Suns have the perfect opportunity to save their future if Matt Ishbia gets out of the way

The Phoenix Suns and the rest of the NBA were put on high alert Sunday, as the Orlando Magic and Memphis Grizzlies executed the first blockbuster trade of the offseason. With the NBA Finals still to be decided - and the small matter of the draft in the coming weeks - the Magic wasted no time in adding Desmond Bane to their exciting young core.

A deal that could yet have a positive impact on where Kevin Durant heads to next, given the Grizzlies were somehow able to extract four first round picks - plus a pick swap - from Orlando in the process. No matter what way you look at it, the Grizzlies are suddenly a team to watch, and right now it is unclear if they are going to blow it all up, or else re-tool on the fly like the Suns are attempting to.

Suns could get an insane amount of first round picks for Devin Booker.

Owner Mat Ishbia has long said that Devin Booker is never going to be traded, and his actions so far this offseason have backed that up. Booker was extremely involved in the hiring of their new head coach in Jordan Ott, and all signs point towards the 28-year-old signing a $150 million extension on his current deal to remain in The Valley.

But with the Grizzlies now armed with a ton of draft picks, there has perhaps never been a better time to entertain trading Booker. Many fans feel like the franchise can't compete with a tandem of Booker and Beal anyway, plus whatever they might get back for Durant. Is it not better to move away from being in the second cap, with three supposed star players, and start over?

That could also have been the thinking in bringing in Ott, so that he could grow with a young group of players like Jamahl Mosley has done excellently since he got there. They were one of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference - but a combination of excellent draft picks in Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner - combined with his defensive attitude from day one with them has led to their Bane moment.

Ishbia could also point to the fact that Bane going for four firsts - and Mikal Bridges five last season - means Booker is worth even more now. Another interesting angle here is this post from Josh Eberley in which he appeared to use emojis to suggest the Grizzlies had already called the Suns to enquire about the availability of Booker.

It is not known both if this happened - you can make of Eberley's credentials what you will - or if it was before or after the Bane deal, but if you combine a possible Booker deal to Memphis plus the Suns deciding they want draft picks for Durant, they could go from having the worst future in the league to one of the brighter ones.

There would be some awful years of losing along the way, but do you like the alternative? Ishbia doesn't want to do this, and if he did a large section of the fans would probably revolt anyway. But with Giannis Antetokounmpo possibly staying in Milwaukee, there might never be a better time to get an overpay for Booker's services, and all while coming off a down year by his lofty standards.