Empire of the Suns: A Phoenix Suns NBA trade deadline preview

Empire of the Suns: A Phoenix Suns NBA trade deadline preview

Suns fans you know what time it is in the PHX Empire of the Sun Suns the Empire of the Suns podcast is brought to you by Sonic M Sonic Empire of the Suns hello there and welcome to the Empire of the Suns podcast my name is

Kell Olson I’m joined as always by Kevin Zimmerman what’s up man we’re here we’re here for the trade deadline on this Thursday and the Suns will be do you think they’re active because or do you think they have so little they’re just like let’s see what comes

Through our phone lines because for me it’s more about like who’s calling them what’s out there so far there’s not much noise and obviously they’re done with this road trip so we can we can start there probably right spilling the tea a little early my man we’ll get there we’ll get

There we’ll get there but te EA is part of the te’s don’t SP can’t spell yeah you can’t spell it don’t spill it you got to present it to your audience without the shaky hands yeah your hands are shaking yeah I’m shaky mom spaghetti get us together the Phoenix Suns went

Four and three on their road trip Kevin a acceptable solid result um I think that more of the takeaway here is that they easily could have gone 5 and 2 6 and one 7 and I don’t know how you felt about the Hawks game necessarily but we talked

About the Indiana and Orlando games already uh they beat the Nets Kevin Durant uh homecoming to Brooklyn at long last Atlanta it’s just more of the same thing again we that was our last week’s episode we’re not really going to do that this time uh and then

Washington was uh Bradley be going nuts and the Wizards looking like they just woke up that that was those games and we’re not really going to going to focus on them necessarily because not necessarily a milestone but one of those like huh that’s right moments is that we are now 15 games into

Devon Booker Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant being healthy consecutively in games which one you can use this time to blame me when one of them gets hurt and say that I was the person to jinx it but two this is enough of a sample size for

Us to really go off of and diagnose where the team is at right now and I covered a lot of that uh at the Wizards win specifically and some of my main takeaways were uh Bradley Beal needs to play better which we saw against Washington but him starting to look like

Himself basically what happened is Beal was playing this low R low usage excuse me low usage roll and looked like the perfect third banana for four or five games there was the game in New Orleans where he was like guarding Zion for stretches he was really really good he

Gets hit in the face breaks his nose and then across those necks I believe four or five games he shoots 35% from the field including three of 24 from three goes into this Washington game finds a rhythm again shoots 16 of 21 overall scores 43 points 26 of those were in the

First half but really where the you watch the games and it’s telling you that be needs to uh step up but then you um look at the numbers and they tell you as well that that Beal needs to step up because you watch this and Washington and they weren’t playing defense against

Anyone to be fair but if you’re watching who defenses are trying to take away the most it is definitely Booker and Durant like separated in their own tier by probably two or three tiers and then Beal is in the next one a lot of teams are TR are treating Beal not so much

That he’s a non-shooter but someone they’re willing to help off of and that is extremely surprising to see because Beal has cemented himself for over a decade as a really good shooter in this league he has not been a really good shooter this year um he has not been a

Solid shooter this year when he’s been wide open on threes this year he’s shooting under 32% from the field if you look at his three-point attempts compared to Booker and Durant with the tracking data that admittedly is wonky but tells you where Defenders are he’s pretty much taking all of his with space

While Booker and dur are taking a good percentage with a Defender near them that’s not really what be is doing at all on this team um so he is a guy that should be shooting the best for example Booker on wide openen threes this year is shooting I think 45 36% this year

Whereas Beal’s at 32 which coming into the year we looked at all these same kind of numbers and his catch and shoot numbers were really good his wide openen numbers were really good which indicated that when he has time when he’s in a catch and shoot roll it’s going to go really

Well this is not to say that it is without reason as to why this is happening he has been in a situation right now where he hasn’t been able to get a rhythm he hasn’t been able to establish himself and in this middle in the middle of this 15 games he breaks

His freaking knows and has to play through this injury that’s going on but I think the main thing to watch for for me over the next four to 6 weeks is if he can start to look like Bradley Beal again because he’s really honest with a

Lot of what he says after games and stuff and I’m sure he’ll be the first guy to tell you that along with those three-point numbers but just his play in general he’s got so much more that he can provide again for Suns fans Not initiated three-time All-Star third team

