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Suns will have to make tough decisions after Deandre Ayton trade

By Justin Lee

PHOENIX, ARIZONA - MAY 07: Deandre Ayton #22 of the Phoenix Suns during Game Four of the NBA Western Conference Semifinals at Footprint Center on May 07, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns defeated the Nuggets 129-124. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - MAY 07: Deandre Ayton #22 of the Phoenix Suns during Game Four of the NBA Western Conference Semifinals at Footprint Center on May 07, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns defeated the Nuggets 129-124. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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The Phoenix Suns just made a huge trade, and regardless of your opinion on it, whether it be a good trade or bad trade, some things need to happen. The Suns need to make some tough decisions soon, and it won’t be fun for the front office members to make the decisions.

There is a rule in the NBA that you can only have 17 players on an NBA roster. You can, however, dress 13 on gameday. But the Suns do not need more than 17 players; they have more than that as the current roster. They have until the start of the season to get to that mark.

After trading Ayton to Portland, the Suns got back Jusuf Nurkic, Grayson Allen, Nassir Little, and Keon Johnson. They gave up Ayton and Toumani Camara. With this trade, they added two players to their already 17-man roster.

Now, they need to make some cuts to get their roster to the correct amount of players.

Here are some of the players we could see cut:

Suns’ potential roster cuts

There is a lot of talent on this roster, but not all of it can stay. There are currently six or seven guys that we could see as two of the potential cuts. Some of them will be guys the fans won’t want to see go, too.

First, Bol Bol, who everyone loves, could be on the outside looking in again. He has a cap figure of $2 million, per Spotrac, and would be the cheapest option of the non-two-way guys to cut. Bol also has an injury history and could be a guy the Suns just want to move.

Yuta Watanabe and Keita Bates-Diop are two guys we could see go because their contracts are so much cheaper, and they are both wings on a team that just has too many wings. Not to mention, the Suns likely won’t cut the three wings they just traded for.

Chimezie Metu and Drew Eubanks are the other two guys we could see moved, but not both simultaneously. If they are cut, they like one more than the other and want to eliminate a big man on the roster. The roster includes guys who can play positionless basketball and space the floor.

These decisions won’t be easy, and we will have to wait and see more of what it is that Frank Vogel values on his roster to get a real feel for who will be out and who won’t. But either way, this being a tough decision means the Suns are doing something right when it comes to talent evaluation.

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