With trade deadline approaching, Suns ‘not pressing to do anything’
Jan 23, 2019, 3:44 PM | Updated: 6:58 pm
Phoenix Suns Vice President of Basketball Operations James Jones does an interview with The Doug & Wolf Show on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018. (Matt Layman/Arizona Sports)
(Matt Layman/Arizona Sports)
As a rebuilding team, the Phoenix Suns are in a weird space.
While the team’s best players are 19 and 22 years old, they’ve spent long enough outside of the playoff picture and desire being out of a rebuilding phase.
So when the Suns are 11-38, that could lead to some moves made out of panic.
The NBA’s trade deadline is a little over two weeks away on Feb. 7 and the Suns still have a major need at the point guard position.
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Co-interim general manager and vice president of basketball operations James Jones assured 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station’s Burns & Gambo, though, that the Suns are not in a rush to make a move.
“We’re doing our business, talking to the teams out there, seeing what opportunities may present themselves and just getting the lay of the land but we’re not pressing to do anything,” he said. “We’re just gonna try to see what we have on the table and when the trade deadline rolls around if there’s something to be done we’ll do it.”
Jones spoke on how the Suns can be taken advantage of given their present situation.
“If you do something because you feel pressure — you do something short-sighted — it always ends up coming to bite you in the end,” he said.
“The reason a lot of these players are available is because their teams don’t think they fit long-term. Your teams think those guys are declining in value and so they’ll try to push them upon you and if you’re desperate and they know that’s something that you need they’re hopeful that they can trick you into setting yourself up for short-term success but long-term failure.”
Given the specific type of spot the Suns are in, Jones notes it’s more likely for the Suns to add pieces in free agency or the NBA Draft as opposed to the trade market.
“It’s very, very hard to project or to say that we’ll be able to add a player that fits with us long-term via trade,” Jones said. “It’s just not something teams are looking to do, where they’re looking to get rid of good players and help us grow.”
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