Grading the 2 Moves Made by Phoenix Suns at the Trade Deadline

Phoenix Suns trade deadline grade for Aaron Holiday

When Suns fans heard of their initial trade with the Indiana Pacers, they likely hoped it would include Aaron Holiday’s brother Justin, who earlier this month hit seven triples against Phoenix en route to an impressive 25-point outing.

But alas, Phoenix will now take on Aaron, who averaged 6.1 points and 1.9 assists per game while shooting 46.7 percent from the field for Washington this year.

Those numbers might not jump out at you, but the Suns will not ask Holiday to do much given their wide range team depth. If anything, he strikes like a solid candidate to come off the bench and provide a few relief minutes for Devin Booker each night, especially during games where Landry Shamet cannot find his stroke. He may also back up Chris Paul at the point depending on Cameron Payne’s injury.

But regardless, Phoenix only gave up some cash for Holiday, similar to their deal for Craig last year. With this team clearly going all-in to win a title, they need to unload all their assets to fill out their roster as best they can, so trading away that money for immediate production remains the right call.

Holiday’s expiring contract and the fact that Phoenix will now need to cut someone to make space for him represent the only things which drop this deal’s grade slightly below the one prior. But from a general standpoint, the Suns still did well at the 2022 trade deadline. Once again, James Jones deserves a tip of the cap.

Grade: B+