Phoenix Suns: Pros and cons of trading for Mike Conley
Pro: Finally taking a step toward winning
There are plenty of reasons to pass on a Mike Conley trade, but there’s no question the Phoenix Suns need to start winning again — not only because their owner is impatient and prone to making bad decisions when his team is losing, not only because they need to convince Devin Booker they know what they’re doing, and not only because the fans miss the playoffs.
No, the biggest reason is losing has become the culture of the Phoenix Suns. It’s become the standard, and the expectation. This organization was the fourth-winningest franchise in NBA history not too long ago. Thanks to the last few miserable seasons, they’ve dropped all the way to seventh.
They haven’t made the playoffs since 2010, when Steve Nash was still enjoying his twilight years alongside Amar’e Stoudemire and Grant Hill. They’ve become an NBA laughingstock, a cakewalk opponent that regularly finds itself down 15-30 points in the first half, makes some “resilient” comeback late and ultimately winds up losing by double figures anyway. Conley could help buck this trend.
De’Anthony Melton playing behind and learning from Mike Conley pic.twitter.com/AmIioM49JS
— Max (@maxmcc11) January 23, 2019
With so many young and impressionable cornerstones on the roster, losing cannot become familiar or acceptable. Yet that’s where we’re at, since it’s all Booker, Deandre Ayton, Mikal Bridges and Josh Jackson have known since they left their successful college careers behind. It’s been a jarring experience, and it shows in the body language on the nights Phoenix finds itself down big.
The Suns tried to address this with respected vets like Tyson Chandler and Jared Dudley in the past, but they were over-the-hill in a losing environment that didn’t motivate them. Trevor Ariza and Ryan Anderson were supposed to break that mold, but their on-court value completely shriveled up within weeks as they rapidly transformed into “keep getting ‘dem checks” guys who didn’t fully understand what they had gotten themselves into.
Trading for Conley represents a similar risk. He’s 31 years old and probably wouldn’t be too pleased about leaving a losing situation in Memphis for an organizational dumpster fire in Phoenix. However, a Conley-Booker backcourt, surrounded by an improved Ayton, Jackson and Kelly Oubre Jr. would be good enough to take a step forward next year, which is of the utmost importance for a young core that needs to start learning how to win in the pros.