Allba in 20 20 21 season when he averaged 31 points a game he’s an excellent basketball player and he’s he’s been he’s been solid this year and they just need more out of him especially with the amount of money that he’s making to be clear I expect that to

Happen but we’re at game 51 52 of the season right now and it’s at that point now where he really needs to start to get going now or else they’re not going to be as big of a threat that we thought they could be yeah it’s I mean go back

And look at the the Suns games against Washington he looked like that Booker guy on a on a bad team where he kind of was should have been demanding the double teams and he’s definitely not going to get those in this by the way we miss missed uh what Thursday Deon Booker

Made the All-Star team as a reserve that’s very nice but he made that because coaches know and you can tell by how they react to him on the court sending doubles his way sending doubles Katie’s way and it’s really easy to see why Beal has all those open shots so I

Mean you go look at it I mean I think he’s just feeling things out maybe trying to pass a lot like he had a nine assist game 10 assist game a couple games back when he had a lowc scoring output um and like that’s great but again these three

Guys are at their best when they’re attacking and they just need to find him spots and I do think like book getting in foul trouble in Washington really I was like hey this is a great opportunity for like be to learn okay I only have Durant to worry

About that going up to number two for a signicant ific stretch really did kind of click on him mentally it looked like like and maybe being at home his old home kind of mattered too just click on that okay I need to be aggressive and

Yeah if I make plays out of this so be it but he needs to score and um I I think I don’t know if they’re going to they’re probably not going to take the Charles Barkley route of benching the guy but they’re going to have to like

Feel out what makes him turn that on in his head and he’s going to have to get used to that and like you said I think it is more about Fort and once you get a couple more games again 15 games of them being together under his belt especially

That’s the next step and then we can have conversations about okay all three of the big three are clicking now what but yeah I mean I’m not super concerned about Bradley Beal um it’s just an important reminder like hey it’s February now and they’ve got to figure

That out quick before they get into the more detailed things the main numbers that had me back this up and to be clear something you thought of when you said that is we both came into the season saying Bradley Beal has the toughest job out of anyone on the entire team and

Doing what Chris Bosch did doing what others did in this kind of third banana roll whatever you want to call it is extremely difficult and that’s to your point in what I’m saying is that he needs to be in that low usage role sometimes and then there are other times

Where hey you need to demand like not demand command the these three to four minutes coming yeah and we need you to be all NBA guy for these four minutes but your other 26 minutes we need you like it’s it’s a really tough thing or if you are running points run point in

An aggressive mindset and attack out of it more a little and not that’s that’s the weird part about the point guard thing it’s like okay when they have it like they’re well they’re playing a little a little not like themselves all three of them to some degree book’s good

At it the other two not as much to that point those 15 games in a like made me sit up in my chair thing when I’m looking through all these numbers and stuff when Devon Booker is on the floor across these 15 games 545 minutes the Suns have an offensive rating of

126.70 in the league I want to say off the top of my head and when he’s off the court it is just a completely different story to the point where it makes you even more critical of Beal and to a certain extent Durant as well because

When Booker is off the floor over these 15 games that’s 175 total minutes their offensive rating drops again 126.70 3.5 that is we’re throwing the ball to Bernard King offensive R numbers that’s like 2021 22 Thunder For Worse that was the last one cuz when I was running it I

Remember that one of those very bad Thunder teams I’m talking like that’s the Stone Age of basketball one of 3.5 offensive just with pace and all that kind of stuff and no one taking threes the defensive rating jumps to 121.4 that Al together is a negative 17.9 defensive rating or uh net rating

Excuse me and then the net rating overall for when Booker on the floor is 13.7 so that’s a difference of like 30 points per 100 possessions in those little pockets of the game when he says at the start of the second to the start of the fourth here’s the thing Kev

Everyone suggesting rotation changes and stuff why doesn’t Booker come out a little earlier why is he’s still going to be off the floor you cannot just keep him on the floor for 40 minutes a game in the regular season you can’t do it now this is going to become less of a

Problem in the postseason when he’s playing 40 to 42 minutes a game probably but with that being said it’s still a problem right now uh and it’s something that they need to figure out they’re going to have these 12 to 16 minutes and you need to preserve him for the

Playoffs so you cannot be playing him 39 41 minutes a night um with where he’s going some of the other numbers when Bradley Beal is off the floor the offensive rating of the team is 12.3 which is really really good for Kevin Durant who might be I think in my

