SactownSunsFan
Welcome to the Age of Ayton
It was December of '96 when the Suns traded Michael Finley, AC Green and Sam Cassell for Tony Dumas, Loren Myer and.... budding superstar Jason Kidd. Kidd was widely considered to be a top 3 Point Guard in the league at the time, but it was a move that did not come without question.
The Suns still had 3-time All-Star and 5-time All-NBA selection Kevin Johnson. Johnson, now 9 seasons into the league, was getting older and his numbers had dipped slightly, but he was still going strong at 18-19 points and 8-9 assists per game. The Suns had also used their 15th pick in the NBA draft the previous summer on promising point guard prospect Steve Nash. To cap off the summer, the Suns added solid veteran Sam Cassell in the Barkely trade who, at age 27, had helped lead the Houston Rockets to 2 World Championships as their primary back-up Point Guard.
Despite the inapparent need for a Point Guard, the trade paid off. The Suns had started the season 0-13, but finished strong winning 20 of their last 26 to make the playoffs as the 7th seed before bowing out to the # 2 seed Sonics three games to two. The following season the Suns finished 56-26, a far cry from the 40-42 record of the previous season.
Now, nearly 14 years later, we find ourselves in a similar situation. The Hornets' Chris Paul, widely considered a top 3 Point Guard, is apparently on the trading block. With 2-time MVP Steve Nash still manning the Point at an elite level, coupled with the flashes of brilliance shown by back-up Goran Dragic, it appears the Suns have no need to trade for a Point Guard... so why do it?
The Trade: (After June 30th, when Paul's BYC expires)
Hornets send: Chris Paul, Emeka Okafor
Suns Send: Jason Richardson, Leandro Barbosa, Earl Clark
Why the Suns do it: Nash is entering his 14th season and will be 37 before the next All-Star game. He is, by all means, close to retirement. Dragic, as brilliant as he's looked at times, is still a bit of a mystery. Adding Chris Paul would solidify our point guard position for the foreseeable future. Despite Paul's height (6'0 on a good day) his quickness and tenacity on defense makes him one of the league's better defenders, and he's led the league in steals 2 of the last 3 seasons. Like with KJ, the Suns could experiment by sliding Nash to the 2-guard spot, allowing him to conserve energy while allowing the younger Paul to handle most of the offensive load. Taking in Okafor means the Suns have a solid defensive Power Foward to step in should Amare decide to walk (and this deal would most assuredly make that happen).
Possible depth chart in this scenario (and assuming we can resign Frye and Lou):
C: Lopez (28) / Frye (20)
PF: Okafor (32) / Amundson (16)
SF: Hill (32) / Dudley (16)
SG: Nash (20) / Dudley (15) / Dragic (13)
PG: Paul (34) / Nash (10) / Dragic (4)
Why the Suns wouldn't do it: While the roster situation is a bit similar, the success of the team is not. The 96-97 Suns were in bad shape when they pulled the trigger on the trade. The 09-10 Suns just came off a surprising run to the WCF's before bowing out to the eventual NBA champions. If it ain't broke, as they say, don't fix it.
Another thing to consider: Nash's reaction to such a trade. Steve is absolutely the leader of this team, and this trade only works if he is receptive to the idea.
Other things that might hold a trade like this back include Sarver's apparent cheapness and, as mentioned previously, this would pretty much seal the deal on Amare's departure.
Why the Hornets do it: Quite simply, the Hornets are in a financial nightmare and must shed salary. Making this trade offers them the ability to shed upwards of $100 million over the life of both Okafor's and Paul's contracts, while also receiving a nice young prospect in Earl Clark.
Why the Hornets wouldn't do it: There will likely be a lot of suitors for Chris Paul, and those suitors may be able to offer much better proposals than the Suns can possibly put together.
Chance of this happening (my guess): 0-15%
In any event, I hope this made for a good read.
The Suns still had 3-time All-Star and 5-time All-NBA selection Kevin Johnson. Johnson, now 9 seasons into the league, was getting older and his numbers had dipped slightly, but he was still going strong at 18-19 points and 8-9 assists per game. The Suns had also used their 15th pick in the NBA draft the previous summer on promising point guard prospect Steve Nash. To cap off the summer, the Suns added solid veteran Sam Cassell in the Barkely trade who, at age 27, had helped lead the Houston Rockets to 2 World Championships as their primary back-up Point Guard.
Despite the inapparent need for a Point Guard, the trade paid off. The Suns had started the season 0-13, but finished strong winning 20 of their last 26 to make the playoffs as the 7th seed before bowing out to the # 2 seed Sonics three games to two. The following season the Suns finished 56-26, a far cry from the 40-42 record of the previous season.
Now, nearly 14 years later, we find ourselves in a similar situation. The Hornets' Chris Paul, widely considered a top 3 Point Guard, is apparently on the trading block. With 2-time MVP Steve Nash still manning the Point at an elite level, coupled with the flashes of brilliance shown by back-up Goran Dragic, it appears the Suns have no need to trade for a Point Guard... so why do it?
The Trade: (After June 30th, when Paul's BYC expires)
Hornets send: Chris Paul, Emeka Okafor
Suns Send: Jason Richardson, Leandro Barbosa, Earl Clark
Why the Suns do it: Nash is entering his 14th season and will be 37 before the next All-Star game. He is, by all means, close to retirement. Dragic, as brilliant as he's looked at times, is still a bit of a mystery. Adding Chris Paul would solidify our point guard position for the foreseeable future. Despite Paul's height (6'0 on a good day) his quickness and tenacity on defense makes him one of the league's better defenders, and he's led the league in steals 2 of the last 3 seasons. Like with KJ, the Suns could experiment by sliding Nash to the 2-guard spot, allowing him to conserve energy while allowing the younger Paul to handle most of the offensive load. Taking in Okafor means the Suns have a solid defensive Power Foward to step in should Amare decide to walk (and this deal would most assuredly make that happen).
Possible depth chart in this scenario (and assuming we can resign Frye and Lou):
C: Lopez (28) / Frye (20)
PF: Okafor (32) / Amundson (16)
SF: Hill (32) / Dudley (16)
SG: Nash (20) / Dudley (15) / Dragic (13)
PG: Paul (34) / Nash (10) / Dragic (4)
Why the Suns wouldn't do it: While the roster situation is a bit similar, the success of the team is not. The 96-97 Suns were in bad shape when they pulled the trigger on the trade. The 09-10 Suns just came off a surprising run to the WCF's before bowing out to the eventual NBA champions. If it ain't broke, as they say, don't fix it.
Another thing to consider: Nash's reaction to such a trade. Steve is absolutely the leader of this team, and this trade only works if he is receptive to the idea.
Other things that might hold a trade like this back include Sarver's apparent cheapness and, as mentioned previously, this would pretty much seal the deal on Amare's departure.
Why the Hornets do it: Quite simply, the Hornets are in a financial nightmare and must shed salary. Making this trade offers them the ability to shed upwards of $100 million over the life of both Okafor's and Paul's contracts, while also receiving a nice young prospect in Earl Clark.
Why the Hornets wouldn't do it: There will likely be a lot of suitors for Chris Paul, and those suitors may be able to offer much better proposals than the Suns can possibly put together.
Chance of this happening (my guess): 0-15%
In any event, I hope this made for a good read.
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