Suns massively won trade they weren't even part of

The Phoenix Suns are 10-8 after an up-and-down start to the season, thanks in large part to injury with Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal having both missed several weeks with calf strains. Both returned to the court this week, with the Suns beating the Los Angeles Lakers in impressive fashion, before losing to the short-handed Brooklyn Nets the following night.

That is a microcosm of their season to date - an 8-1 start but also losing six of seven games afterwards - and head coach Mike Budenholzer is now tasked with steadying the ship. Trades are an exciting way to make that happen, and although the Suns are a second apron team, there's still ways they can improve their roster.

They've already won a trade they weren't even part of.

Incredibly it was only last month when the deal was made official, and it caught a lot of people by surprise. A three-team bonanza, it was headlined by Karl-Anthony Towns going to the New York Knicks, with Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo going in the other direction. The move was seen as risky for both sides, although the Knicks look to have really profitted.

Think what you like about Towns, he was the best player in that trade. Generally the team that gets the best player wins the deal - and although it is still early days - that looks to be the case here. The combination of Towns, Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges under defensive-minded head coach Tom Thibodeau is going to win a lot of games in the weaker Eastern Conference.

Like the Suns they're 10-8, and recently came into Phoenix and hammered the home team. Compare that to the Timberwolves - who also beat the Suns in more heartbreaking circumstances before that - and are now 8-10. Their franchise cornerstone coming out and saying the following after their loss to the Sacramento Kings.

All is not well in Minnesota, and it is puzzling how a group that swapped out the defensively-challenged Towns for the tough as nails Randle could be labelled "soft" by their best player. Which is exactly how and why the Suns were winners in a trade they had absolutely nothing to do with.

Not only did Towns and Rudy Gobert give their big man Jusuf Nurkic fits en route to a sweep in the playoffs last season, the Timberwolves shut the Suns down all over the floor and flat out wanted it more. Like the team-embodiment of former player Jimmy Butler, they took the soul from The Valley, and they nearly made it to the NBA Finals.

Yet although Randle is handful for Nurkic and any other Suns player to handle, he is leagues away from Towns in terms of offensive ability. Defensively he can fade in and out of games, while also having a similar injury track record to Beal at this point. That doesn't sound nearly as scary as Towns, and it the main reason the Suns should now be favored in a potential playoff rematch.

The Timberwolves managed to beat the Suns 120-117 on a Randle buzzer-beater that possibly should not have counted, and that was despite Devin Booker pouring in a season-high 44 points himself. Yet this was accomplished with both Durant and Beal sitting, and the Suns still had a chance to win the game and probably should have.

It is not as simple as saying that Durant and Beal would have changed the outcome - this group at full strength lost to the Nets - but you get the point. One of the main roadblocks out of the West last season not only looks worse, but the vibes coming out of their camp are a far cry from how they finished last season too.

It's almost as if ditching your second best player - and former first overall pick - in favor of a 29-year-old who was injured while the Knicks went on their own run last season was a bad move to make. There were financial implications in keeping Towns too, but the Suns know all about that as a second apron team. The West is hard, but for now at least, this trade makes it a bit easier in Phoenix.