Crazy idea: Suns should trade for Draymond Green

I’m going to cut right to the chase here: the Phoenix Suns should send Jae Crowder, Dario Saric, and Torrey Craig, along with a pick, for Draymond Green. This is both incredibly crazy and also it makes sense.

The Warriors need to cut ties with Draymond. He punched a young star player in the face and now seems like he’s just pretty much on the outs with the Golden State Warriors generally.

Jae Crowder, whether he’s lately stopped complaining about it or not, apparently wants out of Phoenix, and many Suns fans seem concerned that Cam Johnson is not ready to shoulder the defensive responsibilities of being a starting 4 in the NBA.

Well, here you go. Draymond, despite being only officially 6’6, is a robust 230 lbs and has a decade-long track record of not being bullied in the front court. Though he has not averaged scoring in double figures since the 2017/2018 season (when he averaged 11 points on 56% TS) he remains a potent secondary distributor who last season averaged 7 assists per game in 29 minutes.

Suns fans are worried, and rightfully so, that the Suns will miss Jae Crowder’s tenacious defense. Well, Draymond is going to go down in history as one of the best defenders to ever play in the NBA. He’s a seven-time all-defense selection and has won a defensive player of the year award. He’s no spring chicken anymore at almost 33 years old, but with only two years left on his deal he perfectly fits the Suns’ championship window and could be used as an expiring contract trading chip after this season concludes.

But it takes (at least) two to tango in the NBA...so why would the Warriors do this?

Well, they might not. I fully admit that. But it seems like they have to move Draymond somewhere. From the Warriors’ perspective, this deal gives them a serviceable power forward who can play defense and has a championship pedigree, so they can still reasonably compete for another title this year. Furthermore, all three of the players they’d be getting are expiring contracts that can be used as tradable assets or help provide them space to make noise in the free agent market next offseason.

There are good reasons not to even consider this idea...namely that Draymond recently, you know, punched a teammate in the face. But sometimes a change of scenery can be revitalizing to a player both on and off the court. The Suns have something good going on still, despite the negative buzz around the team just now, and are one of the few teams out there that could offer Green a chance to keep competing for a title right away.

Is this even more far fetched than the Kevin Durant idea? Maybe. But it’s lower stakes for both sides, and I wouldn’t include Cam Johnson in this deal if that was what it took to get it done...though I would include any combination of picks.

So is there any deal that might make sense, or am I just going off crazy again? Well, you can decide, I promise I won’t be offended.