FanPost

Did the Suns Lose the IT/Dragic/Lakers Pick Trades?

Yes, we lost. Now that its out of the way the question is how badly did we lose?

The gauging of whether the Phoenix Suns front office won or lost the great trade deadline spree of 2014 like every trade in any sport is an ongoing case. At first glance the Suns are like the deadbeat family member in a Judge Judy case. "Are you out of your mind?" "Whats wrong with you?" "You better start taking your life more seriously". But this years race to the playoffs and first round games indicate that the Suns might not have been as far off as we might think.

This is within the context of building a team that can get to the Western Conference finals. Much like the Republican Party BT (Before.Trump.) there has historically been a passing of the torch. A team rises. Gets its cuts and bruises. Learns and grows and finally supplants its nemesis. Examples include OKC '11-'12 playoffs, San Antonio '12-'13-'14, Golden State defied the odds but they lost in consecutive seasons to the Clippers ('13) and Spurs ('14) in the 1st and 2nd rounds before the stars aligned for them drawing the Houston Rockets with Josh Smith in the starting lineup.

Basically a team needs to make it past the first round. So if that is the floor of our expectations for a quality basketball team lets use it to evaluate what the Suns lost and what we have won due to the 2014 deadline deals.

What We Lost:

The Celtics have gone to the playoffs three straight seasons since Isaiah left the Purple Palace in the desert for the Boston Garden. In each season they have improved their record and as a result their seeding in the playoffs. Brad Stevens has received much of the credit for this success but it is IT who has been the game changer. He dragged the Celtics to the playoffs in '15. Then lead them there comfortably in '16 and this season lead his team to the Eastern Conferences #1 Seed. Along the way he earned an All-Star invitation, was 3rd in the league in points scored per game, and made every sports announcer in the league say at least once, "Holy Hell, this guy s the height of a middle school-er (5'9'') and he is working, ABSOLUTELY WORKING these guys tonight!"

IT has shown the league he can put the ball in the bucket, and he is a mini-Harden in his ability to create out of the pick-n-roll but with a cranium barely reaching the hip joint of the average player in the league, Thomas is a defensive liability both in that he has a height and size mismatch when staying in front of his man but he also gets wrecked on the boards carrying a meager 7% of his teams defensive rebounding according to basketball- reference.com

Since Dragic started sending laser guided missiles via reporters at the Suns FO forcing the dominoes of trades to start falling he has enjoyed limited success on the Heat. In his first season after the trade deadline they missed the playoffs due to Chris Bosh sitting out the remainder of the season with his heart issues. His second season they made the playoffs reaching the 2nd round where they lost to the Raptors. Dragic flew co-pilot as Captain Wade steered the team, leading them in points and assists. Dragic was second in both categories in the playoffs.

This season Dragic returned to cast himself with the long overdue sequel of the Suns 2013-2014 season. In Exceed Expectations II: Bring the Heat, Dragic is joined by a similar cast. A group of undervalued wings and forwards find a way to win more games than any expert had predicted bringing them to the cusp of the playoffs but just missing it. Like the first showing in Phoenix, barely missing the playoffs leaves Miami with a middling draft pick and an uncertain future.

  • THE Laker Pick (Top 3 Protected) :

This juicy asset has yet to show its value for this season but the Lakers were able to secure third place in the NBA Reverse Rankings leaving their chances of landing in the Top 3 of the loaded 2017 NBA draft at 47%. If the pick falls out of the Top 3, a 50/50 chance, then McDonough is going to receive the full wrath of the BSOTS-ers. The pairing of the Suns own pick and the Laker Top 4 or 5 pick would have been invaluable as the Suns prepare to go from white dwarf to supernova.

What We "Won":

Thornton came to the Suns as a result of the Isaiah Thomas trade. In Boston he had found a niche as a three- point shooter off the bench shooting 42% from three with 16 minutes per game. While Thornton had been on the decline for years some felt he still might be able to resurrect his career in the desert.

Unfortunately, it was not to be. Thornton played 9 minutes a game and shot below 11% on three-point attempts. After his meager performance the Suns wisely let him go. Thornton was last seen leaving the Nets facilities after he was traded from the Wizards to Brooklyn at the trade deadline this season.

Initially, the Suns were praised for the move. The consensus was that we had made the most of a bad situation. There were glimpses of Knight becoming the near All-Star point guard he was in Milwaukee. His career with the Suns though overall has been a disappointment If you can stomach it you can read or reread about it here, here, and here.

To save you the time of reading though none of it is good. Injuries, lack of motivation and not even coming close to reaching the bar set for him by McDonough has meant another unlucky stop in Knights career. Of course we might not be so sour on him if it wasn't for BOOKER!

  • 13th Pick = BOOKER:

After Knight the Suns struggled mightily. Knight was injured. They lost most of their offense with Dragic and IT departing. The team once again found themselves in the middle of the draft. All the boards said the Suns should focus on getting a shooter and so they did. Would they have needed shooting if they still had IT and Dragic!? John Gambodoro said he believed the Suns were going to pick Devin Booker and so they did!

Booker has given the Suns fans something to be proud of. From Footlocker commercials and 70-point games, to getting mentioned regularly in national sports columns and blogs as one of the missed opportunities of the 2015 NBA Draft, he has given Phoenix some, a little, national relevance.

The only question now is can he carry the team with him. Next season will tell us a lot more about the young nucleus of talent McDonough has assembled but at the moment the lifeblood of the fan-base is Devin Booker.

Adding It All Up

The Suns may have lost the exchange of talent and if that pick goes to Philly, oh man watch out McD, BUT if you take into consideration that both IT and Dragic made the playoffs in the Eastern Conf. it makes you wonder, would they have been able to get Phoenix to the promised land in a historically deep Western Conference. Plus Dragic did it as the second best player on his team. Would Dragic have worked out in Phoenix if he was supplanted? He couldn't even take a reassignment to the corner and off the ball movement. Can you imagine him getting the Brandon Knight treatment?

So cheer up! Think about it, even when you loved Dragic did you see the potential in him that you see in Booker? Be honest with yourself now. The future is Bright and while McD has made some questionable and unquestionably bad moves with building a true contender this was not one of them.

If The Pick Stays Top 3 Protected Grade: 3/5 Stars

Even though they would have been exciting players to watch during the regular season, Dragic and Thomas are not a sustainable foundation to build on for playoff success and we lucked into a record setting teen-player phenom in Booker. All that combines into a 3/5. Anytime that gives up an All-Star and a starting caliber point guard for Thornton and the current edition of Knight should be getting much worse reviews. Remember: Playoffs.

If The Pick Falls Out of the Top 3 Grade: 1/5

The resulting fallout of the Suns giving away this Pick for no talent in return directly (Booker was an indirect result obviously) could be astronomical.

In my opinion this could be the end of Ryan McDonough symbollically if The Laker Pick falls out of the Top 3. Not only will he get it from the usual sources of Bickley and Gambo on the Arizona airwaves. It's going to be on the national news because Philly is going to be picking and all the national pundits are going to ask, "How the hell did they get this pick again?Oh ya, Phoenix..."