1. Phoenix Suns
To be honest, I’m surprised this deal hasn’t already happened. Both teams have reportedly discussed this swap, it’s a trade that would suit both parties and Markieff Morris has wanted to leave the Phoenix Suns since they traded his brother Marcus Morris away over the summer.
Valley of the Suns
For the Suns, they might need to throw in Archie Goodwin as a trade sweetener to get this deal done, especially with Keef’s less than stellar reputation. But with Devin Booker coming on strong off the bench, Phoenix hasn’t really used him much in that backup shooting guard role anyway.
Speaking of which, thanks to the surprisingly excellent play of Jon Leuer and Mirza Teletovic, the Suns have relegated Keef to bench duty, with the embattled power forward racking up five DNP-CDs in his last seven games, including an additional missed game due to illness.
He’s averaging an underwhelming 11.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game this season on .386/.279/.727 shooting splits, and a stretch-4 of Anderson’s caliber would be a perfect fit in Phoenix’s three-point heavy attack since he can knock down open looks in pick and pop sets and spread the floor for the penetration of Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight.
It wouldn’t be an “ideal” move for the Suns, since there’d be a logjam at power forward between Anderson, Leuer and Teletovic. There’d also be the issue of re-signing him over the summer since general manager Ryan McDonough has repeatedly expressed interest in pursuing game-changing free agents. But if the Suns want to rid themselves of the Keef headache once and for all, this is probably the way to go.
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Keef’s numbers probably aren’t encouraging to Pelicans’ fans, but there’s a huge possibility they stem from how miserable he probably is playing for a franchise he no longer trusts and a fanbase that’s done everything but book him his flight out of Phoenix. In the right situation he should still produce, and he’s also versatile enough to play the 3 if need be.
Furthermore, Keef is a far better defender than Anderson, and he’s capable of spreading the floor from the midrange. Locked in on a four-year, $32 million extension makes him one of the best bargains in the NBA, assuming he can recapture his level of play from last year, when he averaged 15.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per game on 46.5 percent shooting.
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Morris isn’t much a long range threat, but he’d provide long-term value alongside Davis in the frontcourt for the next three years. They’d also be adding a 21-year-old in Goodwin can attack the rim, get to the foul line and would cherish a fresh opportunity to get on the court. In terms of being realistic and being useful to the Pellies, a Ryan Anderson trade might not get better than this.