Trade Rumors INTENSIFYING... Reporter Proposes WILD Suns Trade | Suns News

Yusuf Nurkic has been one of the guys that has been rumored at the Suns for a trade candidacy. So we're gonna be diving in, looking at some possible Yusuf Nurkic trades and breaking down which ones would be best for the Suns and which ones we're not really liking. All of that and more on this episode of Suns Digest. I'm Bruce Velez with my co-host, CJ Pierre. But before we dive in on all of these Yusuf Nurkic trades, 90% of you guys who watch our videos are not subscribed. CJ and I have been noticing that viewer count dwindling, dwindling down. So we appreciate that number going down, but we wanna get to 1,000 subscribers here on Suns Digest. You guys enjoy the content, enjoy the drama, enjoy all the news that's been coming to you guys daily. Hit that subscribe button as it's going to continue coming throughout the entire off season. But CJ, let's get into the video and make sure to grab a snack as it's going to be a jam-packed episode. And like I mentioned in the introduction, we're gonna be looking at some possible Yusuf Nurkic trades. You've already had some videos kind of breaking some down, but a Suns reporter, Gerald Bourget, who is a prominent Suns guy, does work on the Phoenix Suns pod, came out yesterday with an article breaking 20 possible Yusuf Nurkic trades that the Suns could possibly entertain. And we're gonna be diving in, looking at some handpicked ones that we like. Before we dive in though, before we get on this, I wanna let you guys know that Gerald had claimed before we get into this article that these trades are not necessarily what the Suns fully should outdo, but these are trades that will work for the Phoenix Suns. So I don't wanna hear no one coming in the comments saying that these trades aren't possible, you can't combine trades, you can't do that. CJ and I know that the Suns are in a second apron team. They have those restrictions. These trades are eligible to do with the Suns CBA at this very moment. So CJ, let's get into these trades. First one we're gonna be looking at is Mitchell Robinson for a swap for Yusuf Nurkic, getting some rebounding, helping out there for the Suns. The next one is another guy we brought up, TJ McConnell and Jalen Smith, who would be then returning back to Phoenix for Yusuf Nurkic. Another one, Larry Nance Jr. and Jordan Hawkins for Yusuf Nurkic going to the Pelicans, getting a small ball five rebounder. Then we got some guard play, some guys that we had liked, Alex Caruso, Javon Carter from the Bulls. Another one, Nick Richards and Cody Martin from the Hornets. And lastly, Isaiah Stewart for Yusuf Nurkic. So CJ, kind of got in. We're kind of looking at those trades here. Speaking off the dome, kind of coming off, which ones are appealing to you at this very moment? All right, you're muted, CJ. All right, so we got a lot of different options there. A lot of things that we're breaking down. When you look at this article, there's all these different options. And it just, it kind of goes to show that even though that the Suns are second apron team, that they still have options. So that's the first thing to understand, that they have options, particularly with Nurkic. Who's making over $18 million next season. The first one that really stands out to me personally, despite the fact that I've been saying point guard, point guard, point guard. The first one that kind of really fits in terms of what the Suns could actually use, I think and really see some instant improvement is the trade for Mitchell Robinson with the New York Knicks. To me, that is the first one that I look at and I see instant improvement, instant impact. Mitchell Robinson is a force in the middle for the New York Knicks, despite the fact that he's had some injury history and some injury concerns. And that's probably the biggest red flag when you look at this trade. Is he going to be able to stay on the court? Obviously that's a big risk, but at the end of the day, injury history, when you play that into a factor, but you also got to look at the potential of what Mitchell Robinson's impact could be on the team. You'd have a rim protector that can manage things in the paint, particularly if the Suns are going to be looking to be a more offensive heavy team, you're going to need at least someone out there that can do some things on the defensive side of the ball that can help. Mitchell Robinson's a really solid rebounder. He's going to be able to get in there, bang with the best of them in the Western Conference, particularly when you're looking at teams like the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Los Angeles Lakers, who are just really big athletic teams. Having a guy like Mitchell Robinson is going to help offset some of the deficiencies that are going to be there for guys like Devin Booker or Bradley Beal. So I think when you have that solid big man who's still young, I think that's someone that the Phoenix Suns could see instant improvement from. Granted, which is different from what Nerkic was providing, which was some solid rebounding, decent inside scoring, but not necessarily the greatest on the defensive side of the ball, and not necessarily the greatest in pick and roll