NBA trade rumors: 7 potential Kemba Walker trades
7. Phoenix Suns
With Tyler Ulis and Isaiah Canaan serving as their two primary point guards, the Phoenix Suns desperately need backcourt help for their star shooting guard, Devin Booker. In fact, the situation has gotten so bad the Suns often resort to running Booker at the 1 since he’s the best playmaker on the team and Ulis can’t spread the floor playing off the ball.
Kemba Walker isn’t really the pass-first point guard Phoenix should put alongside their franchise player, but that backcourt would be damn hard to stop, taking the pressure off a 21-year-old to carry the scoring load every night.
The Suns passed on trading for Kyrie Irving over the summer and just got rid of Eric Bledsoe, so giving up assets for a possible one-year Kemba rental makes little sense. However, there’s no question the Suns have the assets Charlotte would seek if general manager Ryan McDonough wanted to pull the trigger, and they could even take on some of that unwanted salary the Hornets want to unload.
Dragan Bender has shown flashes of defensive potential in what amounts to the second half of his rookie season, and as a 37.8 percent shooter from downtown this year, could become a useful stretch-5. He’s not much of a rebounder, but he’s also only 20 years old and will get stronger.
Greg Monroe represents salary cap relief as an expiring contract, and is also needed to match contracts. Ulis is miscast as a starting point guard, but could be more effective in his proper role as a backup floor general who provides energy, pesky defense and playmaking for the second unit.
The Suns’ 2018 first round pick might be too valuable to give up in a deal for a 27-year-old, but Phoenix has an additional first-rounder heading its way from the Miami Heat (top-seven protected).
From Phoenix’s perspective, Kemba would represent a potential franchise point guard, though they’d have to convince him to re-sign in 2019 and hope his offense meshes well enough with Booker to counteract their likely defensive shortcomings.
Marvin Williams would also be a great option as a stretch-4, upgrading the offense and defense in a way that neither Bender nor Marquese Chriss are capable of at this point. If the Hornets preferred Chriss’ potential, they could sub him in for Bender in this deal.
The main problem here is Phoenix is all in on its youth movement, and with Kemba turning 28 in May, he doesn’t really fit #TheTimeline. The Suns would be better off hoping they can get their hands on a younger franchise guard like Luke Doncic or Trae Young in the draft, rather than give up assets for what might amount to a one-year rental.
The Suns are too good to tank with a healthy Devin Booker and T.J. Warren, but Kemba and Marvin Williams might not move the needle far enough toward the playoffs, and the Hornets may be able to do better than Phoenix’s B-level offers.