We’re now less than a month away from the NBA trade deadline, and proposed trades circulating in the sports media landscape are starting to get silly.
As fans, we all want to see a lot of movement. Blockbuster deals going down ahead of the deadline raise the excitement level — shaking up the league, sending stars to new situations where they can contribute to playoff runs is good for basketball.
As a fringe playoff team with a plethora of salary cap questions, the Phoenix Suns are frequently mentioned in trade rumors — some logical, others … not so much.
We’ve documented the Suns’ trade deadline outlook with the possibility of moving backup center Nick Richards’ expiring contract in an attempt to get under the luxury tax threshold while providing Richards a greater opportunity to play elsewhere.
Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale are other talented role players who could get moved in the right scenario to free up cap space the Suns will need in order to retain impending free agents Collin Gillespie and Mark Williams.
Those seem the most likely options if the Suns don’t ultimately decide just to stand pat — either by choice or by not finding the right trade partner before February’s deadline.
Higher profile predictions for the Suns, though, are just sounding silly. In fact, one of the most recent speculative trades was emphatically shot down by Suns owner Mat Ishbia.
Here are the proposed deals the Suns would be misguided to pursue.
Austin Reaves for Dillon Brooks? Sorry, Lakers
In a recent segment on FanDuel TV, host Michelle Beadle pitched a trade in which the Los Angeles Lakers send guard Austin Reaves to the Suns in exchange for Dillon Brooks. “Are you taking that?” Beadle asks her panel.
“In a heartbeat,” DeMarcus Cousins says in response.
Well, yeah…
Interestingly, Chandler Parsons said “you are out of your mind” for agreeing to that swap from the standpoint of the Lakers.
Reaves is no doubt a talented player who continues to improve. He’s averaging 26.6 points, 6.3 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game this season, which are all career highs.
The numbers are gaudy, but stats alone should never dictate why a team would agree to a trade.
Brooks is among the primary reasons why the Suns’ culture has shifted in 2025-26. He’s also having a career year by averaging 21.2 points per game in Phoenix.
League MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a former Brooks teammate with team Canada, had nothing but good things to say about Brooks ahead of the Suns’ upset win over OKC on Jan. 4. “He affects winning,” SGA said.
That’s been clear so far in Phoenix, during his time in Houston and even before then as a member of the Memphis Grizzlies.
On paper or in NBA2K, a Reaves for Brooks swap might make sense, but Brooks’ impact on the team’s culture and defensive improvements this year is not something Phoenix should throw away. Ishbia taking time to shoot down that trade speculation shows he has the same thought process.
Who will trade for Trae Young?
The writing has been on the wall in Atlanta ever since the Hawks showed competency with Trae Young sidelined due to a knee injury. A young core including Jalen Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker appears to be the future in Atlanta, leaving Young in an awkward spot.
There are now reports that Atlanta and Young are working together on a trade to send the sharpshooting point guard elsewhere, but possible landing spots are few and far between.
Young has a player option for next season that would pay him nearly $49 million. Given how much time he’s missed already this season, it seems logical that Young would exercise that option instead of testing free agency.
If his hefty contract was merely being shed from the books this summer, acquiring that expiring money would be advantageous for a Suns team looking to keep their own impending free agents. So, would the Suns pursue Young anyway?
In a piece for The Athletic (subscription required) breaking down possible Young trade scenarios, Sam Vecenie (while hedging that he doesn’t think the proposal makes sense) proposed a swap sending Jalen Green, Royce O’Neale and No. 10 overall draft pick Khaman Maluach to Atlanta for Young.
Let’s just agree with Vecenie that the proposal doesn’t make sense and move on, because giving up those three guys for Young would be a fireable offense by new GM Brian Gregory.
Road to Zion (Williamson)?
With the preface that the Suns need to “aim higher” in trade talks and acquire star power, Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale mused about New Orleans Pelicans Zion Williamson being a target for the Suns.
“Mortgaging the farm for his services is a no-no. Fortunately, the Suns don't have much left to mortgage,” Favale writes. “Zion is the star-sized gamble you make if the New Orleans Pelicans are looking for matching money — like, the injured Jalen Green plus stuff — and not much else.”
Again, why would the Suns opt to move on from Green at this stage?
The 23-year-old guard was the key piece coming back in the Kevin Durant blockbuster deal with Houston, but to this point only Dillon Brooks has been healthy enough to make an impact.
At the very least, the Suns need to see what they have with Green on the court before making any more short-sighted decisions (the Brad Beal trade ringing any bells?)
Green was awesome in the one full game he played this season sandwiched between hamstring injuries. He scored 29 points on 10-of-20 shooting while making six 3-pointers and adding three rebounds and three assists to the box score.
Adding Williamson only makes sense if the Suns have the power to turn injuries off, and reality is not a video game.