The 40-9 Suns currently sport the best record in the NBA, thanks in large part to the All-Star performances of guards Chris Paul and Devin Booker, as well as terrific play from center Deandre Ayton, small forward Mikal Bridges, and a revamped roster with additional depth. John Hollinger of The Athletic reflects on the team’s season thus far and considers some trade possibilities for Phoenix in an extensive new article.
Hollinger wonders if the Suns may look to improve their reserve guard slots behind Paul and Booker. He floats the possibility of offloading trade packages including intriguing young center Jalen Smith, injured big man Frank Kaminsky and a future first-round pick in exchange for veteran shooting guards like Norman Powell or Eric Gordon.
There’s more out of the Pacific Division:
- Suns center Deandre Ayton and power forward Jae Crowder are returning from injuries to suit up for Phoenix tonight against the Nets, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Ayton has been sidelined for seven straight games with an ankle injury, while Crowder has been grappling with a mild wrist injury for the past four contests.
- The 24-27 Lakers have not enjoyed the level of success they expected after making an all-in trade for point guard Russell Westbrook during the summer of 2021. Bobby Marks of ESPN outlines exactly how difficult it will be for Los Angeles to make significant roster changes by the trade deadline this season. L.A. is currently just the ninth seed in the Western Conference, thanks in part to various injuries incurred by All-Stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis throughout the season so far. Marks cites Westbrook’s exorbitant contract (he is owed $91.3MM across these next two seasons, an All-Star salary for sub-All-Star production), the Lakers’ lack of future draft picks, and the team’s lackluster depth as factors for what he anticipates to be a relatively quiet deadline.
- Athletic third-year Warriors swingman Juan Toscano-Anderson will take part in the 2022 Slam Dunk Contest at this season’s All-Star Weekend in Cleveland, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (video link).
How fast did the Wiz agree to the Westbrick trade? Half a second?
Idk if it was unanimous but it was unanimous at least on here that it was a bad trade for LAL at the time.
LeBron was just about the only person in the world that thought the move was a good idea. The Lakers had their own trade lined up with Sacramento and if I’m remembering it right that trade got tweeted out as official before ultimately becoming the Westbrook deal. To be fair, injuries to both AD and Lebron have certainly limited their opportunity to build chemistry as a big 3. I think the bigger miss for the Lakers this off-season was filling the rest of the roster with known has beens and under-performers. They chose splash moves over team building and roster solidifying moves. Sad to see after what they did in the bubble.
Who is the only person to successfully trade two albatross contracts (Westbrook and Wall)? Tommy Sheppard
He should win Best GM for that alone.
I mean, it isn’t like Washington got better either. All they got out of this was a bit of salary relief next year. Good trade for them, but no point acting like they pulled off a coup. they are still the same old crappy Wizards as they were last year.
That’s not half as impressive as two contracts Jerry West moved as Lakers GM. Look it up.
Clue: both players last names started with a B
We get it. Westbrook is not playing well and the Lakers can’t do much about it. Please just stop with the same boring story ESPN, and everyone else regurgitating it.
Should we talk about Ben Simmons? Maybe we can talk about an impending Sacramento trade? Not a fan of that idea? Alright lets shift focus to the Pacers! Oooo wonder what they’re gonna do! If you haven’t gotten my point yet, just because it’s a slow news day doesn’t mean news doesnt come out.
Powell would make sense for the Suns, I could see jeremi grant being elite next to ayton/ bridges. Feel like shamet, smith and some picks would be as intriguing as any other packages
No team drafts better than the GSW. They hit on most of their picks regardless of draft position. Moreover, they aren’t afraid of giving their youngsters significant PT on a consistent basis. Look at the box score of their big CFB road win at SA. No Green. No Steph. No Klay. Look at the talent they’ve amassed via the draft. Kudos GS. All this from a Celtics fan.
“Hit on most of their picks?”
I beg to differ. Warriors draft history is suspect at best. Here’s some recent pics by the current regime.
Jordan Bell?
Eric Paschall?
