The Phoenix Suns Regret Trading Jalen Smith for Torrey Craig
At the trade deadline this past season, the Suns made a few moves that looked like savvy steps to help bolster the roster for a championship run.
Phoenix traded former No. 10 overall pick in Jalen Smith as well as a future draft pick for Torrey Craig. At the deadline, Indiana resembled a seller by trading not only Craig, but also one of their young stars in Domantas Sabonis to the Sacramento Kings.
The Suns trading for Craig looked advantageous early on, but ultimately Phoenix did not get the player they expected. From averaging 12 minutes per game in the playoffs the year before, Craig’s run time dropped to seven minutes this season. His points were cut in half as well.
Craig did make anywhere close to as near an impact as he did the season before. Jalen Smith at the time was only making $4.5 million and Phoenix could have picked up his contract for another year, but they declined that option.
Now, Craig is an expiring contract which will be more than likely in play for a trade this offseason. Seeing as how Craig played this season though, his stock feels low, whereas Smith remains an intriguing prospect with upside. You can’t help but wonder what could have been.