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PHOENIX SUNS: TRADE GRADES

Trade Grades
Click here for link to Washington Wizards Trade Grades


Wizards get: PF/SF Markieff Morris
Suns get: C/PF DeJuan Blair, PF Kris Humphries, 2016 protected first-rounder

What more can you ask for? Morris was extremely unhappy in Phoenix ever since the team traded away his brother, Marcus, to Detroit. Furthermore, the fact that everyone knew of Markieff's unhappiness only lowered Phoenix's leverage, even more so than their current 14-40 record would indicate. But here we see GM Ryan McDonough netting a first-rounder, albeit protected, for the disgruntled forward. Not bad, not bad at all.

Grade: A


Trade Grades

Click here for link to Detroit Pistons Trade Grades

Pistons get: PF/SF Marcus Morris, SF/SG Danny Granger, SF/SG Reggie Bullock
Suns get: 2020 second round pick from Detroit

Marcus and Markieff Morris are twins. It’s pretty clear: they look the same, they have the same tattoos, the same facial features, play the same positions, the same everything. But now they have something different to tell them apart: their jerseys. This trade made some sense at the time: the Suns felt that they had a legitimate shot to lure superstar PF/C LaMarcus Aldridge to Phoenix, didn’t have the cap space to sign him, so dealt away a few quality role players to open up a large window of cash that could be used to sign Aldridge, should he choose to sign there. Alas, Aldridge obviously opted to sign with the Spurs in San Antonio. Although hindsight is 20/20, the move was clearly a risky one from the start, and Phoenix came out completely empty-handed. Worse yet, the personal effects of this trade were even worse than the basketball effects. Marcus had always played with his twin Markieff at every level: high school, college, and Markieff was even traded from Houston to Phoenix to unite the two. Again, hindsight is 20/20, but the Suns had to at least have had a suspicion that dealing away one would upset the other. Markieff sure thinks they did: "Everybody knew how bad I wanted to play with my brother, Phoenix knew. For them to trade me without consent or telling me or anything like that was kind of like a, I would say slap in the face." The equal and opposite reaction was for Markieff to demand a trade, and to actually completely give Phoenix’s front office the silent treatment. Yes, my hindsight is surely 20/20, but the Suns will end up losing four quality players over a wish (Aldridge) that was never even granted.

Grade: D+

Major thanks to Corbin Fields (@ctuck_fields) for his significant contribution to this article.

Trade Grades

Suns get: PG/SG Brandon Knight, PG Kendall Marshall
Milwaukee get: PG/SG Michael Carter-Williams, PG Tyler Ennis, C/PF Miles Plumlee
76ers get: Los Angeles Lakers’ 2015 first-rounder via Phoenix (top 5 protected, turns into top 3 protected pick in 2016 if not conveyed)

Separate deal:
Suns get: SG Marcus Thornton, Cleveland’s 2016 first-rounder via Boston (top 10 protected in 2016, 2017, 2018, unprotected in 2019)
Pistons get: SF Tayshaun Prince
Celtics get: PG Isaiah Thomas, PF Jonas Jerebko, SF Luigi Datome

These deals are really difficult to grade separately, as one happened because of the other. Either because Knight came to Phoenix, Thomas was shipped out; or because Thomas was shipped out, Knight came to Phoenix. You could throw in the Dragic deal as well to grade them all together if you want. All in all, the Suns gave up the Lakers’ pick, which will likely defer to next year as they are on track for one of the five worst records, and got Cleveland’s in return. Marshall is expected to be waived. Ennis, a rookie, was replaced by the more experienced Thornton, and disgruntled big man Miles Plumlee was used to upgrade from Thomas to Knight, who is putting up a career year: 18 points, 5.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds, 2 threes, and 1.5 steals per game. However, this comes at the worst possible time, as Knight is a restricted free agent this summer and will need to get paid significant money. Probably a lot more than $6.75 million a year, which is the steal of a deal that Thomas was on. Don’t get me wrong: this allows Phoenix to be pretty much just as competitive as they were before the deadline, what with battling the Thunder for the final playoff spot out West and all. However, even though this is a huge series of moves by Phoenix in a necessary shakeup of the backcourt, especially if you take the Dragic deal into account too, it’s really the financial aspect of this deal causes a slight net negative for the Suns in these two deals.

Overall Grade: B-

Trade Grades

Suns get: SF/SG Danny Granger, SF/SG John Salmons, C Justin Hamilton, Miami’s 2017 first-rounder (top 7 protected), Miami’s 2021 first-rounder
Heat get: PG/SG Goran Dragic, SG Zoran Dragic (Goran’s brother)
Pelicans get: PG Norris Cole, SF/PF Shawne Williams

GM Ryan McDonough did okay with the package he landed for Dragic (Goran, that is), especially considering the star point guard’s unrestricted free agency at season’s end and his public demanding of a trade. Okay meaning not bad, but certainly not very good. There were many other teams interested in Dragic’s services, so that should be taken into strong consideration when grading this deal. Granger, Salmons, and Hamilton are nothing more than role players that are only included in the trade almost entirely due to their expiring contracts, though Granger has a cheap $2.1 million player option for next season. The picks are nice, and the Heat will almost certainly be outside of the top 8 in 2017, but they’re just too far into the future for a Suns team that has a considerable amount of money committed long-term. This trade alone almost certainly knocked Phoenix out of the playoff race out West, though they saved their chances by acquiring PG Brandon Knight in a separate deal. Still, picks are picks, and two first-rounders are nothing to laugh at.

Grade: B
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