Phoenix Suns Receive Passable NBA Trade Deadline Grade After Offloading Salary
The Phoenix Suns were one of the most talked about teams heading into the NBA trade deadline, but they were unable to land another star.
Of course, the Suns have struggled this season and there were reports that they were desperately trying to land Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat. With them unable to find a landing spot for Bradley Beal due to the no-trade clause in his contract, Phoenix was unable to land Butler, who instead ended up with the Golden State Warriors.
Kevin Durant was also in trade rumors with the Warriors and Heat both interested in him, but Phoenix decided to keep their superstar forward despite surprisingly listening to offers for him. With the Suns keeping their big three of Durant, Beal and Devin Booker around, they were able to make some moves to upgrade their depth.
Phoenix landed Nick Richards from the Charlotte Hornets to upgrade their frontcourt rotation in late January but they were also able to make some moves around the deadline. They swapped their 2031 first-round pick for three first rounders from the Utah Jazz.
They then attached one of those picks to Jusuf Nurkić to offload his contract in a trade with the Hornets that landed them Cody Martin and Vasilije Micić.
With the Suns making these moves, Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes gave their trade deadline a C+ grade.
“Getting off Nurkić’s guaranteed $19.4 million in 2025-26 is a legitimate plus, and the 2026 second Phoenix got from the Hornets might not be all that far behind the first going to Charlotte,” Hughes wrote about why he gave Phoenix the grade he did. “Unless all of the Suns, Grizzlies and Magic fall apart, it’ll probably be in the mid-to-late 20s.”
Of course, offloading Nurkić’s contract was a great move by Phoenix, but they were unable to address some of their key problems. They did not add another center to their roster and they were unable to trade away Beal’s monster contract.
Phoenix now enters the second half of the season sitting ninth in the Western Conference standings, and it should be an interesting offseason for them if they are unable to make a playoff run.