As the Phoenix Suns’ NBA trade deadline outlook continues to take shape, one move remains painfully obvious.
It’s a near certainty that the Suns will opt to trade backup center Nick Richards before February’s deadline.
The Jamaican-born big is on an expiring contract and has fallen out of favor in head coach Jordan Ott’s rotations. He’s played under 10 minutes in each of his past six appearances (when he’s gotten subbed into the game at all). The Suns also have 19-year-old lottery pick Khaman Maluach, who’s spent his time dominating the G League, waiting in the wings.
All signs point to Richards getting dealt, but where could the former Charlotte Hornets big man land?
Here are three possible landing spots for the 28-year-old veteran.
Toronto Raptors
The Raptors are among the top teams in the Eastern Conference this season, and according to reporting from HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto, they’ve already expressed interest in acquiring Richards.
“There’s been exploratory discussions between the Raptors and Suns regarding (Ochai) Agbaji and second-round draft pick compensation for Richards,” according to Scotto.
That trade works on paper, but the Suns would actually be acquiring more salary in return if they take on Agbaji, who’s also on an expiring deal set to pay him more than Richards’ $5 million.
If the Suns are intent on getting under the luxury tax and stopping the clock on being a repeater team (four years in a row over the tax), they’d need to cut salary somewhere else to get under that threshold.
Agbaji has played sparingly for Toronto this year and has really struggled from 3-point range — 3-of-23 shooting at the time of writing, which equates to just 13% after he made 39.9% of his triples a season ago.
Perhaps GM Brian Gregory would look elsewhere before pulling the trigger on this type of deal with the Raptors.
Boston Celtics
The Celtics are another playoff-bound squad in the Eastern Conference that could use frontcourt depth. They have plenty of offensive firepower with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Derrick White, but Boston lacks size in its rotations and could benefit from adding a stop-gap center like Richards to the roster for the rest of the season.
Richards isn’t on the level of Mark Williams in terms of being a rim-protecting big man, but he can hold his own as a defensive-minded center who can catch lobs on the offensive end from any number of Boston’s playmakers.
Don’t be surprised if the Celtics look to the trade market to add another big man to help take some pressure off of Neemias Queta, who’s seen a huge uptick in minutes this season compared to any year prior. Boston has expiring contracts of its own toward the end of the bench it could ship to the desert, perhaps with a second-round pick to sweeten the deal.
Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers could have interest in landing a different former Hornets center after they pulled out from a deal that would have landed them Mark Williams when Williams reportedly failed a physical exam.
The Suns stepped in from there to acquire Williams, who’s been great for Phoenix (albeit in limited minutes). The Lakers are still in the market now for a backup center behind former Sun Deandre Ayton.
It’s unclear if the Suns would be open to trading Richards to a Pacific Division rival. It’s also unclear what the Lakers would offer in return in a framework that works from a financial perspective, because they can’t simply take on Richards’ salary while sending off a second-round pick, for example.
The Lakers should have interest in the rim-running big, but finding the right swap that works for both sides could prove a challenge.