Why didn’t the Suns do anything?
Rather than making a “late push,” why wasn’t Gordon a primary target?! Why wasn’t he a player that was actively sought after for months leading up to the deadline?
Why weren’t there rumors of active talks for weeks leading up to the deadline?
For starters, it sounds like another fake rumor, maybe something that the Suns strategically leaked to bring a little interest back to the team as they slide listlessly towards the end of another awful regular season – one that brings more angst that Devin Booker is actually going to demand out than excitement for management actually making a big move to catapult their chances next season.
It also seems like once again Suns management (whether it is/was Ryan McDonough or James Jones) was simply afraid to make a bold move.
Maybe it was Robert Sarver who put the kibosh on a deal until late based on other plans that he may have personally prepared.
There is of course the possibility that the Orlando Magic did not want to trade Aaron Gordon as that franchise was then able and is still going to turn their own listless season into a playoff spot (with only three more wins than Phoenix, the Magic are firmly entrenched in the eight-seed in the Eastern Conference, and although with a projected 35-47 record, one that will guarantee a first round sweep at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks, ownership and management can still sell their fans back-to-back playoff appearances – something that the Phoenix Suns have been unable to so since 2007-08).
However, the writing is on the wall. They are not improving with Aaron Gordon, and a second straight eight-seed in the playoffs first round ouster is not an improving franchise, but one mangled in NBA Purgatory.
Could James Jones have offered nothing that would have been enticing enough to have made a deal?
Certainly in regards to contracts, Kelly Oubre would have been the ideal candidate to have been swapped, and even a one-for-one would have allowed the general core to have stayed intact.
Power forward would have been supremely improved and Mikal Bridges could just slide back into the starting three-spot – the team’s best two-way player.
That deal alone could have been enough to have made the Phoenix Suns a playoff contender in their own right this season, especially with so many more games that were coming ahead of them to have been played at the time.
Maybe the Magic wanted a first round pick.
Trade it.
This franchise has had enough first round picks that needed time to develop and that were founded on the hope that they could become the player to turn the franchise around.