Phoenix Suns land experienced wing from Pacific rival in proposed trade

With the offseason well and truly upon us, there’s no shortage of proposed trades circling the Phoenix Suns and the NBA landscape.

Armed with a number of tradable contracts and almost all their draft capital moving forward, the Suns, as a championship contender, are certainly in the window of improving their roster.

Now, Bleacher Report have proposed trades to improve each individual roster, with author Zach Buckley canvassing the league far and wide.

A recent trade proposal has the Phoenix Suns landing experienced wing and former NBA champion Harrison Barnes from the Sacramento Kings.

Barnes, a 10-year NBA veteran, may be best (or worst) remembered by Suns fans for hitting a tough game-winning three-pointer over Devin Booker early last season.

He may be looking for a fresh start having missed the last six postseasons, including the last four with the Kings. According to Buckley, here’s how a deal may go down.

"Phoenix Suns Receive: Harrison BarnesSacramento Kings Receive: Jae Crowder, Landry Shamet, 2023 Top 10 Protected First-Round Pick"

The 30-year-old was a crucial piece to the Golden State Warriors’ early dynasty years, helping them win the NBA championship in 2015 before breaking the all-time regular season wins record in the 2015-16 season.

That proved to be his final season at Golden State, with the franchise letting him walk to Dallas in order to accomodate the incoming Kevin Durant. As Buckley alludes to, Barnes has continued to develop himself into a valuable, starting level player who’d provide an upgrade on Crowder.

"“Barnes is more threatening as a shooter and shot-creator and at least as versatile on defense. If the trade improved Phoenix’s championship chances by even half a percent, it would be worth the cost”."

That’s really the crux of the scenario though – is it really worth it from a Suns perspective? Sure, Barnes is just an outright better player than Crowder, and would likely fit in seamlessly into the same role, but don’t Phoenix already have that within their own organization with Cameron Johnson?

Barnes has one-year and just under $18.5 million left on his contract, opening up some difficult roster decisions for the franchise should they be unable to come to terms with Johnson on a contract extension this offseason.

Still, there’s no doubt this would be an upgrade for the Suns in the short-term. Would it really be impactful enough go through with though, especially when it could open up some longer term complications?