situations as well. I think Mitchell Robinson helps them in pick and roll, helps them on the defensive side of the ball, helps them with defensive rotations, defensive rebounding, offensive rebounding. I think instant improvement. I think so too, CJ. You brought up some quality points about Mitchell Robinson, really being that really hard-nosed defender down low in the paint for this Phoenix Suns squad that they could bring in. Truly, when he's healthy, when he's playing, when he was at, a couple of years ago, I thought he was a soluble, best top half center, around the 12 to 15 range. So if the Suns could get a guy like that, a guy who can come and be in that quality starter that, they don't need that impact guy like they said with DeAndre, and they wanted to try with Yusef Nurikic, but maybe Mitchell Robinson could be that guy. The only thing that does scare me, which it did harp on, was the injury concern. We already talked about how, you know, this team last year couldn't reach its full potential, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant, dealing with the injuries, and Mitchell Robinson would be another guy who dealt with abundance of injuries this year with the year of Knicks, especially in their deep playoff run. That's something that does kind of concern me a little bit, but I do think if he were fully healthy, he would be one of the best options on this list. Another one that I really like on this list, CJ, that I kind of wanted to bring up is one that we've talked about as well, which is talking about that point guard and that guard depth, looking at two guys from the Chicago Bulls here, in Alex Caruso and Javon Carter. Now, I know we've talked about this before, Javon Carter coming back to Phoenix, being that playmaker that's set up for this offense. Caruso, another really great nosed defensive guard that can kind of seemingly fit in with this squad. Chicago, team with question marks, and they bring him back to Rosen. What are they doing with Vucevic? What are they doing with Zach Levine? Do you think that they're a possible team that could kind of take a swing on the fences for Yusef Nurkic's contract, especially if the Suns did attach either the 22nd overall pick or possibly even that 2031st first round pick in the future? That's hard. I think so, at the end of the day, it really all depends on what the Bulls see themselves as moving forward. Yes, they do have some older players. When you look at DeMar DeRozan, he's on the tail end of his prime, and obviously there's the injury stuff with guys like Lomelo Ball, or not Lomelo, Lonzo Ball, and injury history with Zach Levine. So you really don't know exactly what the team is gonna look like, but then they have guys like Kobe White. They have other young wing players, so you don't really look at that team and say, are they gonna wanna go into a rebuild? And I think that's the kind of thing that would happen, but, because when you're adding Yusef Nurkic, when they already have Nikola Vucevic, it's kind of really hard to imagine what the Bulls would be doing. I think at that point, you're kind of entering a rebuild. But I mean, for the Suns' sake, if they were to maybe execute this trade, I think this would be perfect in terms of the point guard aspect. Javon Carter, solid backup point guard. He's someone that would return to Phoenix, see Phoenix Suns fans, what I think would appreciate having him back. And then Alex Caruso, which I think people just kind of forget his capabilities. When he was with the Los Angeles Lakers, he did a lot of facilitating on the court when he was playing with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Obviously, when he went to Chicago, he kind of went more into a defensive combo guard-ish type role and doing a lot less facilitating, but he's got facilitating in his bag. He can be a true point guard, and I think he'd fit in perfectly into a starting lineup with guys like Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, and Kevin Durant. Again, he's a defensive-minded guy, really hard-nosed on the perimeter, can give guys fits. I saw him really kind of D up Anthony Edwards in a game this past season, so I really think having a guy like Alex Caruso, who is running point guard for the Phoenix Suns, I think that is something that's way more ideal than just kind of trying to run a two-guard offense with Booker and Beal and hope that one of them becomes the playmaker. So I think this particular trade is kind of really dependent upon the Bulls and their willingness to take on the Nerkitz contract, because I think some people also forget Nerkitz isn't an expiring contract. He's got two years left on his deal, so you'd really have to be looking for a team that's willing to take on that salary and possibly looking to take a step back. The Bulls might be in that position, but I think it remains to be seen on what they do with the rest of their roster. Guys like DeRozan, Levine, Lonzo Ball, I think it remains to be seen on what they do, and if they do try and move off some of those guys, then I think this trade becomes a little bit more of a possibility. I think so, too. And with the Bulls having an abundance of guards already, you know, Ayo Dusumu, Kobe White with that emergence, guys