Opinion is the best offensive player in the history of the game 11 17.7 which is pretty darn good for comparison the sun’s offensive rating on the season itself is 11 18.2 which is seventh in the NBA so they’re still a top 10 offense when Kevin Durant is off the floor but

They again they turn into like the Washington bull when when Devon Booker is off the floor and I don’t really understand uh I do understand why but the DraStic change uh the number one uh bit of data that stands out with what changes and everything assist a turnover ratio

Booker 2.33 when he is on the floor which again we’re talking that’s top three in the league right there 1.02 when he is off the floor that is a full Half Point worse than the team in last this year like that is when we’re dealing with two points being good then

Half of or a point off is not good it’s really incomparable yeah 1.02 is really again the I think the team that was in last was Portland with like A52 and then the the like someone in 29 I think the Pelicans or something magic maybe were

Um like 169 so that is by far in a way like that that’s brutal so I say all of that in a way where again that conversation we’re going to but something we’re going to talk about a little later point guard which is like do they need a point guard no could they

Use a spot guy for 12 minutes a game yes because we’re at that point now it’s been we watched over a month of these guys play and the minutes the offense is just not good it’s very very bad in fact it’s historically bad when Booker is off

The floor now for those little chunks of minutes but didn’t want to move on from that conversation without giving our due credit to watch out what you’re saying on the internet people he’ll come find you Mr Yousef nkic oh when he’s on the floor over these 15 games the offensive rating

Is even better than Bookers it’s 127.0 net rating overall 12.12 the defense is really solid when he’s off the floor it drops to 112. 7 defensive rating holds in a solid spot at 114.3 what about moving him to the bench well not not like not starting but

Like is that a crossover more when there’s non Booker minutes is this like a 40 chess thing you’re doing or are you being serious I’m being serious to run the offense through him Booker’s not there and just not see I thought you were I like that that requires a whole

New offense to be installed he responded today the Charles Barkley thing about be coming off the bench I thought you were doing some like Galaxy brain stuff I wasn’t doing Galaxy brain stuff okay I give you too much credit sometimes don’t no nerkish over those 14 games that he’s

Played in of the 15 where they’ve been healthy he is shooting 59. 4% from the field holy smokes Kev that is actually solid efficiency for a center before that 48.7 in the 33 games prior was his field goal percentage wouldn’t you know it having these three Elite offensive

Players around him setting him up and I think more importantly spacing spacing uh Mike vle had the nice clip yesterday where it’s like when he brings the ball up or if he’s in the um in the initiation role at the top of the key at top of the circle whatever

You want to call with the elbow uh this ain’t the Pack 12 you can’t just sit there under the rim and let him cook and like be like go ahead and take a mid-range jumper you have to stand in the key or or not or guard him

Basically you can’t just stand in the key so when he does that there’s space and when he brings the ball up there’s even more space um and he’s just been phenomenal with that in particular something I want to bring up is there are times where the Suns would force

Feed either javil McGee or bismack biombo and people would be very confused and very angry and be like why are they doing this there is an innate thing in basketball where empowering your big man is a very big thing and showing confidence in your big man being like we

Are going to get you the ball keep working you’re doing the hardest job on the floor keep running up and down keep rebounding keep banging inside we’re going to find you the ball there is a certain level of again intuition there to giving them the ball and you oh hey

Did Mel Brees switch off on you sir we should probably give you the ball we’re not going to miss you it’s going to keep coming keep fighting for position we’re going to get it to you and you can tell that all of his teammates have the utmost confidence in the world they’re

Not going to look him off they’re not going to do any of that type of stuff they are going to get him the ball and wouldn’t you know it his confidence is is there I think that was the big battle with da over the last couple of years

That they would get him the ball in those situations sometimes and then he would not repay the favor nurkic is repaying the favor right now by the way like first 10 15 games of the year he was having some of those inconsistent like not looking very confident moments

But they’ve just untapped this very confident version of him that has been there in the past in his career because they are empowering him because they are making him a legitimate part of the offense because hey um there was one play where he was at the top of the key

And he was the guy basically making the decision and Booker was on the left wing he was kind of coming around ready to come get the ball but nurkic went the other way instead and was like no we’re going to get Brad the ball again and then Brad came around and like that’s

Him being the quote unquote point guard from like media day or whatever he’s the guy making the decision on what they’re going to run like he can go either way there but he went to get Brad the ball it worked out to a good possession all that kind of stuff he’s been really

