Obvious reason Suns were stupid and short-sighted to trade Jusuf Nurkic

If you're brave enough to look back on the 36 win season that was 2024-25 for the Phoenix Suns, trading center Jusuf Nurkic was one of the key moments of that campaign. The reasoning for doing it at the time made sense, and it was because Nurkic didn't feature in the plans of then head coach Mike Budenholzer.

There was another more important reason however, and that was because the Suns were operating in the second apron, and were panicking in trying to find ways to get more flexibility to improve their roster. Adding Nick Richards and Cody Martin from Charlotte in two different trades - which also saw Josh Okogie go the other way - was as good as it got and it was nowhere near good enough.

Buying out Bradley Beal makes the Nurkic trade a terrible one.

Another key component of the trade that sent Nurkic to the Hornets was the Suns taking a valuable first round pick, and breaking it up into three less desirable selections down the road in a separate deal with the Utah Jazz. They then attached one part of that to Nurkic, and the Bosnian was on his way to a new home.

But the buying out of Bradley Beal changes everything, because the Suns are no longer trying to build a contender around Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. Durant himself is also now gone - and while Nurkic had no place on this roster going forward - the Suns essentially gave away a valuable first rounder for nothing. The bigger picture below makes for grim viewing as well.

As it stands they're likely going to get rid of Richards when an opportunity presents itself, and they've also gone back to the Hornets to trade for their other big man in Mark Williams. That's a lot of shuffling between the two organizations, and the Nurkic aspect of it at least now appears to have been completely unnecessary.

To make matters worse, previous leading man Frank Vogel once build a league average defense with Nurkic a part of it, although it is also fair to say that was one of the healthiest seasons he had had in years. The final nail in the coffin though is the fact that Beal being bought out means the Suns are no longer in either the first or second apron.

So they didn't need to jettison Nurkic in order to make trades down the road, getting rid of Beal did that for them anyway. In fact the 30-year-old is an expiring contract as he is entering the final year of his contract, which is why the Hornets flipped him to the Utah Jazz already this offseason. A move the Suns could have done themselves and saved a first round pick in the process.

It is exactly that kind of short-term thinking that landed the Suns in the mess they found themselves in, but the hope now with Durant and Beal gone is that there is a new era of basketball coming in The Valley. One that doesn't exist on a month-by-month basis, and that has a plan to succeed around Booker. That Nurkic trade is going to live long in the memory for all the wrong reasons.