Phoenix Suns deadline week: 3 best moves

It’s trade deadline week, and Phoenix Suns fans are seemingly split over what they want the team to do before high noon in Phoenix on Thursday.

Beginning on Sunday night when 27-13 Phoenix hosts the 28-14 LeBron-less Lakers, the push for the playoffs coincides with the deadline-week push to improve.

With the team’s success and a pretty decent runway for playoff contention in the next few years, the Suns’ future draft picks no longer are as valuable as they were during The Great Drought.

As the Phoenix Suns enter trade-deadline week, they have to consider all options: from making key moves to doing absolutely nothing.

That said, it’s much more fun to recklessly speculate and advise the personnel department how to do its job. There’s plenty of that “advice” tumbling around the internet.

What kind of “best options” are out there for a team whose fortunes are only rising?

A primary focus is on rim protection and improvement ideas for Phoenix’s interior defense. Other areas surely being evaluated and explored by general manager James Jones include depth at both forward positions, playoff-experienced veterans and more shooting.

Entering Saturday’s games, the Suns ranked way down at 26th in blocked shots per game (4.2). There’s a category for targeting improvement.

The team also ranked poorly — 27th — in steals per game at 6.6. Clearly, any addition would need to include above-average defensive skills.

As Chris Paul and Devin Booker continue to lock down leadership responsibilities, the Suns expect to have Cam Johnson back on the court soon.

Johnson, who hasn’t played since March 2, has been sidelined due to COVID-19 protocols.

That will feel like a trade-deadline addition, but what else is on the front burner?