Really good and I don’t I I wanted to call him a top 10 Center over the last month in the league but the center position is incredibly deep and really really really good like the eighth best center in the league is probably like I don’t want to butcher the rankings here

Whatever of guys but it’s still someone really really good who could be an All-Star probably so I didn’t want to go that far but he is has been I was someone you you and I were both more optimistic than most on what he could provide but with that being said I don’t

Think we expect him to be capable of stretches like this and he’s been really darn good until the point where yeah maybe he’s not going to close playoff games but they need him for those other 24 28 minutes or whatever to start the game like if he gets played off the

Floor so be it but at the start they need to see if it works because they’re a different far better team when he’s out there and he’s I think that he is the one guy who cannot get hurt outside of the big three I think like if I had to rank like who

Can who do they value who’s the most valuable to this team outside the big three he’s probably number one for me cuz there’s not a viable option behind him and also by the way when we talk about what teams are serious matchups it’s nuggets it’s Clippers and those

Guys have big guys like for the same reasons nurkic’s value doesn’t get enough juice like Zub box has been on that team Rock Solid at Center whatever their iterations have been of their star players the last few years for a reason um and again it’s like okay you want to

Play off the 300 lb 280 lb dude fine but you better be really really efficient when you go at that and if he’s played off then they’re going to lose something but it it’s tough to do and I think that’s what nerk can be for this team um plus the offensive stuff like

Also um not just throwing in the post but just as a role man people don’t think of a slow non- jumping guy to be like gravity but the Nets game was another example of yeah if KD is finding him like I think five of his eight assists or whatever were two nerk in

Roles basically um then like that that’s really good and there’s value to it and then your threes start opening up and all that good stuff so yeah I mean most important dude outside the big three I would agree with that too the the trade deadline is Thursday afternoon

I think 1:00 local time is what we’re looking at here and the Phoenix Suns have some work to do they have limited assets but they have work to do and to your point with what you were talking about there is going to be some like first round picks being tradeable that

Are going to open up over the next year or two like future future first round picks if they want to keep not putting themselves in the hole necessarily but keep eating into that future draft pick Reserve but they have limited assets right now um nir little is the one guy

Who comes to mind that we’ve talked about previously just because he is one of the three guys this is how the uh roster Works Kev Kevin Durant makes $47 million a year Bradley Beal makes $46 million a year de Booker makes $36 million a year and then you’ve got

Nerkish at 16.8 Grayson Allen on a one-year expiring 8.9 and then there’s Nas little 6.2 million the first year of a 4year $28 million deal and then after that it is a bunch of guys on minimum contracts so typically the facil trades if you’re kind of new to this thing

Those mid-tier contracts are valuable for making certain trades happen around this time of year specifically when in season it’s more difficult to make things happen that’s why little logically makes sense the background here he hasn’t really played much this year he’s kind of there’s a nagging knee

Injury there was a nagging other thing that kind of kept him out and he is sort of since getting healthy in the last couple of weeks has been sort of phased out of the rotation essentially it’s been a kogi maybe kbd in some stretches and it looks like more so bu for that

Other Wing Spot because you got Eric Gordon you got Eubanks you got a kogi and then it’s like that ninth wild card spot if you want to call it that he hasn’t been getting those minutes he has at times at times he’s played well at times he has

Not you can look at his deal and say okay he’s not playing on this team you can’t trade that contract it is not the right way to look at it because he’s on a $28 million deal and contracts are getting more and more expensive by the Year by the back half

Of that deal it’s going to be really cheap and like not close to the minimum per se but Eric Gordon who’s on the high high tier of minimum contracts because he’s been around the league forever makes 3.2 this year like he he makes half so it’s it’s not completely out of

This world to put the contract in that same kind of range and he is a guy who is 23 years old who has a ton of fans around the league there are plenty of smart basketball people who saw the DeAndre and trade and were like Nas

Little is going to be the guy who swings that trade for them in their favor that hasn’t happened necessarily and that’s not to do a haha told you so kind of thing it’s more of a yeah he is going to have some interest around the league

Now how much interest is he going to have is it going to be enough to facilitate a kind of deal right here we don’t know because you have to attach assets to him beyond that to make a deal work for someone who could fit into your rotation and here’s where we’re

