TJ Warren called his Phoenix Suns trade “very disrespectful”

The Phoenix Suns traded T.J. Warren to the Pacers for cash considerations and now he is letting the world know he that made him feel.

T.J. Warren leads the NBA bubble in scoring, and because of that, he has drawn more attention than he normally would receive. In an interview with the NBA on TNT, he was asked about how he felt when the Phoenix Suns traded him to the Indiana Pacers for nothing but cash and the usually quiet Warren shared his thoughts:

"“It is very disrespectful…to see me get traded for that, no one wants to get traded for cash.”"

In a way, do you blame him? Things ended very poorly with Warren in Phoenix but getting traded for money is not how anyone would want to go out. If I were T.J., I would absolutely feel disrespected as well.

Having said that, what other options did the Suns have? T.J. even alluded to the fact he knew he was on his way out the door in the same interview not even a minute before he talked about how he felt disrespected.

"“I had an idea (with) how the season ended, and everything that went on. I figured my time was kinda up. When I heard about the trade, it didn’t throw me off.”"

Yeah, I’d think so.

Warren is right to feel disrespected, but the Phoenix Suns had little choice.

To jog your memory, Warren essentially shut himself down in January last season after a right ankle injury which, in theory, should have been healed, especially considering he returned from it briefly in mid-December.

Not even a $250,000 bonus to attempt 185 3-pointers in the season was enough to entice him to get on the court. At the time, Warren said:

"“I just wanted to make sure I was mentally, physically free. I wasn’t feeling like that so that’s why I didn’t return.”"

Deep.

Unsurprisingly, many fans and general observers of reality interpreted T.J. Warren’s unwillingness to play as him quitting on the team, and thus, his trade value tanked somewhere between Tyler Johnson and a bologna sandwich.

You would think a player averaging 18 points per game for an NBA team would generate some interest, but James Jones had to throw in a 2nd round pick just to make it worthwhile for the Pacers to take him off their hands.

I still think the second-round pick was profoundly unnecessary, but it shows how desperate the team was to rid themselves of T.J. Warren.

Also, remember that by dumping his salary, the Suns were able to sign both Ricky Rubio and Kelly Oubre, so it is a falsehood to say Phoenix got nothing in return.

Ultimately, you’ll have to forgive me for not really caring what T.J. Warren and Draymond Green have to say right now. The Phoenix Suns are the hottest team in the bubble and trying to stay that way. Of all people, don’t let those two dudes steal your joy.