The Phoenix Suns left it late, but they were active at the trade deadline and were part of a three-team trade that received a high grade around these parts. The front office deciding to unload four of their own players in the process, and in doing so make room for two potential buyout guys down the road.
The four players who departed The Valley were Chimezie Metu, Jordan Goodwin, Keita Bates-Diop and Yuta Watanabe, who already looks to have found a new home with his former team in the Memphis Grizzlies. This was the price of business to acquire two players in Royce O'Neale from the Brooklyn Nets and David Roddy from the Grizzlies.
Both of these players have a real chance to crack the playoff rotation for the Suns when the time comes, so it is easy to see why the organization made the deal.
They did also have to send out three second round picks to the Nets - as well as a pick swap with the Grizzlies - but the Suns don't have time to think about the future right now. With Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal all healthy and meshing well together, the time is this season to try and win a first championship.
Will the Suns miss any of the four departed players in their quest to win a championship? On the surface it doesn't seem likely - but if you dig a little deeper - then losing them may not be the open and shut case it appeared when the trade went down. So let's grade the time all four players spent with the Suns, a short stint as all four were added last summer.
Jordan Goodwin
Point guard Goodwin may feel the most aggrieved to be sent packing, and not just because he sits alongside Josh Okogie in leading the entire league in a pretty unique statistic this season. Goodwin didn't start a single game with the Suns, but he did come off the bench on 40 occasions.
More than that he was also insurance both when Beal was out with back and ankle issues, and when Booker also missed some games earlier in the campaign. The fact the Suns didn't add another point guard at the deadline - although the buyout market represents another opportunity to do so - means Goodwin in theory is going to be missed more than any other player who left the team.
Bradley Beal on his friend Jordan Goodwin being traded: “I’ve known J-Good since he was a teenager, so it’s definitely surreal in some ways. But at the same time, we’ve talked about this in D.C., here, ‘No matter what, man, if you’re here or anywhere else, somebody wants you” pic.twitter.com/MWg5CFvyqB
— Gerald Bourguet (@GeraldBourguet) February 9, 2024
He has a big body to make life difficult for opponents, and the defensive end was really the only area he was having an impact for this group. The five assists he was averaging per 36 minutes lagging behind the 5.5 he managed with the Washington Wizards last season, when he started seven of 62 games played.
Goodwin played 558 minutes total for the franchise, and it still the thought of what he could do that is being used to describe his time there. The reality is that Booker and Beal have split the playmaking duties well between themselves, and one of them can almost always be out on the court. Goodwin can leave holding his head high because he tried, but he'll be forgotten about quickly.