If you cast your mind back to the trade deadline, the biggest name the Phoenix Suns were linked with was Jeremy Sochan once he was let go by the San Antonio Spurs.
Rumor has it Sochan whittled down his next team to two, the Suns and New York Knicks, with the bright lights of the city that never sleeps winning out in the end.
Sochan would have blocked path of Rasheer Fleming to grow
The 23-year-old has barely featured for a team that is one win away from a championship since then, and with good reason. Nice as it is to have some insurance at the end of the bench, as long as the Knicks remain healthy Sochan has no hope of having a meaningful contribution there.
Even former Phoenix castaway Landry Shamet has overtaken him in the rotation there. Not that Sochan will care too much, he is guaranteed a ring either way having suited up for the two remaining teams battling it out for a title. Not bad for a guy who appeared in 44 regular season games across both franchise and averaged 2.9 points once in New York.
It is clear that Sochan would not have pushed the needle for the Suns to the point that he would have been a factor in the postseason, which is why missing out on him altogether has worked out so well. Instead it was rookie Rasheer Fleming who got some run in that series and had a couple of moments of promise.
With owner Mat Ishbia constantly preaching a long-term approach to team building (sorry Ja Morant...), putting time and reps into Sochan over their own rookie would have been a mistake.
Even if Sochan was added to the roster, the odds of him still being in The Valley a year from now are relatively small, whereas Fleming looks like an important part of the roster construction here. Sochan would have been a fun addition and perhaps his oversized interior presence would have annoyed the Oklahoma City Thunder.
But there is a reason the Spurs cut him loose in the first place, and it is why the Knicks aren't playing him either. Sochan is not consistent enough to contribute for a contender, and while the Suns are not that and could have afforded to take a flyer on him, they were forced instead to try and improve from within.
The early returns on that have been promising, and Sochan would have stunted the growth of Fleming.
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