At this is nearly mathematically impossible at this point in the season already but from the campaign trade which by the way to the backup point guard talk to rehash something from a couple months ago where we didn’t want to speak on if that looked like luxury

Tax stuff for that before we saw the rest of the offseason it looks like it was luxury tax stuff they traded away campaign to save money and saved them $26 million that’s something you got to do sometimes got a pick two picks they got this uh Spurs pick I believe they

They got two picks and then they got there’s a swap somewhere in there I believe so again we’re not we’re not completely the jury is not totally out but it’s starting to exit everyone is starting to form a line at the door basically on what that trade was about

They have the Spurs second round pick next year but it is heavily protected at 31 to 54 so unless the Spurs go uh undefeated the rest of the year then that pick is going back to the Spurs and then the Suns don’t see anything from there uh they own a 2026 second round

Pick which is the least favorable between the Pistons who will probably maybe I don’t here’s the thing we’re now with the rest of these picks we’re talking so far down the line we can’t sit here and say yeah the bucks it’ll be the Bucks second round pick because they

Have it’s like will Giannis even be in Milwaukee then I don’t know will Dame even be there I don’t know Orlando like who’s there like how much money are they paying all these guys I don’t know it’s the least favorable between those three teams Detroit Milwaukee Orlando it’s a

Pick it’s a pick in 20128 it is a 31 to 45 protected one from the Boston Celtics and then an unprotected second rounder from Memphis grizzley shout out Isaiah Todd shout out the guy dude honestly two picks from that trade right yeah two yeah the swaps

There were huge uh and then the same goes for the Memphis pick in 2029 uh the protected second round pick there they lost a pick also because of the tampering Drew Eubanks thing so they would have had a second round pick this year yeah I believe it was six that they

Were going to have but then they tampered for a backup center and they need a backup center and it would help them to trade for a backup center with another second round pick so whoops hey you you live and you learn four picks are you doing four

Second round picks but here’s the thing people’s jobs are on the line line you know what I don’t like is when I think I might get fired and then someone tries to offer me picks that are 5 years from now and I’m like I don’t know if I’m

Going to be around to make that pck sir so I don’t know um and that’s just sort of a another like abc1 123 kind of thing with the trade deadline to understand is that picks lose value the longer they go down in in years unless you’re talking about first round picks and you’re

Talking about first round picks that have lighter protections second round picks not so much people want second round picks right away to use them sooner so yes 2028 2029 that did get something done like the Suns for example had interest in getting those but can they get someone else to have interest

In them uh that remains to be seen they can to be clear like it’s something to trade in a lot of these situations like remember PJ Tucker getting traded from the Suns to the Raptors they got just two second round picks that were in the high 50s it was basically let’s get PJ

To a contender those kind of things can’t happen do you want to go down and see most tradable assets or just talk about it blankly cuz one more thing I should mention trade exceptions again this is where the campaign trade comes in they got a $6.5 million trade exception so if

They don’t want to trade Nas little they can figure out a way to keep Noz little which you point out in your story today like you could still develop him and it’s it’s not out of the question like it you don’t really have many developmental pieces on the roster at

All really yeah and he’s he’s the one essentially outside of him and I guess if you want to count Grayson Allen but he’s in your six now whatever $6.5 million exception shout out campaign 5 million shout out to Ario Sarge can you combine these into $1.5 million you sure can’t

Kevin you can’t do that uh can you combine them into other things no not really it’s basically hey you’re getting a player that’s worth $6 million J Shante was one then that’s why that one was a jump to conclusions M here’s the exception here’s three second round

Picks yeah there we go and then you cut someone to make the to make the uh player slots work and then that’s pretty much it um one more note before we go uh over to just like assets and like what they need and all that kind of earn or what they need and

Targets this is the last time that they can aggregate salaries that’s a big word lot of G combine lot of G’s in there basically what it means is again I’m talking to myself here like I when I read it I’m like what does that mean it’s like okay right they can’t combine

Player salaries so like you talk about trading two guys for one you can’t do that anymore three for two no no uh you can just do one for one trades after that now you can trade one of the big three for three or four players you can

Do that but then there’s more salary crap you guys don’t care about that other people smarter than me that understand this stuff better can explain to you um that’s a bridge to cross when we get there I hope we never see it Kev I hope we just never see that stupid

Bridge what if you could wave your little wand Kev that you’ve been known to yield from wield from time to time what would you think what would you get the Suns right now there’s a backup point guard but that is a very specific spefic like hey you might play 8 minutes