like Javon Carter and guys like Alex Caruso could be expendable for them, especially if they are trying to go into that youth movement. Let's not forget, also, Alex Caruso, second all-defensive team this year, would have been on the first team if it was not a positionless voting. He would have been that top guard getting voted. So he is a hard-nosed defender, can work very well, and be a fantastic facilitator, like you mentioned, CJ. Especially, maybe even not even as a starting point guard, but finishing the games out with this starting unit, I think he would fit seemingly perfect alongside those guys like Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. But CJ- And he's improved so much as a shooter, too. I think that's the other thing, too. Like, he kinda started off as, you know, not necessarily reliable, but he's hit some big, big, big timely shots in some big clutch games. I think he would be a perfect fit. I like the Mitchell Robinson trade just because of the potential of Mitchell Robinson, but this trade right here is like one B, as far as I'm concerned. I think this is something that the Suns should seriously consider. Exactly, and I think that if the Suns are looking to move off Yusuf Nurkic, a center-for-center swap is probably the best idea that they could be looking for. Maybe some guards in free agency, or maybe another trade along the lines to get that guard. Because if they do do a trade to get those two guards in Caruso and Javon Carter, then you still have a hole at that center position trying to find one, which leads to the next trade that I kind of want to look at and dive in. This is one that also intrigued me a lot, which is with the Charlotte Hornets. Now, Cody Martin, Nick Richards. We kind of talked about Nick Richards in the past. I think he could be a very, very solid rebounder for this squad. You've mentioned how you think he can, you know, has a blossoming effect that he can kind of come through with this Sun squad and really emerge, and I believe that in as well. And I really think Cody Martin could be, you know, a little bit of a hard-nosed defender for this Suns team as well. Maybe, I know how Nazeer Little didn't really fit in that was supposed to be his kind of role with this Suns team, but if they look to move off of Nazeer Little, maybe bringing Cody Martin alongside Nick Richards could be that filler replacement. And then for the Hornets, they have Salary Cap. They have a young center already in, Mark Williams, who's more of a rebounding, blocking, athletic freak center. Have a guy who could finish around the edges, another decent rebounder, Yusuf Nurkic, as a backup, especially for a Hornets team that wants to go in the rise in this Eastern Conference. I think that that move could be suitable for both teams, even if the Suns include a pick as well. Yeah, I think this trade has a lot of interesting aspects to it. Yes, you'd be moving off of Nurkic, but think about the stuff that you would be adding, you know, with Richards and Martin. Richards, I think, is a solid, rotational big man. He's probably not a starting-caliber center at this point in time, but I think he would be useful in some spot minutes. So, think about it like this. You know, maybe he starts the game at center, but he only plays, you know, somewhere between 20, 25 minutes a game, you know, where the Suns then experiment more with small ball lineups. Then you have Martin, who is, you know, a solid perimeter player. That really, his addition would really give the Suns some flexibility in terms of being the willingness to move off of some of these other wing players, like, you know, not re-signing Royce O'Neal. Whether or not Eric Gordon or Josh Akogi, maybe they, you know, say, hey, guys, you know, maybe you might wanna test the waters elsewhere and not pick up your player options in terms of, you know, what the bench and the depth of the Sun team will end up looking like. And Martin could play a key role in that. He's, you know, another solid defender, decent shooter, not the greatest shooter, but he can hit some open shots. And, you know, that's kind of what you're hoping for when it comes to your role players and the guys that are coming off the bench. So, I look at this trade as a lot of potential. I think it gives the Suns some wiggle room, adds two relatively young players to their roster, and some added depth at key positions that will also make it easier for them to make other moves to improve the roster down the line as well. I agree. And I think that the other two trades that we kind of brought up earlier are a little bit better for the Suns outlook for now, but I do think that this trade could still help with the Suns in some certain degrees and allow them to have some more wiggle room and more flexibility with maybe getting some other guys out on the rotation end of things. But CJ, before we finish off, I do have to ask you, we're gonna go over the best ones here. So, obviously we kind of broke down three of them in depth. Obviously, we still have the other trades, TJ McConnell and Jalen Smith, obviously the Larry Nance and Jordan Hawkins, and then we have the Isaiah Stewart trade. But CJ, I wanna know which one you think is the best out of all these trades and which one