The Phoenix Suns’ decision to trade for Miles Bridges was greeted immediately with widespread criticism.
With trade grades no higher than a C- in a roundup from around the NBA media landscape, nobody seemed to like this move for Phoenix — with plenty of valid reasons.
Suns fans are certainly accustomed to their favorite franchise making short-sighted moves. You don’t even have to go back far to find trades landing them on lists of the worst blockbusters of the past 10 or so years.
But the Suns front office couldn’t help themselves after appearing to finally learn a lesson ahead of the 2026 trade deadline to take a deep breath, a step back and evaluate the forest through the trees.
The Suns instead decided to mortgage the future (again) for very little short-term upside.
Here are five of the biggest reasons why the Suns are getting excoriated for their newest trade blunder.
1.) Suns give up unprotected 2033 first-round pick
For a team already reeling from dwindling draft capital, surrendering any future draft picks needed a very critical eye, and should have been viewed as a last resort or means to add a big-name star.
Instead, the Suns must think their track record of poor draft selections has zero chance of improving, because they again surrendered an unprotected first-round pick in the Bridges deal.
Making matters worse, as pointed out by ESPN’s Zach Kram, Bridges joined Giannis Antetokounmpo and LaMelo Ball as the only players so far this summer who were traded for at least one unprotected first rounder.
Giannis is a two-time MVP and LaMelo is a 24-year-old All-Star who also won Rookie of the Year honors. Bridges, by contrast, is now 28 years old and has never made an All-Star team in his seven seasons. His only NBA accolade to this stage of his career was Player of the Week honors back in October of 2021.
Frankly, Bridges is not on the trade value level of Antetokounmpo nor Ball, but the Suns surrendered an unprotected first rounder to get him anyway. The negotiation here leaves a lot to be desired from the Suns’ front office.
2.) Miles Bridges has never been an All-Star
To elaborate on the point above, Bridges has never made an All-Star team during his NBA career. The Suns sent a trade package to Charlotte for him that would suggest otherwise.
At this juncture, it’s not even clear that Bridges is the clear cut No. 2 option on this Suns team next to Devin Booker. That title still belongs to culture-changer Dillon Brooks unless Bridges proves otherwise, and former No. 2 overall pick Jalen Green could still be poised for a breakout as a potential late bloomer after others in his draft class made All-Star leaps.
3.) Miles Bridges is entering a contract year
Again, provided the Suns gave up an unprotected first-round pick to get Bridges, you’d think that would come with some long-term assurance that he’d be a key piece of the puzzle for years to come.
Not the case, since Bridges is in a contract year and, without an extension, will become a free agent in 2027.
The Suns may still look to extend him — they did re-sign center Mark Williams on a three-year deal after surrendering first-rounders to acquire him last summer — but doing so without seeing his fit on the team first would be yet another odd choice. Bridges is also swiftly approaching age 30, so a long-term extension for a guy whose best years may already be behind him would become a sunk cost.
Typically players in their contract years have less value on the trade market because there’s no long-term assurance attached. The Suns looked past that and gave up a lot to get him regardless.
4.) Surrendering 2 solid role players who fit the team
Much has been and will be made of the Suns’ choice to send Charlotte an unprotected first-round pick in 2033. It's impossible to know what the Suns roster will look like that far down the line, but it will mark Devin Booker’s age 37 season when we get to that point. With few draft picks between now and then, there’s a non-zero chance the Suns will be a cellar-dweller that many years from now. Even the changes to the draft lottery system don’t make that look much better if Charlotte can net a top-10 pick for Bridges — who himself was not even a top-10 selection.
But draft pick aside, the Suns are also trading away Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale, two solid role players who fit the current roster and stretched out opposing defenses with their 3-point sharpshooting.
Both Allen and O’Neale are under contract for the next two seasons (Allen’s contract includes a player option for that second year) on reasonable price tags.
Suns fans understood that Allen, O’Neale or both could have been moved ahead of this year’s trade deadline, but the terms of any trade would dictate the reaction.
Giving up two known roster fits for someone who clearly played better due to the LaMelo Ball effect in Charlotte is questionable enough without the added pick thrown in. The draft selections Phoenix gets back also don’t project to be a big factor, so the layers simply get tougher to justify.
The Suns sacrificed roster depth and remain over the luxury tax threshold with this deal to boot.
5.) Bridges’ off-court baggage will (and should) sour Suns fans
There will undoubtedly be Suns fans who don’t care about Bridges’ sordid past, choosing instead to watch their basketball guilt-free. However, it remains a stain that owner Mat Ishbia can’t simply wash away because he’s adding another Michigan State guy to the fold.
Longtime NBA reporter David Aldridge described the details of Bridges’ June 2022 domestic violence arrest (that led to a no-contest plea, probation and a 30-game suspension from the league) as “brutal.”
The full extent of the victim’s injuries are described in Aldridge’s piece, but Mychelle Johnson, Bridges’ partner at the time of the incident, wrote in part in a since-deleted Instagram post:
“I don’t need sympathy, I just don’t want this happening to anyone else, I just want this person to get help, my kids deserve better. That’s all I want. It hurts, everything hurts, this situation hurts, most importantly I’m scared and hurting for my kids who were witness to everything.”
This is the same franchise that decades ago cut ties with All-Star point guard Jason Kidd in part due to his own domestic violence arrest in 2001. Willingly adding Bridges to an organization that pretends to care about moral fiber, community involvement and character is, in the words of The Athletic’s John Hollinger, “brutal work.”
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