The Phoenix Suns are rumored to be potential players ahead of the Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline, though they’re probably minnows compared to some big fish deals set to occur.
Giannis Antetokounmpo seems all but set to depart the Milwaukee Bucks after months of speculation and chatter. Antetokounmpo, a long-time Bucks forward who helped the organization defeat the Suns in the 2021 NBA Finals, is now set to be the most coveted trade asset within the next week.
Things will move fast, though Phoenix is set to simply be bystanders in the deal — barring their involvement as a facilitating extra team.
Still, they won’t net Antetokounmpo — and they’re not even thinking about it.
Here’s why:
1. They Simply Don’t Need To
| Brett Davis-Imagn Images
The Suns have shocked nearly everyone in their start to the regular season, shattering preseason expectations with a 28-19 record at this point in time.
Phoenix hasn’t truly been healthy all season, either. The Suns have seen Jalen Green miss significant time due to his hamstring injury while other key pieces have also been in and out of the lineup.
Jordan Ott’s first season has mostly gone right thanks to their blend of chemistry and various roles being filled. Shaking a large part of that up, simply for the sake of adding a big name, isn’t in the cards at this point in time.
Case in point, they’re already a successful team with potential to reach even greater heights. Phoenix is willing to see how they emerge fully healthy before making any splash moves down the road.
2. They Simply Don’t Have The Resources
Even if the Suns did want to pursue Antetokounmpo, Phoenix has nowhere near enough resources to land him. Practically all of their future draft ammo is off the books thanks to prior trades involving Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal — more on them later.
This was best summarized by ESPN, who ranked the Suns in the “pockets empty” category of Antetokounmpo trade candidates.
“The Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal trades, along with finishing last season over the second apron, have left Phoenix with no tradable first-round picks. Outside of including Devin Booker, Phoenix doesn’t have an offer that would interest Milwaukee,” wrote Bobby Marks.
The Suns aren’t including Booker in a trade. Pockets are empty, but they’re rich where it currently matters.
3. They Learned From Past Mistakes
The Suns were ultimately burned by previous mistakes made by owner Mat Ishbia after sacrificing nearly everything for Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal on the trade market.
“We didn’t do — and I didn’t do — a good enough job defining what kind of guys and what kind of team we were going to be,” Ishbia admitted previously on those trades.
“So therefore, before I go after a big acquisition — a top-10, top-15 player — it better fit our culture and our organization, and how we’re going to do things. Now I have that DNA. I’ve defined it. We didn’t define it before. Back then, the thinking was: grab a bunch of talented players, throw them together, get a past championship coach, don’t worry about the luxury tax, and just go try to compete. That didn’t work. So it’s been a great learning experience for me.”
Getting better fits instead of bigger names has suited the Suns well this season.
Make no mistake, the NBA is very much a star-driven league. With only five players on a court at a time per team, individuals do have the ability to greatly impact games.
However, the Suns learned the hard way you can’t just assemble talent on the court like 2K.
It doesn’t appear to they’re interested in making that sort of splash anytime soon.
