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On the first official day of the NBA offseason after Golden State swept Cleveland in The Finals, we have our first Phoenix Suns rumor. According to Jonathan Wasserman over at Bleacher Report, the Suns might be honing on a possible trade up target on draft night.
Sources confirm: Phoenix Suns have been trying to bring in Trae Young for dinner/workout, but scheduling has made it difficult. Meeting to likely take place at some point before draft. Evidence Phoenix will be looking to add a 2nd top-10 pick.
— Jonathan Wasserman (@NBADraftWass) June 9, 2018
With Deandre Ayton likely being the direction they go with the No. 1 pick, Phoenix might also add their point guard of the future as well in Trae Young. That’s certainly one way to not only put fans in the seats at Talking Stick Resort Arena next season, but also go in the direction of offensive firepower.
While at Oklahoma, Young averaged 27.4 points, 8.7 assists and 1.7 steals while shooting 36% on 3s (10.3 per game). During the non-conference schedule, Young was electric but he cooled off and struggled mightily with turnover problems once teams keyed in on him with multiple defenders. One area of concern with Young is his defensive ability, especially with his light frame (shortest wingspan and weight at the combine).
Going in the direction of Young would mean going all-in on defensive commodities in free agency. Phoenix would certainly have scoring covered with that new foursome in place all being 21 and under.
As Young has said on multiple occasions before, he idolized Steve Nash growing up watching the 7 Seconds or Less offense blossom into how most NBA teams try to run today. The forward-thinking Suns under Mike D’Antoni lit a spark in Phoenix. Over a decade later, the 2018 Suns might be trying to recreate it pairing Ayton and Young alongside Devin Booker and Josh Jackson.
This is certainly an interesting idea for Phoenix. It also goes with the aggressive mindset general manager Ryan McDonough has spoken on before to the media.
The Suns certainly have the assets to pull off a trade up into the range Young is projected to go in (6-9) — No. 16, No. 31, Milwaukee 1st (likely 2020 or 2021), Miami 1st unprotected in 2021 alongside all of their own future picks — so this wouldn’t surprise me actually.
How would you feel heading into opening night with this as the possible roster?
PG: Brandon Knight, Trae Young, Tyler Ulis
SG: Devin Booker, Vet Free Agent, Davon Reed / Troy Daniels
SF: Josh Jackson, T.J. Warren, Vet Free Agent
PF: Free Agent (Derrick Favors or Aaron Gordon, maybe?), Dragan Bender / Marquese Chriss, Jared Dudley
C: Deandre Ayton, Tyson Chandler, Alan Williams