You might play 20 depends on the night depends on who it is you could go get a wing who is not going to start but it’s going to take that Josh aogi Wild Card role that we talked about or would you go get a backup five can I

Get I would get and I don’t even know who this player is cuz this is the choice they’re going to have to make I think I don’t think they can get more than one of these things they can get one of these things now and maybe get

Lucky on the buyout Market which is where I lean away from backup center cuz I think a backup center is probably going to be available on the buyout Market yeah my whole thing is I think and I wrote about this on arizonasports.com but you need to get someone

On who’s a rotation player Fisher who at very least you can resign or is on a multi-year deal cuz you you don’t got no no uh no mid-level exception none of that none of that stuff they’re going to have to pay in taxes anyway the Grayson Allen thing for

Example if he gets a pay raise resigns then you can still trade him later cuz he’s a good player and a good contract someone on a multi-year deal or you retain their bird rights yes so we want bird rights here um and you want someone who can play multiple positions if I had

The perfect player it would be someone who can be a backup big but also plays Wing you know who you just describe o and anobi Tory Craig Tory Craig um kind of what bull bull is doing right now yeah pretty much um but just more reliable has a longer track record that

Kind of thing and that’s why it’s just hard man um I think from a versatility standpoint that’s a big one point guard if you go beyond like a TJ McConnell Delon Wright would fit um who else d so that once we get past TJ McConnell Monte Morris Jones

Territory yeah any point guard after that you’re only getting one second round pick and that’s it that’s all yeah I’m using the exception in that and that’s it yeah it’s all we’re doing so like a Delon R actually look at his not playing a lot for a bad Raptors team

Wait no he’s on the the Wizards sorry think of what ish Smith is on a basketball team that’s what we’re talking about so it could be actually ish Smith where is he right now I don’t know I forgot Monte Morris was on the Pistons cuz he’s been out injured all

Year Prett much would be good but I’ll stay on my Del right example decent three-point shooter solid Defender I don’t know what his injury history lately is like makes I think 9 million that’s one where it’s like okay like you would but the problem there is you would

Have to give up somebody maybe a draft pick exception um issues on the Charlotte Hornets making three mil a year interesting that’ be a great offense is moving pace is up not a lot defense but I just I just need the veteran who knows you know yeah let’s

Not take 17 seconds to floor spacing would be a little of an issue which is like if Jordan Goodwin honestly I would give him another shot at earning rotation minutes maybe they will soon if he could shoot a little bit you know we’re friends right yeah you’re being

Too picky yeah okay they can’t be this picky okay you just need a basketball player who can play playoff minutes that’s it I don’t care what he does should I go I Came very you should in in a sec I came very close to saying like if the Suns trade for three backup

Centers I don’t care as long as all three of them are good like it’s just good meaning I know they will be in the playoff rotation so for me we talk about fit and need we’ve were a fit and need podcast for many years talking about the

NBA draft and we’re going to return back to that space right now because what I think it has to be is like you can talk about like point guard whatever whatever no it’s like if you can get the right if you can find a

Guy who you know is going to be in your playoff rotation who you know is going to give you 14 minutes that are decent and reliable MH get that guy I don’t care what position they play again they could be a point guard and they’re only going to play 12 minutes what’s

Realistic to get Monte Morris would be that guy you’re saying I don’t know because like last year Obi toppen went for two second round picks and I was like what yeah and KJ Martin did but now KJ Martin is probably for that same kind of price again you think you know and

You think guys are out of the realm of possibility like no to has too much potential and then Wham it’s like no like we don’t want to pay him here you go whatever um the Suns would love that type of opportunity to arise I don’t know if there are any type of candidates

Like that who are first round picks coming off of their deals who were like bird rights are retained restricted rights are retained is there anyone special like that that kind of comes to mind um you’re putting together the the list I think tomorrow so I think that

Would be my call to you is like is there an Obi toen that exists out there the names that I mentioned were those point guards I I proposed like the I’m not really going to call about Dorian finy Smith but I’m going to call about Dorian finy Smith just to like

Tear down to Royce O’Neal when all of a sudden I really wanted Royce O’Neal Tory Craig makes a lot of sense we’ve talked about kenri Williams for multiple years I think that backup center not only is one of those things where it’s just definitively easy like if Andre

