It would be fair to say that this trade deadline has largely past the Phoenix Suns by. Superstars such as Luka Doncic and De'Aaron Fox have jumped ship to make the Western Conference teams around the Suns better, while there's little chance of them actually adding Jimmy Butler in the next few days.
Not that the organization stood still completely over the last few weeks, the addition of center Nick Richards was a good one. But with the Suns having just lost back-to-back games against the rebuilding Portland Trail Blazers - and their own former franchise center in Deandre Ayton - it is clear Richards alone does not move the needle.
Which is why they should call the Philadelphia 76ers ASAP.
If there is one other organization in the league that has failed to live up to expectations on the same level as the Suns this season, it is most certainly the 76ers. Their move to acquire Paul George already looks like the wrong one, while Joel Embiid never plays when you need him to. They do boast Tyrese Maxey - but in much the same way the Suns have Devin Booker - he needs more help.
There is little incentive for the 76ers to throw away this season, and yet at 19-29 even making the play-in tournament is far from a given. Only the fact that the Chicago Bulls recently let Zach LaVine head to the Sacramento Kings and seem content with getting their own first rounder back this season so they can tank is keeping the door open for Philadelphia right now.
Which is where Guerschon Yabusele enters the picture. A role player the 76ers snapped up after the Olympic Games in Paris last season - where he showed out for France in the gold medal game - and who we said at the time the Suns should be pursuing hard themselves. That didn't happen, and it was a mistake made worse by the fact the 76ers signed him to a minimum deal.
GUERSCHON YABUSELE HAMMER TIME 🔨 pic.twitter.com/dma8z4clrx
— NBA (@NBA) February 3, 2025
Yabusele will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason, and as currently constructed the Suns won't have the kind of cap space to sign him outright. But they also can't sit idly by and allow the ideal role player to hit the open market either, which is why the should test the resolve of the 76ers on this one.
They're not going anywhere as it is - and although the Suns are basically in that category themselves - they at least have the out of perhaps trading Kevin Durant at some point in the future. The 76ers can't move on from George, rightly won't move on from Maxey and if they dealt Embiid it would likely mean a full rebuild is on the way anyway.
Could the Suns test the resolve of the 76ers by offering a second round pick, plus point guard Monte Morris? Yabusele has been like found money for that franchise anyway, while their guard of the future in rookie Jared McCain is out for the season with a knee injury. Reggie Jackson and Kyle Lowry round out their point guard rotation, but Morris would be a short-term improvement on at least one of them.
If not Morris then anybody from Bol Bol to Damion Lee could also be used, with the 76ers likely to know that they too won't be able to bring Yabusele back at the number he's likely to command during the summer. He'd be a rental for the Suns as well - in much the same way Tyus Jones has been this season - but they have more to fight for.
Owner Mat Ishbia is all in on this group, and a defensive-minded big who can knock down a 3-pointer and shore up an eight man postseason rotation holds a lot of appeal. The Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers deal has shown us nothing and nobody is off limits. With the hours to the trade deadline ticking by, the Suns might just find the 76ers vulnerable and open to a conversation.