The Charlotte Hornets drafted Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner with the 34th pick in the NBA Draft. In the process, they put the finishing touches on a Phoenix Suns salary dump that looks even worse as time goes on.
Cameron Payne is the epitome of a journeyman point guard, playing for seven teams in his 10 seasons. His longest tenure with any team was with the Phoenix Suns, where he spent four seasons in the middle of his career.
Once the 14th overall pick by the Oklahoma City Thunder -- taken one pick after Devin Booker in 2015 -- Payne was playing in China when the Suns signed him as a free agent in 2020. He became a solid backup to first Ricky Rubio and later Chris Paul, most memorably dropping 31 points in a playoff game in 2023.
Yet just weeks after that playoff game, the Suns decided to cut ties with Payne, dumping him on the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for a lopsided pick swap. They promptly used that salary flexibility to...sign Bol Bol, trade for Bradley Beal and systematically break up what was left of their NBA Finals team.
The Spurs promptly waived Payne, and he has since bounced around a few teams and continued his NBA career. The Suns, meanwhile, could desperately use any point guard help, and have been circling the drain and squandering every moment of Devin Booker's prime.
The Suns are now paying the final price
The cost of that dump has now come to roost, as the pick they sent to San Antonio was owned by the New Orleans Pelicans. The Pelicans had an awful season, winning just 21 games, and that resulted in a second round pick right near the top of the round. The Suns could have been using that pick to add a valuable prospect to their roster to help their turnaround; instead, the 34th pick is being used by another team.
And that is was used on a solid center option in Kalkbrenner is all the more painful. If the Phoenix Suns had held onto pick No. 34, they could have had more flexibility to move up to No. 31 instead of giving up a bounty of picks to do so earlier in the evening. They also may have been more confident to not have to trade for Mark Williams and instead paired rookies Khaman Maluach and someone like Kalkbrenner.
Instead, the Charlotte Hornets may have found their replacement center for Williams at a discount after fleecing the Suns to get two firsts for a one-way injury-prone center who is about to be paid. And now they twist the knife even further using a pick that the Suns had to use in a salary dump for Cameron Payne.