NBA trade deadline tracker: Miles Bridges is off the board for Suns, others
Feb 8, 2024, 8:29 AM | Updated: 3:34 pm
The Phoenix Suns have been linked to Miles Bridges despite having few assets at hand at the 2024 NBA trade deadline. That apparently is now out of consideration to begin the day, but there are still more realistic — and better — deals to be had as the roster comes together around the Big Three.
Let’s start off this live blog with thoughts on that apparently no-go deal before I keep churning out words about the NBA as a whole as Thursday rolls toward the 1 p.m. MST deadline.
Most deals, but not every deal, will be covered below based off reports from our own John Gambadoro, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, The Athletic’s Shams Charania and more.
The Suns reportedly land Royce O’Neale, David Roddy and choose continuity
I’ll let our Suns man Kellan Olson marinate in how this deadline unfolds when it’s completely over, but the Suns reportedly have acquired the Nets’ Royce O’Neale and the Grizzlies’ David Roddy by dealing second-round picks, swaps and the foursome of Keita Bates-Diop, Yuta Watanabe, Jordan Goodwin and Chimezie Metu.
The crux of all this is they answered the question I asked: Can Mat Ishbia build continuity for at least a season or two in this brief window?
They can retain O’Neale at a high cost if he plays well. They apparently didn’t ship off Nassir Little to do this. And Roddy is under contract for two more years with an option on the last season and then restricted free agency to follow.
They will have long-term contracts and the options to build consistency around the Big Three — at the cost of Ishbia’s wallet.
The Suns get a three-and-D guy in O’Neale, who has past run-ins with Devin Booker, and another developmental wing in Roddy. His scoring hasn’t been what it was coming out of Colorado State in two NBA seasons, but the 6-foot-4, 255-pound wing didn’t have a stereotypical build or stretch flooring game either.
Miles Bridges staying with Hornets at NBA trade deadline, not going to Suns or elsewhere
Bridges is staying put with the Charlotte Hornets, as first reported by ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and confirmed by Marc Stein.
His agent, Rich Paul, told Charlotte as much. Bridges is on a qualifying offer and can nix deals elsewhere.
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You want some analysis? The Suns really dodged a bullet here from a PR perspective if they were actually serious about acquiring the versatile wing. Bridges has twice allegedly violated parole related to a domestic violence case.
The summation of that is he’s past second and third chances. The guy wasn’t allowed to legally enter Canada with Charlotte on a trip to face the Toronto Raptors earlier this year.
On the court, he was stuck on that $7.9 million qualifying offer this year because of the legal troubles. On that contract if he were dealt to Phoenix, Bridges wouldn’t be able to be re-signed beyond this year because his Bird rights wouldn’t carry over post-trade. The Suns could have only given him a minimal raise, and without cap space, they would not be able to spend into the territory of his play.
His play is good, for what it’s worth. Bridges is averaging 21.9 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists this year.
He was shooting a solid clip of 46% overall and 37% from three.
Notably a Michigan State Spartan like Suns owner Mat Ishbia, the 6-foot-7 Bridges would fit as a versatile jumbo wing who can move the ball and is just 25 years old.
There’s a strong argument it would’ve made this team much better. Beyond that, would it have been worth giving up even two second-rounders and players to match salary, further tanking potential for long-term moves?
Sticking with Charlotte allowed Bridges to be an unrestricted free agent with Bird rights retained, meaning the Hornets could hand him big money — if he settles any legal and moral worries on the team’s end.
For Phoenix, the news means moving on. You’d think if the Suns are going to give up multiple assets in picks or players, it needs to be a sure-fire rotation piece that can be acquired with either multiple years of control or Bird rights to at least give them the option of keeping that player beyond this season.
Bridges wasn’t that even if we discount the very, very problematic history.
Raptors flip Dennis Schroder, Thad Young for Spencer Dinwiddie
The reshuffling Toronto Raptors moved Dennis Schroder, on a multi-year deal, as well as the expiring contract of veteran forward Thaddeus Young to the Brooklyn Nets for Spencer Dinwiddie.
It gives the Nets a starting-caliber point guard on a longer-term deal amid their own roster churning while sitting just outside of the play-in picture at 20-30.
Wizards unload C Daniel Gafford on Mavericks
Suns fans watching other potential contenders should take note: The lowly Washington Wizards are sending center Daniel Gafford to the Dallas Mavericks for Richaun Holmes and draft assets, per Wojnarowski.
It’s obvious why: Dallas star Luka Doncic a few years ago thrived with Dwight Powell as the top pick-and-roll duo in the NBA. No offense to Powell, but like, that’s pretty impressive and says a lot about Doncic.
How he can bend and manipulate defenses just might be even more in the spotlight with Gafford, who is shooting 69% (!!!) this year and a ridiculous 77% at the rim. He’s only been assisted on 63% of those attempts to spotlight just how frightening of a finisher he is. Doncic will help him.