Drummond’s on this team your team is better because he offer some of the passing that nurkic does not nearly to his level but he just gives you rebounding and that again can you play him for 20 minutes in the postseason no but you don’t need to you just need an

Impact guy at times over that stretch and that’s what he can be um there’s a weird thing going on in Orlando where goou baz was playing well but now he’s not in even in the rotation anymore it’s worth a call Jeff Green’s playing for Houston but Houston kind of isn’t that

Good and he’s on I believe he’s on a two-year deal and is someone that you could retain for over a year and you could just really fully uh en Embrace small ball hey and then reunite one of the greatest videos the internet’s ever seen what’s up is Reggie bolock on the

Rocket still mhm not playing much nope he was good last year can shoot can defend was he good last year yeah okay just checking was it last year I don’t know should I go down my list yep a lot of these are going to be like a hard no

But hey safe space Jordan wara was traded already was just on the back end of that Pacers roster not getting minutes and then guess what he gets traded to the Raptors and he already had a 24-point game I don’t know what the Raptors are doing he’s from around there

So they’re probably going to keep him but he’s 25 can score Wing big Wing it’s probably off the board now Cody Martin multi-year contract Love Cody Martin probably not going to get traded but he was a guy where when I was doing the fake trade thing that nearly broke me

Last offseason with da and Chris he was I think I had a Cody Martin deal in there and I love Cody Martin I don’t know what the Hornet Cody Martin guy that’s a really good contract so they really shouldn’t no Bulls I don’t know what’s going to happen with

Caruso I don’t think that you can get him but that’s one of those where maybe just nothing comes up for anyone else what is it the doorman of the club is that the guy who like lets you in or not I guess I don’t even think they’re let

Street of the is on no that’s not happening brotheru I don’t know IO dunu get the name right come on he’s a longtime friend of the podcast you were his guy what did I say you didn’t say his name right and that’s all I didn’t say his

First name you said it 96% right but I knew that last 4% out of you because you were the guy who was like the sun should probably take this guy in the second round he turned out to be good energ can make plays defend I’d be down IO would

Be tremendous but I think the problem is the Bulls are going through this thing where they’re like I think we just have to like kind of like have Kobe and IO play a ton cuz they look pretty good and then whatever else the rest of this is I

Don’t know it’ll sort itself out in three to five years are there any pistons on your list there’s probably some Killian Haze I don’t know if that was a real report I saw that he went out but that that doesn’t seem like it would be good you liked him though coming out

Have you ever not wanted to go someplace so bad that you eled to have surgery that was wild look it up I’m not going to talk about it the Pacers really the guys you want are all in the rotation and they are just shoe like Five Guys in it’s

Like a hockey lineup I don’t think that they would break that up so we’re going to pass on any Pacers I thought you were about to go sticks that would have been crazy James Johnson’s what is he still on a 10day and he’s friends with like KD

Was on the Nets I believe with them if you want to over sized Wing to fight people bu out though bu out by out guy the Raptors Jame Johnson’s a person he’s not just a fighter come on be nice I know he’s a good basketball player but I

Don’t know if he’s too old now think he’s too I’m ages for sure I’m not going to say it out loud cuz Okay he could Ros kick me in the ear and add existence for me James Johnson could be the buyout Canada of the year the Tim Thomas of

This year if I want to I loved Tim Thomas was so great that was that three against the Lakers was H what a great moment in franchise history he did the Caitlyn Clark thing before Caitlyn Clark he sure did uh the Raptors have a lot of interesting guys we have our old friend

Garrett Temple Kevin’s been trying to get G temple on the sun since I met him like I met him eight years ago and it’s been a lifelong Pursuit for him I would love this list though okay Chris P I don’t know what’s happening with him but he’s

A little redundant he makes too much money pack 12 probably know Jaylen McDaniels is on a reasonable contract and does not play a lot he hurt that was a weird like hey Jaylen McDaniels on this on the Sixers okay no he’s on the Raptors someone can fact check me if

He’s actually been playing since the cakam trade but I don’t know auto porter is there a reasonable $6.3 million contract and he’s auto porter did we have this discussion like two years ago or something about auto porter I was to say we’re we’re nearly there that’s not

Good that J McDaniels is dipping and ducking and diving in and out of that rotation Darko is playing him here in there okay two games here three games there games off in between four minutes there a minute there not really playing that much auto porter is he’s only is

