Phoenix Suns: 5 Potential Trades As Buyers Before 2017 NBA Trade Deadline
If the Phoenix Suns approach the 2017 NBA Trade Deadline as buyers, here are five blockbuster trades they could make to add a star player.
Heading into Thursday’s 2017 NBA Trade Deadline, the Phoenix Suns are uniquely positioned to be either buyers or sellers on the trade market.
As the team with the worst record in the Western Conference, the Suns should enter the deadline as sellers to capitalize on the trade value of a few veterans and add youth and future draft picks in the process. However, general manager Ryan McDonough has also stockpiled assets to put together a trade for a star if the opportunity ever presented itself.
DeMarcus Cousins was one name many Suns fans had on their list, but there are still other superstars who could become available within the next 24 hours. Though trading for a star without giving up one of Eric Bledsoe or Devin Booker would be extremely challenging, the Boogie trade taught us that anything is possible at this time of year.
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In most cases, it’d take some combination of Alex Len, T.J. Warren, Dragan Bender, Marquese Chriss and one or two future draft picks to pry away another franchise player. If the Suns are trading for a star, those are their most enticing assets that wouldn’t involve moving Booker or Bledsoe — which would be the whole point of trading for a third star anyway.
Staying patient, building through the draft, letting the young players develop and trading veterans for more youth and future picks seems to be the best way to move forward, but McDonough has always swung for the fences when stars have become available.
Bearing all that in mind, and since we’ve already covered 10 trades the Suns could make as sellers, it’s time to take a look at some potential high profile targets for Phoenix, what it would take to get a deal done and why these hypothetical trade talks might fall through in the end.