The Mavs just got a lot better and we haven’t even talked about Kyrie Irving’s existence.
Dallas swaps power forwards in deal with Hornets
Hold your mascot horses because the Mavericks aren’t done dealing, according to a report from Charania. They have flipped forward Grant Williams to Charlotte for fellow power forward P.J. Washington, an upgrade to get them closer to a starting-caliber forward.
Washington is tapping it at 13.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game to go with 2.2 assists. He’s not shooting great from deep, but maybe Dallas still comes out of the deadline on the net positive in the floor-spacing department despite losing Williams (38% from three).
Dallas also gave Charlotte backup guard Seth Curry and a lightly protected 2027 first-round pick while acquiring two second-rounders.
Thunder adding veteran Gordon Hayward
Oklahoma City is finally flipped into win-now mode, trading young point guard Tre Mann, stretch big Davis Bertans and 30-year-old rookie Vasilije Micic to the Hornets for wing Gordon Hayward, according to Wojnarowski.
At this point in the 33-year-old’s career, he’s a strong offensive connector like the rest of the roster.
Most importantly, Hayward gives the bench unit a little more stability. Twenty-one-year-old Jaylin Williams, 20-year-old Cason Wallace and 25-year-old Aaron Wiggins have zero playoff games under their belts.
Oh, and the starters hardly have any, either. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has 13 playoff games in his career, while Lu Dort has seven. Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams and Josh Giddey have nada.
And Hayward is still, like, pretty good with averages this year of 14.5 points and 4.6 assists on 47% shooting.
Knicks swap Bojan Bogdanovic Alec Burks for Quentin Grimes and more
No, the Knicks didn’t have a star on the trade market to get aggressive in adding, so they did the next-best thing to upgrade the roster. They added Bojan Bogdanovic, an underrated one-on-one player who also acts as a scary shooter if it’s Julius Randle time.
The price was maybe not steep but at least roster-shaking in terms of sheer volume. Per Wojnarowski, it took Quentin Grimes, Malachi Flynn, Evan Fournier, Ryan Arcidiacono and two second-rounders to get the deal done.
You can smell a non-Thibs guy a mile away.
THe 23-year-old, third-year pro Grimes had fallen a bit out of favor this season in New York, After somewhat of a breakout campaign with 66 starts in 2022-23, his minutes fell off from 29.9 minutes to 20.2, as did his shooting (47% to 40%.
Donte DiVincenzo’s signing with the Knicks didn’t help.
Anyway, Burks is a Thibs guy, who played in New York from 2020-22.
Patrick Beverley and Cam Payne switch spots
Suns nemisis Patrick Beverley is joining the Milwaukee Bucks to act as Damian Lillard’s body guard, as the reunites with his former Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers fix up that defense that hasn’t been the same since the trade of Jrue Holiday.
It comes at the expense of former Sun Cam Payne, who now joins a Sixers squad that has leaned into more perimeter weapons by also adding Buddy Hield at the deadline. A second-round pick also came with Payne from Milwaukee to Philly.
Pacers send Buddy Hield to 76ers
Buddy Hield’s $18.6 million salary is on the move to give a Joel Embiid-lacking Philadelphia squad a little more offensive punch to tread water, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania. But Hield will also be a floor-spacing piece who could really complement rising star Tyrese Maxey and Embiid, if the latter can return from a meniscus injury this year.
For Indiana, Hield out of the rotation frees up 25 minutes per game.
The Pacers received Furkan Korkmaz, who is still just 26 years old and in the past few years had fallen out of the 76ers’ plans. With more volume, he’s proven to be a strong shooter and decent enough all-around player. Maybe he’s a rotation piece, maybe not.
The move moreso opens the door for more Bennedict Mathurin minutes. He’s been hovering around 26 minutes per games, mostly off the bench, and could slide into a role with a little more responsibility across the bench and starter units.
The second-round pick collecting could also help with follow-up moves later in the day. We shall see. It’s a good haul for an expiring contract either way.
Jazz C Kelly Olynyk, Ochai Agbaji head to Raptors
Utah on Wednesday shipped wing Simone Fontecchio to the lowly Detroit Pistons. Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro said Fontecchio had interest from the Suns, so that was impactful.
Gambadoro said Phoenix hadn’t had interest in Olynyk, a shooting backup center. According to Wojnarowski, he’s off to Toronto, and the Jazz get developing guard Kira Lewis, veteran Otto Porter Jr. and a first-rounder in exchange. Lewis and the pick are key there.
But let’s keep an eye on Porter. He’s on an expiring deal, coming off a knee injury and has played on a star-studded Golden State Warriors team. Would he get redirected to a contending team like the Suns? His recent injury history and lack of playing time makes you wonder about if he could stick in a rotation, though.
