If there is one area the Phoenix Suns are light for the remainder of this decade, it is draft picks. Their cupboard being raided in the Kevin Durant deal, while subsequent trades to bring in needed role players such as Royce O'Neale stripped what little assets they had yet.
The organization was smart in holding some picks back for this year's draft, and took a player in Ryan Dunn in the first round who has a chance to crack their bench rotation in his rookie campaign. Second rounder Oso Ighodaro will also be looking to grab spot minutes wherever he can.
Unbeknownst to many fans, the Suns have now traded another pick for yet another guard.
Only this time the pick belongs to their G League affiliate - the Valley Suns - who will be entering that competition this coming season. The trade itself was reported by Kellan Olson of Arizona Sports, who confirmed that the Suns had traded a first round pick in 2025 - again of the G League variety - in order to acquire Jaden Shackelford of the OKC Blue.
Shackelford wasn't selected in the 2022 NBA Draft, and joins a Valley Suns roster that has some familiar names from their time in the NBA proper. The addition of Shackelford a nice way to ensure the roster isn't full of guys trying to get back into the league, and has a dash of players who've never been there before.
We’ve received the returning player rights to guard Jaden Shackelford from the Oklahoma City Blue in exchange for a 2025 first round pick. pic.twitter.com/Qt4zSeEFZp
— Valley Suns (@GLeagueSuns) September 4, 2024
It remains to be seen if Shackelford will ever get a chance to play for the actual Suns, with his path to their roster more crowded than ever. The franchise seriously overcompensating for the lack of a point guard last season, by saturating both rosters with them ahead of 2024-25. Not only are Tyus Jones and Monte Morris on the main roster, there's a pair of guards already on the Valley team as well.
That would be Collin Gillespie and TyTy Washington, and both have tasted the league already as well. That represents a sizeable hurdle to overcome, although the 3-point shooting of Shackelford may have something to do with why they traded for him. A shade under 37 percent from deep on well over eight attempts per game the kind of confidence they may have been drawn towards.