre Ayton – one year
Mikal Bridges – one year
T.J. Warren – five years
Adding another rookie (or even two) to that mix means that at least seven players in the general rotation will have had four years of NBA experience prior to this coming season or less (and all of them with no more than five), and only one with any playoff experience at all, Oubre.
With that being the case, James Jones could actually trade out of the draft entirely using the sixth and 32nd overall picks to acquire veterans of any skill-set.
There is a chance that a good and cheap backup point guard or power forward can be had for the 32nd overall pick and nothing more – Jones would have to look out for a general manager looking to unexpectedly fire-sale.
The sixth overall pick could help acquire a starter from another team on a larger contract, although not a star by any means, but someone of the Tyler Johnson variety – good, but nothing more.
If James Jones instead prefers to focus entirely on free agency, he could tie either (or both) picks in a salary dump of T.J. Warren and Josh Jackson, opening up as much as $17.82 million this season just from expunging their contracts as well as both draft picks from the roster.
The usage of that cap space might be enough to land the Phoenix Suns both a good point guard and a reasonably good power forward at least moving the team in the right direction.
While this plan would not be ideal as fans and management alike would usually prefer to at least add one rookie because of the chance that that lottery ticket becomes a winner (think Fred VanVleet, although in his case he was undrafted), if the name of the game is improvement and winning now, there is no slower way in accomplishing that than with more untested rookies.
The Phoenix Suns need a lot of help but fortunately General Manager James Jones has a number of options with which to improve the roster via the draft. While none of the scenarios seem all that ideal at the moment (the most ideal would have been to add a guaranteed star with the first through third picks), this is the hand they have been dealt, and fans have to hope that management both has a plan for success, and is able to follow through with it.