Phoenix Suns GM McDonough would be fine not making any trades
With every win the Phoenix Suns look less like a surprise and more like a good, quality basketball team.
As such, they may be inclined to explore trades that would give them a better shot at reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2010.
With the NBA’s trade deadline just a few weeks away, Suns GM Ryan McDonough told the Burns and Gambo Show on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM that he has no problem sticking with the roster he’s already assembled.
“If we don’t do anything, that would be fine as well,” he said. “We don’t feel any immediate pressure to do something.’
McDonough pointed to the contributions from reserves Leandro Barbosa and Ish Smith as well as the improved health and play of rookie Alex Len as reasons to be comfortable with the team’s direction.
Yet, that does not mean the first-year GM won’t listen to offers and look for ways to improve the team.
“We’re going to look at everything,” he said. “We’re going to explore it. Generally, if we were to make a trade — especially a bigger trade — it would probably be for a younger player who would fit our timeline. A guy that could grow with our current group, a guy probably 25 and under that could help us now and in the future.”
That would seem to rule out 29-year-old Carmelo Anthony, who has been oft-rumored to be on the way out of New York and every once in a while linked to the Suns.
Whether there is a young star-type player available to Phoenix is unknown, but as McDonough noted the Suns do have cap space and picks to offer if such a talent is put on the table.
But with so many teams still in the playoff hunt, the GM believes there are likely to be more “buyers” than “sellers” this deadline.
And McDonough is in no hurry to part with his bevvy of draft picks.
“The picks always come up when teams talk to us,” he said, noting that he hasn’t seen an uptick in calls about the team’s draft picks. “I think most GMs now are more focused on how to help their team in the short term.”
The Suns are in an enviable position of playing well now while seemingly being set up nicely for the future. And from what it sounds like, McDonough is not planning on doing anything that will mess that up.
