Phoenix Suns: Why Trade Caron Butler?

When the Phoenix Suns took part in a three-team trade the brought in Eric Bledsoe and Caron Butler in exchange for Jared Dudley, new general manager Ryan McDonough had made the first of many prudent decisions this summer. The trade not only brought in a point guard with All-Star potential, but also a proven All-Star in the twilight of his career who could immediately contribute. Less than two months later, most Suns fans were surprised to wake up and find that Butler had been shipped off to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Ish Smith and Viacheslav Kravtsov, two players who are unlikely to ever play for the Suns. So why did McDonough pull the trigger on such a lopsided trade?

On paper, this trade looks even worse than the Luis Scola trade did. Trading Scola for the unpredictable Gerald Green and entirely unproven Miles Plumlee was questionable, but the future first-round pick that came with them helped justify it. Shopping a two-time All-Star for two players most NBA fans have never heard of requires a little more research to figure out the rationale. What game is McDonough playing at?

To answer simply, he’s playing at the rebuilding game. The right way. What people have to understand about this trade is the NBA is a business. While having Caron Butler would undoubtedly make the Suns a better team (slightly), improving the team’s record by a few games isn’t the goal this season. Caron Butler or no Caron Butler, the Suns are aiming for the bottom of the Western Conference barrel to increase their odds of securing a higher pick in the loaded 2014 NBA Draft. The Suns need to rebuild through the draft and by freeing up cap room.

Caron Butler was a two-time All-Star with the Washington Wizards. But those days are far behind him. (Flickr.com/Keith Allison)

If you think the 33-year-old Caron Butler would still be a contributing member to this team by the time the Suns are done rebuilding, you’re sadly mistaken. Even if the Suns manage to get an Andrew Wiggins-type talent in next year’s draft, they won’t be playoff bound instantaneously. Rebuilding takes time and it certainly takes more than one star player for a team to rise from the bottom of the league to NBA title contention. By time that process is complete, assuming it does happen, Caron Butler’s best remaining years would be far behind him.

Aside from stockpiling the NBA’s only two Ukrainian players in Alex Len and Kravtsov, by making Butler a Buck, the Suns save themselves quite a few bucks in cap space (around $6 million to be exact). After signing Len to a rookie contract, that saved cap space will probably be around $5.2 million. But by freeing up that bit of breathing room, Phoenix can deal with another lingering issue: Getting rid of Michael Beasley.

Beasley’s recent marijuana arrest and his lazy playing style made his role on the Suns comparable to cancer, but Phoenix would still have to pay him $9 million if they decided to waive him (which they absolutely should). The Caron Butler trade makes paying Beasley $6 million of that total much easier this season, provided the Suns wait until Sept. 1 to start cutting ties.

The trade is also a decent one for the Bucks, who picked up a talented wing player in exchange for virtually nothing. I can guarantee you McDonough was poking around for at least one of Milwaukee’s extra second-round picks, since the Bucks could have as many as five. Credit them for not giving in and giving the Suns yet another future draft pick, especially for a player who’s in the twilight of his career. Butler would’ve wasted away on a non-contender in the Valley of the Sun; now he can play for his hometown team that will be semi-competitive for one of the East’s final playoff spots. Butler will also be able to fill in for the currently injured Carlos Delfino and serve as a mentor to 18-year-old Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton.

Both sides benefitted from this trade to some degree. The Bucks will continue to pedal along in the NBA’s no-man’s land of being a fringe playoff team, too good to tank but not good enough to advance in the postseason. The Suns are fully prepared the plunge their hands into the filth this season in the hopes of finding a gem at the bottom of the muck, and now they’ve got a little extra cap space for the future as well.

The trade isn’t entirely perfect from Phoenix’s perspective though. As Grantland’s Zach Lowe poignantly writes, the Suns may have benefitted from waiting a few months to trade Butler. Waiting until closer to the trade deadline would’ve allowed Phoenix to ship him to a contender before the playoffs in return for (possibly) another draft pick. But with so many young players on the roster and eyes on the horizon, giving those younger wings more minutes in a meaningless season isn’t a shabby approach either. How the Suns use the extra cap space could make all the difference in turning what appears to be a “dumb” trade into a brilliant one. But either way, McDonough has once again kept this ship sailing in the right direction for the time being.[slider_pro id=”24″]