The Phoenix Suns finally brought the curtain down on the Jusuf Nurkic experience with mere hours left until the NBA's trade deadline on Thursday, bringing to an end the Bosnian's time in Phoenix. It couldn't have come at a better time - Nurkic has been out of the rotation entirely for weeks now - plus it saves the Suns some money in the long-term.
There was never going to be any kind of haul gotten for a player who the Suns traded for to replace former number one overall pick Deandre Ayton, and if anything having to attach a first round pick to move away from him hurts this franchise. It was a deal that had to be done, and the organization should be commended for finding a trade partner in the Charlotte Hornets.
The final grade on this one reflects where the Suns are at right now.
First the good news though, and that is that Cody Martin - who the Suns got back alongside Vasilije Micic and a 2026 second round pick - could actually find a spot in their rotation for the rest of this season. Keeping him beyond this summer will cost the Suns money they can't afford, but this could be a nice short-term upgrade.
Anything is better than Nurkic given that he wasn't playing anymore, but Martin is a forward who can guard some opponents reasonably well. He's not likely to take many minutes off Royce O'Neale or even Grayson Allen, but speaking purely in terms of the talent the Suns got back in this deal, Martin will be given a chance to earn some run.
Managing to convince the Hornets to once again take what the Suns don't want - having traded them Josh Okogie for Nick Richards mere weeks ago - is a business model that is only going to get you so far. The first round pick in 2026 that they have given up will also be the least desireable of four picks, such is the nature of how frequently firsts change hands with conditions attached these days.
Really though it is the fact the Suns had to do this deal at all that hurts the most. They gave up Ayton and a rapidly improving player in Toumani Camara just to get Nurkic - as well as Allen - and rather than wait until he becomes an expiring contract next season, have had to use one of their three first round picks available to them to boot him early.
So, the Suns’ singular move at the trade deadline was dealing Nurkic, in addition to a FRP, for two old, non-rotation players and a SRP…
— Suns Are Better (@SunsAreBetter) February 6, 2025
Literally just keep him and let him rot on the bench at that point.
This team is so astronomically cooked.
We now know the franchise didn't turn their extremely valuable first in 2031 into three picks that convey sooner than that with the Utah Jazz in a bid to finally land Jimmy Butler. No, this was done to break up that pick into smaller pieces to use one of them to jettison Nurkic. Which is not how you want to be doing business when you're trying to be as competitive as possible.
This trade had to go down to fix the mistake of trading for Nurkic in the first place, and in truth going after Bradley Beal prior to that. Kevin Durant ended up staying in The Valley but the damage has already been done on this season, everybody can see that. Best case scenario Martin helps - Micic is a complete wild card - but this being the only deadline day deal the team did certainly hurts.