Jacob Evans?
Damian Jones?
Alen Smailagic?
Patrick McCaw?
I think every single one of these guys is out of the league.., except for Eric paschall, who was given away to Utah.., and will probably not be on their roster next year.
Don’t get me started on the previous regime where practically every single pic was a total bust. Many of them in the top ten !!
Patrick O’Bryant,
Ike diogu,
Todd Fuller,
Michael pietrus,
Jeri Welsh.., that’s just off the top of my head. Need I go further?
The only time the Warriors scored big time in the draft is when they had Jerry West counseling and leading and guiding them, plus when Don Nelson foamed at the mouth over Steph Curry. And that wasn’t skill that was luck because Minnesota picked two point guards right in front of Curry and didn’t know what they were doing.
Umm…Gary…Why do you guys forget about Larry Riley? He drafted Curry and Thompson. He also made several trades that set up this team for success, before Jerry West.
Good call.
The talent the Warriors amassed in the draft was not skill. It was luck this last year. With Jonathan kuminga they just took who fell out of the top six. Easy peasy. And Moses Moody was generally thought to be a top 8 to 12 Talent so he dropped and they picked him. Lucky.
How else did the Warriors amass serious talent in the draft? I’ll give you Jordan Poole even though it’s taking him lots and lots of hard work and a couple of years to get where he is today. A Bonafide Sixth Man of the Year candidate and starter on a lot of Clubs.
I’ll give you Kevon Looney. He’s the one guy the Warriors drafted and knew he would eventually become a good player once he overcame his hip injury. They knew he would be exactly what they wanted and needed at the center position. Great draft pick. But he actually slipped also to them and they were fortunate to get him. Without the hip injuries Kevon Looney is drafted way higher. But I’ll give you Looney. Great pic. Skill and research and excellent work by The Warriors.
Every other player on the roster was either an undrafted free agent signee on a minimum deal who bounced around, or a veteran who is a little older and took a minimum deal (Andre Iguodala, Otto Porter, N Bjelica.)
Gary, is this just griping their picks or the management in general. Management: sign and trade Durant to Nets for Russell who they trade to Wolves for Wiggins and conditional first round pick. That first round pick eventually is the 7th pick. There were a couple of players they wanted but were gone at 7. So luck? Picks 1-3 were protected but the odds favored a 5th or 6th pick but they picked 7th. Had they picked 5 or 6, they probably don’t draft kuminga. Did you know Kuminga was deserving of a 5th or 6th pick? It sounds like you’re pretty confident about that and that they were “lucky”. So management: Durant begets Wiggins and Kuminga. That’s pretty good success and has nothing to do with luck.
Draft picks? How many teams could throw out a home grown starting 5 of Curry, Thompson, Green, Poole and Looney and have home grown Kuminga and Moody in that rotation. 7 home grown in the rotation. Please give me curren comparable teams. Let’s include home grown Barnes who they let go to sign Durant. It could be said that Barnes beget Durant who beget Wiggins and Kuminga. You’ve doubted Wiggins’ value in the past and probably don’t feel he deserves AllStar selection. But they’ve won 7 straight with HUGE contributions from Wiggins. Great management and great picks with some fails. Every team has fails, but try telling these teams “that’s okay, at least you’re not the Warriors”.
I’m just differing on the poster “bright side” who says the Warriors “hit on most of their picks.”
I’ve suffered for years and years with some of these guys the Warriors picked and cringed when they step on the floor.
Don’t get me started on past trades/picks. Trade and draft that garnered Joe Barry Carroll and Ricky Brown. They only have a guy named Parrish and a guy named McHale. It started a whole lot of failed drafts. That’s why I agree with the post about successful recent picks. Sure, bad picks happened, but how late did they draft Green and Poole. And don’t forget Ezeli. Without injuries, he was a great center
@Claude & Gary You brought up the Warriors ’80 draft. The Carroll was only half of the disaster. They drafted 4 Centers that year. They also made 2 trades. If they hadn’t made those trades, they could have had 2 Hall of Famers. The 3rd Center was an All Star. The 4th Center, Larry Smith, was undeniably a monster on the boards. In the end, they only wound up with one All-Star. So, when guys say any old 7-footer will, I call them an idiot.
