In the aftermath of yet another shortsighted Phoenix Suns trade, Mat Ishbia’s team was ridiculed all offseason long. And while the decision to trade two solid role players and another unprotected first-round pick for Miles Bridges didn’t make sense from a moral or basketball perspective at the time, it somehow continues to get worse for Phoenix with the new season barely underway.
Hornets already won Miles Bridges trade both now and into the future
Setting aside Phoenix’s side of things, the Charlotte Hornets continue to receive praise for their long-term outlook and focus. Not only is sharpshooter Grayson Allen continuing his stellar play in the Eastern Conference, but the unprotected 2033 pick Charlotte acquired remains an intriguing asset.
Speaking on The Hoop Collective podcast, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon broke down the “long-term view in Charlotte” after the franchise opted to move on from both Bridges and star point guard LaMelo Ball.
“Think about the picks they got back in those trades this summer,” MacMahon said. “They’re both potential high-upside picks — 2033 from Phoenix? Trust me, that’s a pick that a lot of teams looked at and valued.”
The Suns are already in a precarious position as a borderline play-in team with Devin Booker in the late stages of his prime. Without him moving toward that 2033 pick? Charlotte may just luck into a top-10 or potentially even top-five draft slot while only giving up an expiring contract the franchise didn’t intend to keep anyway.
That’s a steal of a trade, and MacMahon’s reporting makes it look even worse for the Suns.
If (no surprise) a lot of teams looked at and valued Phoenix’s pick, why then did the Suns part with it to get a 28-year-old, zero-time All-Star with off-court baggage going into his contract year?
Miles Bridges trade will haunt Suns as trade market heats up
Phoenix opted not to buy low on Ja Morant this summer. He could have filled a positional need in the point guard spot as a clear change of scenery candidate. The Portland Trail Blazers instead made a move to acquire him despite their already loaded backcourt, and they’ve started the new season with a 3-1 record — including a 41-point blowout win over Phoenix in the season opener — as a result.
Morant is now set to miss time with a hamstring injury, but he looked great for Rip City by averaging 15.8 points, 5.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds while shooting 54.2 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from 3-point range through four games.
And now, as the season marches forward and more teams evaluate their situations, the trade market is sure to heat up with plenty of talented guys becoming available.
Franchises around the NBA will no doubt look to emulate Charlotte by offloading talented players who don’t fit their current timelines. That would be good news for a Suns team looking for building blocks around Devin Booker … had they not already offloaded their best trade assets to get Bridges.
Short of offloading Jalen Green, whose own trade value is in the eye of the beholder, Phoenix has handcuffed itself to an iteration of the roster that appears to be both worse defensively and without the same outside shooting prowess.
That 2033 first-round pick was part of very little draft capital the Suns still possessed after prior trades to land Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal. Instead of keeping it, or at least holding it until the in-season trade market revealed itself, the Suns traded it for a piece who, at least early on, seems a poor fit with the existing personnel.
There’s plenty of basketball left to play, but the Suns’ defense looking completely lost compared to a season ago already hints that last year’s 45-win total will be difficult to replicate.
Their decision to pull the rip cord on an offseason trade now puts them behind the 8-ball for this season’s trade deadline as well. If the Suns keep losing, they may have no choice but to become sellers themselves.
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