What I talked about last week where I’m worried about the TJ War and Terence Ross Zone yeah do you put all your eggs in the basket of a guy who might not be in the league next year I don’t know I haven’t seen auto porter play basketball

In over a year so right that’s the weird thing yeah and he’s only like 30 or something or 32 I don’t know which but mhm it it might not be good um that that was the end of my list but the point is all those names that are probably like

Eh what do you give up do you give up on NAS little do you throw together a couple of the minimum guys who you think are not going to be part of the rotation the last time to aggregate them and get a bigger contract that’s a little more

Tradable well you want it to be a multi-year deal so that you don’t have just never to to use it and and use that contract that that person’s on to become more assets so I just I just think the big thing for me is you do ideally want

To aggregate some salary if you see a good player who’s on a multi-year deal you could trade later or is also part of your rotation like you wouldn’t do it unless they you think they’re part of your rotation and then work to buyout market and that’s where I think they’re at I

Don’t think you can even really package these second round picks to some great degree to convince someone oh suddenly I will trade Alex Caruso for your two second round picks in the next Century like they’re they’re they’re pretty not in a great place but I will say that

There are moves you can do or even just sitting still if you don’t get anything good where there could theoretically present more opportunity at next offseason and I know that’s like pushing for this season and just rolling with your roster but if that does happen I’m preparing

People to say okay like there wasn’t anything there cuz like I’m very sure the suns are trying whatever the rumors are they’re trying to find something right now yeah I I think next year is probably the year to be the most aggressive but then again everyone’s

Healthy right now mhm do you know if that’s going to happen again I don’t know and it’s weird because like you can’t look three or two years down the road even like you just want to give yourself if nothing lands for this year this year’s team you need to try to get

Something done for next year’s team two years down the road don’t worry about that two years down the road is Kevin Duro an expiring contract no worry yeah don’t don’t worry about that that is a different conversation for a different day Josh aogi Damian Lee I think Gerald

Was the one who tweeted this have veto rights on trades uh I think that aogi and Daman are probably the two guys right now where assuming Damen is closer like is he going to play by March I’ve been saying beginning of March seems reasonable um with no information on

That those are the two guys that probably another team would be like yeah we’ll take but throw in D and we’ll make it work those seems like the guys to me I don’t know about kbd all these guys have certain fans around the league like that’s the thing like kbd Eubanks Wabi

Metsu bull Goodwin have all shown enough to have have some sort of optimism around the league but I just don’t know how much it’s going to fetch you and how much you’re going to want to be willing to do that like that wild card spot I think it’s probably just going to be

Damen Lee in the rotation if I had to guess right now who that ninth guy in the rotation is going to be it’s probably going to be Damen Lee and and it should be cuz he was pretty solid last year and I thought was underrated

Last year and I think he’s going to if he’s able to come in and look like himself coming off the meniscus injury and just play as hard as he did defensively last year and shoot the ball the way he did last year it’s it’s better than what they’ve been playing

With lately uh for sure we will be back on Thursday after the deadline unless the sun’s clearly make the trade that is like they make a trade on Tuesday or Wednesday that is worth coming here about if there is we’ll do it um and I’m guessing like I don’t think that

The like if the Delon right for a second round pick thing happens I don’t think we’re going to Breaking pod on Tuesday night um but we’ll be back at the very least we’re going to be back on Thursday when the deadline’s over regard regard less um unless the Suns make a huge like

Four or five second round picks swaps are included and they get like an impact player on Tuesday or Wednesday or later this night Monday night we’ll see it’s that time of year where we do that this is my first trade atline without caffeine man I’m I’m nervous oh none

Nervous how do people do it man I wouldn’t know I’m going to find out good luck that’s Sprite that’s Sprite without the caffeine what you drink what do you do I drink water brother that’s all this Gall bladderless fellow guy handle right now we’re we’re working our way back I could

Dabble but it just doesn’t seem like the week to like try you know cuz then I nuke my entire week I just can’t do that right now that’s too much information Caleb love is Pack 12 Player of the Year everyone if you don’t think so I think you’re a fool goodbye

Everyone good cats talk there yeah and

Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic had big games in the back half of a long road trip that ended on a positive note before the Phoenix Suns enter the week of the NBA trade deadline. What assets and needs do they have?

Video: Felisa Cárdenas and Jeremy Schnell/Arizona Sports
Photo: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

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