Trio of Phoenix Suns named as trade deadline players to watch

The trade market is heating up around the NBA, although the conventional thinking to this point has been that the Phoenix Suns will not be players between now and early February. That didn't stop them getting some unexpected buzz recently, when none other than Jimmy Butler was brought up as a star that could soon depart his current team, the Miami Heat.

The Suns for their part were quick to distance themselves from any such rumors, and with good reason. The only real way of getting Butler to Phoenix would involve sending Bradley Beal the other way - and although some fans would like to see that happen - Beal has a no-trade clause and so, final say on any deal.

There are other Suns who are emerging as trade candidates.

That's according to Bobby Marks of ESPN, who has named a trio of Suns as players to watch between now and the trade deadline. To be clear, none of these guys made the list of more likely candidates, with the likes of Butler, Zach LaVine and Brandon Ingram headline that particular group.

Then again - with the Suns unable to trade for a splashy name anyway - what did you expect? To see three players appear though means that there could be some smoke about them leaving The Valley. Despite being a team in the second cap, there are still ways the organization can attempt to get better. Finding a bidder for some of these guys though, could prove difficult.

3. Jusuf Nurkic

The one that fans want to happen more than anything, it is a positive sign that center Jusuf Nurkic was mentioned by name here. Not that there's much of a market for him at this moment - there's not - and it has become increasingly harder for the Suns to play him while trying to win games.

If nothing else, last season Nurkic was healthy and gave the Suns better production than they expected. He averaged basically 11/11 each night, and battled in the paint for his undersized team. Yes he was exposed badly in the playoffs - but the thinking at the time was - another team could potentially use him as a regular season battering ram.

That hasn't happened, but instead Nurkic can now be talked about as an expiring contract. He's not quite there yet - next season is the last of his current deal and he's making over $19 million - but that's the way into conversations for the Suns' front office. Would they have to attach a second round pick to ditch him? At this point, quite possibly.

The bigger question though is what they'd get in return that could actually help them now. Jonas Valanciunas of the Washington Wizards works - as long as they attach a guy like Johnny Davis to make the numbers fit - but quite why the Wizards would do that is anybody's guess. Add a first round pick and they would, but the Suns shouldn't be interested in that. Still, a starting point at least.

2. Josh Okogie

It is no surprise to see Josh Okogie's name on this list, and yet his season has unfolded in such a strange way that he could end up staying put. He was brought back last summer on a two-year, $16 million deal that smacked of the Suns inking Okogie to that number so as to give them access to different kinds of trades while being stuck in the second apron.

That was the case to start the season, only Okogie missed time with a hamstring window and the Suns were unable to put him in the shop window. When he finally got a run of games going, a strange thing happened. Okogie looked like he actually had more value to the Suns than anything they could get back for him, because of his defensive ability.

There was also a stretch during an ugly Western Conference road trip in which Okogie outscored Devin Booker in two games over the course of a week. That the team lost both of those contests wasn't a surprise, and it once again highlighted how dependent on their stars this Suns team is.

But you have to credit Okogie for taking his chance when head coach Mike Budenholzer gave it to him, in the wake of injuries to both Beal and Kevin Durant. Now that the team is approaching full health again though, Okogie has become buried on the bench again. Which is diminishing his trade stock which had increased. A puzzling one, but there's a deal to be done if the Suns look hard enough.

1. Grayson Allen

The most surprising name to appear in the piece by Marks - but as you will see - not without good reason. Of all the players the Suns currently have on their books, Grayson Allen is quickly becoming the odd man out in Phoenix. Last season he was the team's third best player for stretches when Beal was injured, which was often.

This time out however point guard Tyus Jones has comprehensively taken that title from him, and it started because Allen was cool with him taking his spot in the starting lineup. If that's not bad enough, Royce O'Neale has ensured he is the sixth man who steps into a starting spot when Beal is out with his own shooting exploits.

He is shooting a sizzling 45.8 percent so far this season - by far a career high - and not far behind the 46.1 percent of Allen's that led the entire league last season. Whether that holds or not doesn't matter, the play of Jones and O'Neale - combined with the addition of rookie Ryan Dunn - has complicated things for Allen in The Valley.

All of a sudden the prospect of dealing a guy in the first year of a four-year, $70 million deal that goes up year-on-year doesn't seem so bad, especially when the Suns would certainly get something of value back for Allen. Another franchise trading for him would get an elite shooter and control of him for years to come - which on that kind of money - has massive appeal around the NBA.