Grade the trade: Suns finally move Ayton for… Nurkic?

In a move that seemingly came out of nowhere – but in reality has been a long time coming – the Phoenix Suns finally moved on from the Deandre Ayton era on Wednesday. The first overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft being moved as part of the deal that sent Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Despite Jrue Holiday, the second best player in this trade, moving on as well, the Suns somehow didn’t end up acquiring him. As we explored ourselves earlier this week, Holiday would have made a lot of sense with this Suns roster, even if they would have lacked a starting center.

Instead they now find themselves with a collection of players headlined by Portland Trail Blazers big man, Jusuf Nurkic.

Grayson Allen of the Bucks has also landed in The Valley, but this deal is all about getting rid of Ayton. Despite giving glimpses of his true potential in the run to the NBA Finals in 2021, the reality is he has not looked engaged with this group ever since then.

It would have been nice to see if new head coach Frank Vogel could have gotten through to him, having worked wonders with traditional big man Roy Hibbert in the past, but now we’ll never get the chance to see that happen. Instead the Suns’ front office has taken a massive swing at a crucial point in their quest for a first championship.

Grade the trade: Suns finally move for Ayton for… Nurkic?

The Bucks heard their superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo loud and clear this offseason, and acted accordingly. Giannis had never before floated the idea of leaving Milwaukee, but he begun to change his tune and open the door on possibly playing elsewhere in future.

His team should be commended for actually doing something about this so soon, especially when everybody felt he was going to end up on the Miami Heat. All indications had pointed to that being the outcome, with Heat star Jimmy Butler taking to Instagram in a somewhat tongue in cheek moment to voice his displeasure.

For the Bucks though, this is undoubtedly a win. Losing Holiday hurts, and plenty of teams are going to call the Trail Blazers to enquire about him. He is an elite defensive guard who can be out on the court when the stakes are highest and is in no way a negative offensively either. Holiday is an excellent floor general.

But stars win championships, and there aren’t much better than Lillard in his prime. The Suns were probably the only team in the entire league with two top 10 players in Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. That has changed now that Lillard and Giannis have teamed up.

This was a move you do every time, and losing Holiday and a future first, given the obscene sums superstars go for these days, was more than fair value. The Bucks have shown they’re serious about keeping Antetokounmpo happy — and he surely has to be after this as his team catapult back to the top of the pile.

Grade: A

Grade the trade: Suns finally move for Ayton for… Nurkic?

The Trail Blazers have officially become a rebuilding team after years of not being good enough to contend, but not bad enough to tank properly to get high draft picks. They have done an excellent job here in adding both players who they’ll keep, but also others who they will flip.

They also still have Scoot Henderson and Anfernee Simons, and alongside Ayton that is not a bad place to start. Ayton will be given plenty of chances to showcase his talents – and if he becomes more engaged in his new surroundings – the Trail Blazers are going to make the Suns look very silly here.

Holiday is the icing on top though, as there is no telling what the Trail Blazers could fetch in return for his talents. Every contender would love to have him (the Heat could even pursue him as a consolation prize here), and an outright bidding war for his services is sure to erupt in the not too distant future.

Toumani Camara was a second round pick by the Suns in this year’s draft, and he is absolutely an afterthought here. But he will get more run in Portland than he ever would have in Phoenix, and he looked solid defensively in Summer League play. Anything the Trail Blazers get from him though, will be a bonus.

It always hurts to move on from a franchise icon, and Lillard may be the greatest Trail Blazer in their history. The sellers in this scenario nine times out of 10 also lose out when moving on from a star. That’s the only reason the Trail Blazers don’t get an A grade here, but they’ve come out of this with a young player in Ayton, a valuable asset in Holiday, and a clear direction for their future.

Grade: B

Grade the trade: Suns finally move for Ayton for… Nurkic?

How can it be that a bonafide contender in the Suns most likely came out the worst in this deal? Their haul for Ayton (and Camara) looks unremarkable on the surface, and does not get any better once you dig deeper.

Nurkic hasn’t played 56 games in a season since before Covid. He is four years older than Ayton, and has a deal that runs for the next three seasons, also like Ayton. He makes a lot less money, but you get the sense rivals won’t be banging down the door to acquire him in future. Nurkic has been available for a long time, and likely wasn’t going anywhere.

He is a big man and diligent rim-runner, but aren’t there many players like that? Quite a few are healthier than Nurkic too. He starts for the Suns and will get out of the way, but he also has to be available to do that. Grayson Allen intrigues, and has a chance to carve out a sixth man role here.

As for Nassir Little and Keon Johnson, right now it is hard to see them beating out Keita Bates-Diop, Eric Gordon and Yuta Watanabe for meaningful minutes. The Suns likely have to cut some players off the end of their bench now anyway, so it may be that these two never actually suit up for the team.

In the end, after going out and being brave enough to get Durant, and after somehow landing Bradley Beal, this is underwhelming. More than that, it is dangerous to pin your hopes on a big man who is getting no younger who misses games. The Suns will need a center when it matters most, but can it be Nurkic? Ayton had to go, but did it have to be like this?

Grade: D