Ti’s Four-Point Play: The Biggest Winners And Losers From The NBA Trade Deadline
By Ti Windisch
Winner: Phoenix Suns
After referring to them as the Phoenix Supernovas earlier in the season for continuously exploding, the Suns won me over this deadline. Phoenix made just one trade, but it was a great one.
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The Suns dealt disgruntled forward Markieff Morris to the Washington Wizards for Kris Humphries, DeJuan Blair, and a 2016 first round pick (top-9 protected). Even in a down season, Washington is projected to draft somewhere around the 12th spot this summer.
So it seems very likely that the Suns will get an additional first round pick this summer, plus a capable forward in Humphries — all for Morris, who had such little trade value in December that the Suns would’ve likely had to surrender another young player just to dump him.
Phoenix did right in holding onto Morris, and getting a suitable return. He’s got a lot of talent, but his attitude and off-the-court concerns lower his value significantly. With the troubles Morris had with the Suns, he had to get traded.
But the Suns were smart to not let on how badly they needed to trade him. Phoenix somehow found a trade partner who was even more desperate than they were to add talent, and finagled a great deal out of the Wizards. For moving Morris responsibly, the Suns won the trade deadline.
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