Suns Could Swing for Fences With Massive Trade
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Could we see Draymond Green in a Phoenix Suns uniform next season?
Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes brought up the idea that the Suns could trade Deandre Ayton to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for Green.
“The idea of reuniting Kevin Durant and Draymond Green might trigger a double-take, but the former teammates squashed their beef long ago. Besides, if we couldn’t send Green to teams that employed players with whom he’d had a verbal or physical altercation, we’d run out of destinations in a hurry,” Hughes wrote.
“With Warriors team president Bob Myers looking more and more like a flight risk, it gets easier to imagine the Dubs breaking up their dynastic core. Maybe if Myers walks away, Green picks up his option, back-channels extension discussions with the Suns and joins up with the understanding that a new deal would be in place for 2024-25.
“Deandre Ayton would provide the matching salary, and Green would give the Suns far greater defensive versatility than the former No. 1 pick. Phoenix would still need help on the wings and more overall depth, but perhaps a subsequent Chris Paul trade could provide some of that. Mostly, a Suns team that posted mail-in efforts in its last two playoff eliminations needs someone who’ll never go down without a fight. That’s Green in a nutshell.”
It's an interesting proposal for the Suns. Green is currently 33-years-old and seems to be regressing on the offensive end by the year. This past season Green averaged 8.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.8 assists.
Ayton is nine years younger than Green and is a much bigger threat to score the basketball, so this trade would certainly hinder Phoenix’s offense.
Green is also eligible to become an unrestricted free agent if he decides to decline his $27.6 million player option and based on his championship pedigree, he could potentially demand even more money which could be risky giving that kind of money to a 33-year-old who is past his prime.
What's clear however is that the Suns need a leader that could help boost the culture. In their second round series against the Denver Nuggets, Phoenix played with a lack of urgency - especially in Game 6 where they were blown out by 25 points getting eliminated on their home floor.
Green is a four-time champion and plays with a ton of energy each and every night. There are just some things that fans don’t see on a stat sheet but are still extremely important. Green does not need to put up jaw dropping numbers to be effective. His ability to be a leader on top of his ferocious energy could impact the Suns in a major way.
Also, Green is still arguably one of the premier defenders in the NBA and would help Phoenix find more of an identity on the defensive side of the ball.
Green in a Suns’ jersey would send shock waves to the entire basketball world.
