FanPost

Here's a trade idea everyone will hate

I looked at all the rumors and tried to find who needs what and who is pursuing who, and put myself in the spot of Suns GM with the goal of trying to get young talent. This is a four team deal which means it'll never happen, plus most of you will think we get screwed. So here it is:

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=bystcvb

Plus Utah gets minny's first round pick from us.


Atlanta does it: Gortat/Dudley>Josh Smith who won't be back next year. Gortat gives Atl a real center and moves Hortford to PF. Dudley slides in at starting SF, and that team just got more complete, for less money.


Detroit does it: it's known that Detroit wants Smith. What's also known is that they want to swap him for some sort of combo of Maxiell/Bynum/Stucky/Villanueva. Yeah. Right. It's going to take more than that to get him. Monroe is too much for just Smith, so this is where Milsap comes in. The Suns do Detroit a huge favor by eating Stucky and Villanueva's contracts making the possibility of Detroit keeping Smith, Milsap, AND Calderon well in the realm of possible. With this trade, Detroit will have over $52million off the books at season's end. With less than $13million under contract, Detroit has MORE than enough to re-sign who they want. A possible starting lineup of Calderon, Knight, Drummond, Milsap, and Smith. That's a solid lineup. Also, both Drummond and Monroe are centers who play a similar game, and from what I've read over on Detroit's SB site they don't mesh well together. Gonna have to choose one so why not choose the younger one and turn Monroe into two all-star caliber players and a butt-load of cap space?


Utah does it: This is a tough one. While I feel this makes the team better and more complete, it's not a mind blowing return. But do you wait and risk getting nothing for a possible sweet return, or make your team better now? So the positives are, first and foremost, you solidify your weakest position in PG. Ever since Deron ran your coach out of town then himself, this position has been one of uncertainty. Mo has done a nice job but he is 30 and a free agent after this year. Goran is an excellent PG, with a cap friendly contract for the next 4 years. Losing Milsap isn't much of a blow with Favors waiting in the wing. Morris gives you a cheap, decent backup that solidifies your PF rotation. Singler is a good young player to back up the SF position. And we all know what Tucker brings to the table. Losing Hayward hurts, but from what I've heard people think Burks has a really bright future so there's that. Also important is you gain a first round pick. Overall I look at this as a Dragic>Hayward trade and a Morris/Singler/Tucker/1st rnd pick>Milsap walking for nothing trade based off Utah's needs.


Phoenix does it: Boy we really get shafted, don't we? In any trade it's initially going to look like one side gets shafted, and a lot end up exactly like they look. I don't think so on this one. First, this is a 7 for 4 trade, meaning we will be short handed the remaining of the season, which will solidify our draft position and almost guarantee a top 3 pick. Yay. Ultimately I see this as a Dragic/Gortat/Dudley for Monroe/Hayward trade. Brown, Tucker, and O'Neal are replaceable. Morris and Minnys pick is a loss, but with a surplus of future picks, it's acceptable. Both Monroe and Heyward are franchise cornerstones, and very young (both 22) and to say we have anything like them right now is just false. Dragic is close and I like him a lot, but he's 26 and when we draft a star (potentially), by the time they blossom, Dragic will be past his prime.

And that leads me to the draft. If this trade somehow happened and we received say, the #4 pick, I would trade down. With no sure-fire superstars, yet deep in quality I believe gaining a pick would be smart. OKC seems prime for a trade. We swap them their two firsts (Toronto's and theirs) for our pick. Ideally I would draft Bennett with Toronto's, Trey Burke with the Laker pick, Lebryan Nash with OKC's pick, Trevor Mbakwe with our second, and Carrick Felix with the other second. Trade scola for a late 2014 first rounder to a contender like Indiana. Looking at FA's there aren't many I like. Maybe bring in Dunleavy on a 2-year deal. And we're stuck with Beasley but can cut him after next year for minimum $$ after.

Our 2013-14 lineup:

PG- Burke, Marshall

SG- Heyward, Stuckey

C- Monroe, Frye

PF- Bennett, Mbakwe, Villanueva

SF- Dunleavy, Nash, Felix, Beasley

Welcome to the rabbit hole.