Former NBA exec explains why those Suns-Rockets trade rumors might continue

Rumors of Kevin Durant and Devin Booker being of trade interest to the Houston Rockets sounded silly just ahead of the NBA Draft, but it will remain in the back of the brain for people paying attention to the NBA.

The Suns have shown zero intention of calling their Big Three bets sunk costs right now.

Trading one of their stars now sounds conspirational.

But John Hollinger’s story for The Athletic about the NBA’s top underrated moves this offseason strongly paints a picture of why we should expect to hear about Houston again whenever the Suns reach the point of blowing up the roster.

Hollinger, a former executive of the Memphis Grizzlies, points out that the Rockets’ involvement as a third team in the Mikal Bridges trade from Brooklyn to New York this offseason will tie Houston to Phoenix for future years.

We won’t dabble in the confusing pick swaps and future traded picks exchanged in the deal that made Bridges a Nova Knick. Just know the Nets dealt the Rockets some of the draft capital Brooklyn received from the Suns in the Durant deal from 2023.

Hollinger writes that the Rockets could be the Suns’ savior to get out of cap hell down the road.

… the Rockets started with an unprotected first and an unprotected swap from Brooklyn and ended up with two unprotected firsts from Phoenix and two swaps.

What makes this so cool for Houston is that the Suns, despite their own underrated move this summer (for Tyus Jones) are rapidly hurtling toward Armageddon. Maybe not this year, maybe not even next … but it’s just around the corner. Owning late-decade Suns draft capital is a great business to be in.

…

Dangling the return of those two picks and some other goodies to get Devin Booker and let the Suns restart in two or three years is perhaps still an underdog bet, and much water will go under the bridge between now and then.

Such an idea was floated in less clean terms in rumors about the Rockets’ interest in Durant and even Booker this summer.

There’s no doubt Houston this offseason was putting out bat signals, via reporters, about its willingness to punch the gas and make a leap into contention, be it a trade with the Suns or otherwise.

A trade with Phoenix could inch closer to reality on the Suns’ end if traction isn’t gained this year. And things like point guard Tyus Jones departing after a single season — see below — will ding the talent level of the roster looking ahead.

As we’ve seen this offseason, the Suns might have finally found their spending limit.

On Wednesday, cutting the contracts of Nassir Little and E.J. Liddell (after the David Roddy trade) saved Phoenix about $40 million in tax money, per Hollinger. And it came at the price of currently not filling a 15th roster spot.

Hollinger calls the Suns’ Tyus Jones signing a top underrated move

By all accounts, the Suns recruiting point guard Tyus Jones to join them on a minimum deal in a dried-up market was about luck and being able to sell him on the situation.

They made up for the lack of cash with a family atmosphere that Jones said played a big part. Obviously, so did a chance to set up three of the league’s best scorers in Durant, Booker and Bradley Beal.

But how much of a steal did the Suns get in money terms? Hollinger put it in these terms while naming Jones one of the league’s most underrated offseason moves:

On a roster where the only other options were the brittle and less offensively potent Monté Morris (himself a bargain on a minimum deal earlier this summer) and “let’s see how another year of Point Booker works out,” Jones is basically manna from heaven. Though an extremely late addition, he’s good enough that he could genuinely matter in a congested West race where two or three wins might be the difference between the third seed and the Play-In Tournament … not to mention a playoff series.

Sure, Jones is gonzo next summer, and they’ll have to try to fill his spot again, but for a team in win-now mode, the “NOW” part strikes me as the more important element. The late-decade endgame in Phoenix looks brutal no matter what. But whatever Phoenix’s 2024-25 ceiling is going to be with Mat Ishbia’s absurdly all-in, burn-all-the-draft-picks approach, the Suns are way more likely to hit it after adding Jones.

Hollinger’s BORD$ metric, which puts a dollar value on a player’s production, had Jones as a $14.2 million talent.

Phoenix’s veteran minimum offer, the only contract they could hand the 28-year-old Jones, will pay out $2.1 million.

Jones is coming off his best NBA season, where he averaged 12.0 points to go with 7.3 assists and 49% shooting with the Washington Wizards.

In case you are wondering, there’s a near-0% chance Jones will be back with the Suns after the 2024-25 season.

This is a prove-it year, and Phoenix’s salary cap prison disallows it to offer him much more than a minor raise, which would still put Jones $10s of millions below his true value.

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