Wow.
The Phoenix Suns' all-out investment in this roster has turned out to be a complete failure, at least for now. Their choice to empty their asset collections, deplete their depth, and stall their financial books should have led to a championship fight. Instead, this extremely top-heavy team had a middling regular season performance and was eliminated in the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs.
Frankly, this is a huge failure, and unfortunately for the series, there's no easy way out of this. It's easy to say this roster needs to change, but it's much harder to figure out how. Unless Phoenix is willing to blow up this core and start over, there is little they can offer in a trade.
That probably isn't happening now because the whole team's intention is to win. So let's go bargain shopping for potential trade targets for the Suns.
Phoenix's internal rotation could benefit from a refresh, but that's difficult to do on a limited budget. If the Suns could afford a center, it would have to be a player like Isaiah Jackson. He may have more to show than he has in the past, despite being held back by several quality bigs in Circle City.
This could be a red flag, as he is in his third year and has yet to lock down a regular rotation role. Again, he served well enough when he found his way to the hardwood that I wondered if he could develop with solid playing time.
Although he's not very big (6'10″, 206 lbs.), his length and athleticism allow him to play bigger than he really is. He's reliable near the rim on offense and defensively. He's devastating near the rim. Statistically speaking, he's a career 59.4 percent shooter, averaging 10.2 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per 36 minutes, according to Basketball-Reference.
The Suns could use more of an above-the-rim paint presence on both sides, and Jackson is one of the few potential bargain players who can provide that.
If you've followed Jevon Carter's season in Chicago, you may be wondering how he ended up on this list. He never earned the role, never made as much of an impact as many expected when he signed last summer, and ultimately ended up being the worst player since his rookie year. He finished the season with an efficiency rating (8.5).
Well, the Suns might still be interested anyway for a number of reasons.
First, this reflects Phoenix's trade budget. Second, Carter could probably fit into it. According to Spotrac, the Bulls may not like the idea of paying him his $13.3 million over the next two seasons if they don't see his role expanding going forward.
Finally, and most importantly, Carter is a better player than he was with the Bulls. Chicago's backcourt depth minimized his role, and he never found a rhythm with his shooting (32.9 percent). If the move gets it back on track, he could give Phoenix a ferocious defense, at least serviceable space (40.5 percent at low volume over the past four seasons), and some ancillary playmaking. .
The Suns' overall offense was never quite the sum of its parts (10th in efficiency, according to NBA.com), and the lack of a key playmaker likely played a role. They had talent, but they weren't necessarily the most organized or the most fluid.
Maybe that's why TJ McConnell on their radar eternally.
When the ferocious General Floor walks into the dessert, he could instantly become its top decision-maker. He's averaging 5.5 assists to just 1.5 turnovers, making him surprisingly close to being a mistake-free passer. He is a two-way playmaker and always finds a way to liven up the game.
He's hardly a scorer (7.5 points per game in his career) and rarely even looks at jumpers, but if there's an offense that can get around that, it's probably Kevin Durant. It would be an offense featuring three-headed monsters like , Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal. If McConnell puts them in the right spots and finds them regularly with on-time and on-target deliveries, the Suns could probably get him over the edge.
