The trade that makes basketball sense but the Phoenix Suns would never do

The Phoenix Suns are still looking to finalise their roster, with an offseason currently headlined by the re-signing of Deandre Ayton, a contract extension for Devin Booker, and the potential pursuit of Kevin Durant.

The point-guard position is still an area of need for the Suns, as the responsibility currently sits with 37-year-old Chris Paul and bench option Cameron Payne.

The Phoenix Suns need to add point-guard depth, and while one name makes sense from a basketball sense, it would never be completed for relationship reasons.

Recently traded to the Utah Jazz as part of the mammoth Rudy Gobert trade, Patrick Beverley appears likely to be moved again this offseason.

Beverley isn’t your traditional point-guard offensively, he’s not a ball-handling playmaker but rather someone who’s more suited to an off-ball role.

He is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league though, harassing opposition point-guards on a nightly basis. Quite ironically, Beverley would be a perfect fit for the Suns as a defensive-minded player off the bench.

That kind of role is currently exercised by Torrey Craig, but Beverley would provide a much more experienced option with greater offensive punch. He could theoretically be a Sun, likely for a combination of Craig, Dario Saric and perhaps a second-round pick.

But in reality, there’s one reason it would never happen – his relationship with the Suns and most notably the toxicity between him and Paul.

In the wake of the Suns’ disappointing playoff exit against the Dallas Mavericks, Beverley went on national television and delivered a quite astonishing rant specifically directed at Paul.

"“He can’t guard. He literally can’t guard…Man, CP can’t guard nobody, man. Everybody in the NBA knows that. What do we call him? Cone. You know when you do cones? Like, in the summertime, you gotta cone. You make a move. What does the cone do?”"

After Get Up host Mike Greenberg responded with “stay still”, Beverley assertively responded,  “exactly!”

https://twitter.com/espn/status/1526211143122960385?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1526211143122960385%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fextra-mustard%2F2022%2F05%2F16%2Fpatrick-beverley-chris-paul-literally-cant-gaurd-anyone

Beverley also went on First Take and criticized Paul and the Suns, questioning their credibility as one of the best teams in the league. Of course, this was easy to say in the aftermath of the Suns meltdown.

"“Do guys in the NBA go to sleep early the night before playing the Phoenix Suns? Hell no. No. I’m going to Steak 44 over there in Phoenix, I’m gonna have me a nice little wine, probably sweat it out in the pregame shootaround and get ready for Chris Paul."

https://twitter.com/FirstTake/status/1526220024914104320?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1526220024914104320%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fextra-mustard%2F2022%2F05%2F16%2Fpatrick-beverley-chris-paul-literally-cant-gaurd-anyone

The beef between Paul and Beverley has been well recognised on the floor as well, most notably in the Western Conference Finals last year. The 34-year-old, then with the Los Angeles Clippers, mocked Paul after a foul in game five, before inexplicably shoving him in the final moments of the close-out game six.

Beverley might be a good pickup for a contending team this offseason, but one thing’s for sure, it certainly won’t be the Suns.