Suns retained assets at trade deadline, but time’s ticking

All was quiet for the Phoenix Suns at the Thursday trade deadline. As they took a few phone calls, much of the NBA whizzed into action around them.

Narratives will knot together Phoenix’s non-action to improve the squad around Devin Booker with the Minnesota Timberwolves dumping assets and Andrew Wiggins to acquire D’Angelo Russell from the Golden State Warriors. That pairing of Booker’s friends, Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns, is irrelevant to the necessary goal, in this writer’s opinion.

The Suns must turn in a winner with their leadership’s image, regardless of Booker’s pals teaming up.

One thing is undoubtedly true and would still be if Phoenix had traded for Russell: Phoenix general manager James Jones is working an uphill battle and against a short clock to end a near-decade-long playoff drought.

As for reality, The Ringer’s D.J. Foster gave the Suns a C- grade for doing nothing at the deadline.

Phoenix did the right thing keeping its picks, but perhaps it missed out on an opportunity to maximize the trade value of Aron Baynes, who turns 34 (I know, crazy, right?) next season. Baynes could have helped a number of contenders with his size and shooting, and it would have eliminated the option for Monty Williams to do anything but start Deandre Ayton. Phoenix should be feeling pressure to give Devin Booker another star to play with—Minnesota pulling off a deal that combines Booker’s close friends D’Angelo Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns doesn’t help. The goodwill built by Phoenix’s hot start has faded, and a big deal, one way or the other, is probably looming this offseason.

We don’t know what was in front of the Suns at the deadline, not even what the protection gulfs were regarding the possibility of trading a first-round pick, Elie Okobo and Jevon Carter to the Detroit Pistons for Luke Kennard. That possibility was reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

There weren’t any other names on the trading block that made a whole lot of sense for Phoenix to target. Plus, the Suns would need a one-sided trade in their favor to think about giving up one of their core pieces like Kelly Oubre Jr., Mikal Bridges or Cam Johnson. They need to keep the few good players they have.

It could be concerning that Phoenix’s front office — which is growing a reputation for being mysterious to reporters as well as other NBA teams — isn’t trying to squeeze value out of expiring contracts like Baynes and Dario Saric.

But maybe what teams would give up for those players wasn’t close to the value of retaining the same roster for a full season and getting rid of the Suns’ prior reputation — one that viewed human beings as soulless trade chips.

To that point, this was the first trade deadline since 2014 that Phoenix didn’t make a move.

As for Russell, his fit under Williams wouldn’t be perfect. Some of his flaws would cause the Suns more problems — having three core players in Booker, Ayton and Russell who are negatives on the defensive end would require some major retooling around them.

There’s an argument for appeasing a star in Booker, but at what cost? To top out at 45 wins two years down the road if acquiring Russell costed a player like Bridges and future picks (plus the Tyler Johnson contract)?

Foster’s emphasis about the assets should be highlighted a little further.

The Suns’ front office led by Jones and senior VP of baskteball operations Jeff Bower have been clear about not valuing draft picks (and assets in general) as highly as the last regime. Yet from what has been reported, it’s clear they are at least wary of the possibility that future first-round picks could be the catalysts to a blockbuster trade. Wojnarowski reported the night before the Thursday deadline that the Pistons’ and Suns’ talks about Kennard reached an impasse because of disagreement over pick protections.

The Kennard deal, or something bigger, can be reconsidered this summer — at least after the NBA Draft Lottery takes one uncontrollable outcome out of the consideration for the 2020 first-round pick. Draft day could be the day the Suns swing big, especially if the ping-pong balls go in their favor.

Jones and Co. have to make a move soon. The summer of 2021 projects to be one of big spending across the league. That could be the time Phoenix makes the final jump toward contention.

The question is whether the Suns need to set that up by making a big acquisition or two in the summer ahead and next year’s trade deadline. Waiting might make it too late.

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