Prior to the latest blockbuster trade wherein the Phoenix Suns traded away yet another unprotected first-round draft pick along with Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Miles Bridges and (lesser) picks, fans in The Valley had positive momentum.
After acquiring Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and the pick that became Khaman Maluach at No. 10 overall in exchange for Kevin Durant — after the future Hall of Famer’s era in the desert resulted in missing a playoff berth in 2025 — the Suns flipped the script by shattering expectations and reaching the playoffs in 2026.
It appeared as though the front office was ready to run it back. Collin Gillespie, Jordan Goodwin and even Mark Williams — who many believed might be the odd man out in free agency this summer — were all re-signed.
Throw in draft pick Koa Peat, a proven winner in high school and college who the Suns traded up to acquire, and it seemed the front office had a lot of faith in the roster as constructed.
That was until this past weekend, when the Suns pulled off yet another trade blockbuster. That trade not only fails to put Phoenix on par with Western Conference contenders like the San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder or even the retooled Minnesota Timberwolves, but it also sacrifices yet more draft capital the Suns couldn’t afford to lose.
Suns' Miles Bridges trade will be a hard sell for the fan base
I wrote back in February following an on-court brawl between the Hornets and Detroit Pistons — resulting in a suspension for Bridges after he threw a punch during the melee — that the talented power forward should not be a trade target the Suns looked to acquire.
There were rumors of the Suns’ interest at the time, something owner Mat Ishbia with his deep Michigan State ties (Bridges just so happens to be a Spartan) did not entirely dismiss.
Now we know why.
Phoenix clearly had interest in adding Bridges to the fold. That’s now come to fruition despite the aforementioned brawl and Bridges’ numerous off-court legal incidents stemming from a June 2022 domestic violence arrest. That arrest led to a no contest plea, probation, and a 30-game suspension from the NBA. Bridges ultimately sat out the entirety of the 2022-23 season.
In October of 2023, a criminal summons was issued for Bridges for an alleged violation of the protective order stemming from his earlier sentencing according to Mecklenburg County court records. Bridges was also charged with child abuse stemming from another another alleged domestic violence incident.
Even for fans willing to bury their heads in the proverbial sand and ignore Bridges’ sordid past for the sake of his on-court talents, the deal arguably doesn’t even make sense from a pure basketball standpoint.
Suns lose a primary strength, valuable pick in Miles Bridges trade
While Bridges is certainly a talented NBA player, coming off a season where he averaged 17.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game (none of those are career bests, by the way), he’s never made an All-Star team in his seven professional seasons.
That’s who the Suns are set to acquire for Allen and O’Neale, two of the team’s premier sharpshooters from long range a season ago. At points, both Allen and O’Neale were tracking to break the Suns’ all-time individual 3-point record in a season, a mark that Gillespie ultimately broke as he stayed healthy throughout the season.
Allen sunk 159 of his 3-point tries in 2025-26 despite playing just 51 games (for context, he had 141 triples across 64 games the season prior). O’Neale, meanwhile, made a career-high 212 treys (third-most in a season in Suns history) on a career-best 40.8% clip from beyond the arc.
So, despite the fact that both Allen and O’Neale were viewed as prime trade candidates ahead of this year’s deadline, shipping them both away for a guy who made just 33.3% of his 3-point attempts a year ago is sacrificing a ton of outside shooting.
Marksmanship from long range was a key asset for this Suns team, even with Devin Booker experiencing a down year from distance by making only 33% of his tries. Now, that strength is all but gone.
Bringing in Peat via the draft already called the Suns’ spacing into question, since Peat is not a skilled outside shooter at this point in his basketball development. Now, the Suns added another power forward who is far from a sharpshooter from deep (career 33.8% shooting from 3-point land).
That doesn't even mention the unprotected 2033 first rounder heading to Charlotte in the deal — arguably the most valuable asset of the entire trade. With changes to the NBA draft lottery rules, the value of that pick may only increase with time.
Even for the fans who wish to shield their eyes from Bridges’ past domestic violence arrest and focus purely on basketball, the basketball portion of this trade has a chance to backfire and result in team regression for the Suns franchise.
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