Suns made one key mistake in Kevin Durant trade with Rockets

No, this is not going to be a hindsight-filled piece on how the Phoenix Suns actually lost the Kevin Durant trade with the Houston Rockets because of the hamstring issues that have hit Jalen Green.

They sure do suck, but he was among the best players Phoenix could have hoped to have gotten for an ageing superstar. A 23-year-old with elite offensive potential.

Adding Dillon Brooks to the mix was again the right move, as overnight he changed the culture of the franchise. The Suns wouldn't be where they are right now without him.

Suns should have pushed for Reed Sheppard in trade

But given what we know about the Rockets now, surely if the Suns had been persistent enough they also could have landed Reed Sheppard? He is having an excellent second season in the league.

We got it wrong early doors when we said that Phoenix made the right decision in not taking the point guard on, because he would have been an excellent addition under head coach Jordan Ott.

That the Suns have turned Collin Gillespie, Jordan Goodwin and Jamaree Bouyea into an above average rotation at that spot tells you all you need to know about how good Sheppard would have been.

You understand the logic in Houston not letting him go, Fred VanVleet was lost for the season to an ACL tear, and yet they still might need Chris Paul to answer some of the problems they have.

Sheppard isn't a floor general in the conventional sense, instead acting as an offensive ball of energy off the bench who is giving his side over 13 points each night on 40.2 percent shooting from deep.

But that wasn't clear at the start of the campaign, and there is no way the 21-year-old was untouchable in trade talks either.

It would be too harsh to say that General Manager Brian Gregory deserves to be dinged some for failing to land a young point guard with clear upside.

Green and Brooks was the correct combination, and if it was a case of picking Sheppard over either of them the organization would rightly have been ridiculed.

Trying to get the most back for Durant at a time when the Rockets were desperate for a superstar to take them over the top, they should have pushed that bit harder to try and get him to Phoenix.

Instead he's proven already he can help a contender to win games, while in The Valley he would have been given all the time in the world to grow into the player he is going to be. Would have been nice to have.