So true. Carroll was good but Parrish was great. Smith was drafted that year?
So SF, I GOOGLED 1980 draft. I forgot it was TEN rounds, wow. I remember that I was a huge Parrish fan and didn’t like the trade but “experts” did. I knew carroll was good but didn’t know if McHale was worth Parrish. But I just knew I was upset Parrish was gone. Smith was great but parrish/McHale for carroll/brown? jeez
Oh yes Claude, Bob Myers is amazing when it comes to signing guys and making trades and all the rest of that. I think he’s one of the best GM’s out there. Very smart and has results to show for it. Keeping the guys in a Warriors uniform is a tremendous accomplishment in itself.
The Warriors are just not very good at drafting (outside of Jerry West and Don Nelson who picked Steph Curry.) As I said above Kuminga fell in their lap they just picked who was left over out of the top six etc etc….
Seriously Gary. Don Nelson didn’t draft Steph Curry. Larry Riley drafted Steph Curry. Don Nelson was long gone.
From what I understand of the situation, Don Nelson was in charge of personnel decisions. All of them. He brought in Larry Riley to handle day-to-day GM duties. He did nothing of consequence without Nelson’s approval if you can believe that. A figurehead is all.
Don Nelson was in charge. Don Nelson drafted Steph Curry and from what I remember, he played under Nelson. If I’m wrong then thank you for the correction and I appreciate it.
By the way, I’m sure loving Wiggins and his shooting percentage. Every time he shoots, it goes in and especially from three-point land. He’s been amazing this season and definitely built upon last season.
I think the Warriors know how to maximize a guy to his fullest potential. Putting Wiggins on the best player and letting him loose for blocked shots has really rounded his game into all star form.
I tip my cap to Andrew and his hard work and his open mind listening to the coaching staff and putting in the work and time and effort to become a better player. They said he wouldn’t or couldn’t do that in Minnesota but he’s certainly taking care of business in San Francisco.
Of course I do have one question because I’m Gary. Why don’t the Warriors ever draw up a play for Andrew Wiggins for the last shot? They’ll even use Jordan Poole before they use Andrew Wiggins. Keep an eye on that as you watch The Warriors going forward.
“He can get you 20, but he can’t get you two.
I have noticed that I’ve gotten frustrated when he scores big early in a game but gets ignored later. But I don’t see it as a lack of faith/trust, I just see it as Wiggins not being demanding (maybe that’s the aggressiveness you’ve said he lacks). But on the other hand, he’s going hard to the hoop a lot. Funny thing is I used to get very frustrated when Thompson would get hot but didn’t get plays for him. I guess I just see Wiggins situation and think of my Thompson recollections. in other words, it’s just how it looks sometimes but isn’t the reality of things.
Third times the charm.
Considering how good the Suns have been without Ayton, and the fact he didn’t get the max extension he wanted. Do you guys reckon he’s any chance of leaving in the offseason once his deal expires?
He’s going to get the max, it’s just up to the Suns to match it. Do the Suns really want to be paying Ayton 35mil or something like that. Especially considering McGee and Biyambo have been terrific and cost a combined 6mil
That’s a great question. I lean on the side of no, because once Chris Paul retires, there go the sun’s back down to earth.
Sure DeAndre ayton is Young and you can build with him but that’s a lot of money. I guess they probably have to do it or they’ll hear it from every fan and media person in Arizona and elsewhere. But great question, what do you think?
Best deal for Suns, Ayton, Crowder, Saric for Irving.
Suns just dont need Ayton at that price range, Saric is injured and Crowder is (easily) replaceable.
The Lakers should sign Jabari Parker on a min deal. At this point what have they got to lose.
Westbrook/Bazemore/Jordan/Ariza/picks for Randle/Fournier/Walker. Bobs your uncle.