Trading back from No. 10 gives Phoenix a better chance to fill multiple holes on the roster
The Kevin Durant trade is now official(ish), and the Phoenix Suns have regained their lottery pick at No. 10, for now.
The Suns, in recent years, have made multiple draft day trades to varying success. Phoenix traded the No. 6 pick in 2019 and landed Cam Johnson and Dario Saric. Last season, the Suns traded No. 22 for No. 28 and No. 40 and gained two rotation-caliber players in Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro. This year, three teams have multiple first-round picks behind Phoenix at No. 10: Oklahoma City, Atlanta, and Brooklyn.
Brian Gregory and the Suns only have a couple of days to do their due diligence and explore every possible scenario, including trading the No. 10 pick for multiple first-round picks.
Why trade back?
Trading back from No. 10 gives Phoenix a better chance to fill the multiple holes on the roster. The Suns need at least a center, a point guard, and a big, versatile wing to be competitive again in the Western Conference. If the Suns can split the No. 10 pick into two or three picks and hold onto No. 29, it would give them a chance at filling every hole on the roster. If the Suns could come out of the draft with a combination of a young high-potential point guard, a defensive anchor at center and a lengthy wing that gives Phoenix size, it would be a successful draft. Trading out of No. 10 gives the Suns a chance to fill three needs instead of two.
Trade to Oklahoma City
After winning an NBA Championship, the Oklahoma City Thunder are poised to be title contenders for a decade. The only “problem” the Thunder have is that they have too many good players and not enough roster spots. Oklahoma City still has 13 first-round draft picks that will convey over the next 5-7 years. For the Thunder, quality is greater than quantity, so packaging the No. 15 and No. 24 picks to climb up to No. 10 makes sense because they would get a chance at a better prospect without having to lose or trade anyone already on the roster.
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For Phoenix, it is not the best option out there, but it appears to be the most likely because Oklahoma City has no roster spots left. Would the Thunder want anything else on the Suns roster? Probably not, unless they want to add Grayson Allen’s shooting to the roster, but I would not expect the Thunder to value anything the Suns have other than the No. 10 pick. The downside for the Suns is that they could potentially miss out on drafting a high-ceiling prospect at No. 15, but the addition of another first-round pick might be worth the risk in my opinion. The Suns need to acquire as many young players as possible for the franchise, and the player they want at No. 10 could still be available at No. 15.
Trade to Atlanta
The Atlanta Hawks are another potential team for the Suns to trade back with on Wednesday night, and the most ideal one. The Hawks have the No. 13 and No. 22 picks and could easily trade up to No. 10 if someone they liked were to fall during the draft. If the Suns could acquire both picks for just No. 10, it would be a steal. However, first-round picks are valuable even at the latter end of the draft, and giving up No. 13 and No. 22 would be a lot to move up three spots. So what stops this potential trade from happening is if Atlanta wants both Phoenix picks (No. 10 and No. 29) for Atlanta’s two first-round round picks (No. 13 and No. 22). The Suns could potentially miss out on a high ceiling player at No. 10 and only move up five spots at the back end of the first round. So, unless Phoenix can turn its two first-round picks into three, there is no point in accepting this deal.
Trade to Brooklyn
The Brooklyn Nets have four first-round picks this year, with three of those picks after the Suns at No. 10. The Nets are picking at No. 8, No. 19, No. 26, and No. 27 and are the wild card Wednesday night with all their picks and players available. A straight-up draft swap of the 10th pick for picks 19, 26, and 27 seems unlikely because it would have the Suns falling too far from No. 10 unless they love all the prospects at the end of the first round. However, in trades with Nic Claxton, Cam Johnson, or other players on the Nets roster, the Suns can easily be a third team in those deals to get extra picks and get off Royce O’Neal or Grayson Allen’s contracts.
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The other thing to watch with Brooklyn is that I expect they will be aggressive looking to trade up as well. If Brooklyn could turn No. 19 and No. 26 into a pick close to No. 10, then it would give Phoenix the same trade package it could get from Oklahoma City and Atlanta. Another trade package that, on paper, would be worth trading back for.
Trading up
Phoenix is just as likely to attempt to trade up in the draft instead of trading down, but trading up will be more difficult. The Suns have many holes on their roster and need an influx of young, promising, and inexpensive talent in multiple positions to have a chance at competing with Devin Booker in his prime. If the Suns do trade up, they are putting all of their eggs into one basket, that whoever they draft will be the perfect second option next to Booker for the rest of his career.
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