The Suns made three trades…but did they get better?
At long last, the trade deadline is over. After weeks of speculation about how the Phoenix Suns would improve their roster, it’s done. No more mock trades. No more guessing games. With the buyout market as the only remaining option, this is the team Phoenix will ride with for the final 32 games of the season.
We never thought we’d end up here. The season began with so much optimism, the trade deadline once seen as a chance to fortify a juggernaut. Instead, we’re living in the darkest timeline. The Suns are sitting at .500, clinging to the 9th seed in the West, getting outworked nightly by younger, more cohesive, more athletic teams that simply seem to care more.
The 2025 trade deadline? The Suns made just three trades all season. That’s it.
- Nick Richards and one second-round pick from the Charlotte Hornets for Josh Okogie and three second-round picks
- Three first-round picks from the Utah Jazz for the Suns’ 2031 first-round pick
- Jusuf Nurkic and one first-round pick to the Charlotte Hornets for Cody Martin, Visilije Micic and one second-round pick
Our Bright Side staff is here to break down the Suns’ trade deadline moves, hand out our grades, and explain exactly why we landed where we did.
John Voita: D+
The only team willing to trade with the Suns all season was the Charlotte Hornets. Let that sink in. Phoenix had to give up a starting center and their hustle-energy guy just to get three bench players from Charlotte. That doesn’t exactly scream improvement, does it?
Shedding Nurkic’s contract became a priority simply because the Suns struggle to even hold conversations. Sure, some of the blame falls on Nurk. Players have egos, and he may have shut down, making any chance of reconciliation impossible. But culturally, the Suns have to be better. They need to sit everyone down, hash things out, and actually communicate. In the real world, we call that “coaching and counseling”. In the NBA, you just hop in your $100,000 car, drive off, and nobody cares.
So yes, getting off that contract could provide some flexibility next season, but the Suns had to do it in full-blown emergency mode, pulling the last-ditch parachute just to stay afloat. The move wasn’t impressive. It reeked of desperation. Thus the low grade.
Bruce Veliz: C
The Suns made three moves at the deadline, with one failing in front of their face. They traded their 2031 first-round pick for three lesser-value first-rounders to get Jimmy Butler. When that plan went south, the Suns had no other pivot besides auctioning off their best player without him knowing. That is almost a disaster unfolding right there.
The other two moves involved the Charlotte Hornets in separate trades. The Suns addressed removing a player who was not playing in Nurkic but still left a hole in the center position. Even after getting rid of Nurkic, the team felt it was good as is and left the rest of the deadline to figure issues out internally. This has left fans to question what is really going on.
The real question is, if we were going to do two trades with the Hornets, why did we not ask about Mark Williams if he was moved? Why did we not trade Nurkic for Richards the first time if Charlotte was going to take him anyway? This has led many of the fans to start to question the front office’s decisions.
For me, all hope is not lost. Kevin Durant is still on this team, and you can drop below the first apron next summer to make some more moves. Is the relationship with KD and Phoenix tarnished now? Only time will tell, but a second-half push could change that sentiment in a flash.
Nathan Jones (SunsRealityCheck): C
Does this feel like the hardest trade deadline to grade ever? I’ve never experienced so many ebbs and flows during a trade deadline in my life as a Suns fan.
It’s very hard to gauge what we did considering how aggressive other teams were in acquiring talent and restructuring their books under the new apron rules. It feels like the Suns were playing musical chairs and were left standing in the corner looking sad when the music stopped, (big shoutout to Brendon Kleen for the metaphor).
To grade it fairly I can’t concern myself with other team’s business. Each team has to row their own boat in my view.
When I think about the grade, I have to think about what would have been an A or an F in my mind.
In my view, I thought an A+ would have been if they could get out from under Beal’s no-trade clause, and get Nurk off the roster without using more than 1 first-round pick, and upgrade to the center rotation.
An F in my mind, would have been being stuck with Beal and Nurk with no real moves completed.
They got a center upgrade in Nick Richards, who while not perfect, brings some punch to what the Suns need. There are some bad Hornets habits he will need to break.
They weren’t unable to thread the needle for a Beal trade, but they didn’t lock themselves into $120 million for Jimmy Butler and they didn’t panic trade KD (though that was too close for comfort).
They got off of Nurk and didn’t acquire 4 years of Patrick Williams at the same price which would have hamstrung us even more.
All in all, they positioned themselves to do things going forward in attaining expiring contracts. They will have 2 tradable firsts and will have flexibility on draft night as well.
The big win is that they will be able to duck under the 2nd apron, which unlocks the ability to aggregate salary, use a trade exception, and use the $5.2 million mid-level exception.
So the Suns gained some flexibility which was boxing them in and now they at least have a case to make to the big three that there is an avenue to acquire defensive size and outline a vision for winning. If KD says no thank you, they will have more flexibility to stay relevant in the next few years.
Matthew Lissy: D
If the Suns are now ready to downplay the “toxic” locker room rumors and the disrespect Kevin Durant might feel after being brought up in trades, then the trade deadline can be seen as a success. However, what the Suns failed to do—trading Durant for future first-round draft picks, Jonathan Kuminga, or Jimmy Butler to help reset the team while still maintaining a competitive edge for the next few years—is what ultimately hurt them. I love Durant, but the Suns needed to move on and build for the future.
If the Suns pulled off that trade, then the grade would have been a B.
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