is the worst out of all of these trades. Out of the six that we kind of went over and glossed over, and drop down in the comment section what you guys think as well, how you guys feel about some of these trades, even if they weren't mentioned, drop some propositions that you guys have as well. But CJ, take the floor. All right, I'll give you my top three, okay? I'll start off with number three out of these trades. I think that would be the addition of TJ McConnell and bringing back Jalen Smith. I think that is the third best trade option that the Suns would have. I think having TJ McConnell on the team, he is such a hard-nosed player, such a player that you want on your team, pit bull, like all these adjectives that really describe him and having someone like that at the point guard position who can also facilitate an offense, really works hard on defense. He's the kind of player that the Suns were missing in the playoffs last year, the kind of guy who's gonna get down and dirty, get in the trenches. And when you bring back Jalen Smith, the Suns really liked him. Like when he was here with the Suns before, they thought that he had a lot of promise. He's got some bull in him as well, in terms of the belief in his talent and his abilities. Obviously things may not necessarily work out in Indiana as they hoped. I think Indiana was expecting him to kind of take a step forward and really become a starting caliber four in this league. That didn't really necessarily pan out and then they traded for Pascal Siakam. So he now becomes a little bit expendable. So I think that that is someone that the Suns may wanna bring in. The second best trade on here, I did mention it. It's the Alex Caruso, Javon Carter trade. That is the point guard thing that we have been begging for and will be begging for over the course of this entire off season. You get a guy like Alex Caruso, solid shooter, really great defender, can facilitate an offense, combo guard, bigger guard, someone who's also gonna be that scrapper in there. And then you have a backup point guard, a natural backup point guard in Carter. I think it's definitely something that the Suns could look at. And then my number one trade in terms of the ones that we have here, it's gotta be the Mitchell Robinson one. It's you bring in someone who is young and who has a lot of promise. Also given the fact that he has that injury history, when it comes to the point where you may want to re-sign him, I think you would have some leverage and some advantages in that regard because you know that he's probably gonna either have to bet on himself and hope that he stays healthy. But if he does that, then that's really gonna benefit you as a team in the long run. Or if he does struggle with some injuries and maybe doesn't necessarily have the best year, but you still believe in his talent, you may be able to get him at a discount if you're gonna re-sign him to an extension. So I think that helps. You also improve your defense dramatically compared to what Nurkic had. So I think that's the number one trade when you go one through, those are the ones I'm looking at. The worst one in terms of these suggestions, they're based on the ones that we're talking about. For me, and I hate to say it, but it's the Isaiah Stewart trade with the Detroit Pistons. I don't think a use of Nurkic for Isaiah Stewart trade straight up is the move that the Suns wanna make. Isaiah Stewart, he's an undersized big man. He's not necessarily going to give you anything different than what Nurkic gives you. And then we've got the potential for some off-the-court stuff or stuff that's related, suspensions, issues that he's had on the court with other players, other teams. I don't necessarily know if he's gonna be the right fit with this particular Phoenix Suns unit, particularly as a starting center. If there was a situation where he may be able to come off the bench and just provide some spark plug minutes, then that's a different conversation. But again, I don't know if I'd wanna trade use of Nurkic for him and just that. I feel like if it was gonna be anything like that, I feel like I'd want the Pistons to kick in a little extra something to sweeten the deal. So I think that's the worst one in terms of the ones that we've talked about. I think you brought up some valid points, CJ. Again, going over those trades, I have to agree with you on the worst one. Even though I am a big beef stew guy, I do like Isaiah Stewart. I have to agree that this trade with the Pistons, I think they could give up just a little bit more possibly. I know that there might be a team that could take the contract a little bit easier. That's why there might be a team that might be rumored a little bit more. But Isaiah Stewart, a little bit of undersized big, but he is young, does have a lot of potential. I'm gonna disagree with you though. I'm gonna say my favorite trade is Alex Caruso and Javon Carter. I think that those guards are really, really solid. And I think that the Bulls might be a team that possibly pull a trigger on this deal. I do really like the Jalen Smith and TJ McConnell deal. I just do think maybe the Pacers aren't gonna give up on some of those guys, but the Mitch Robinson deal, I have to agree with you. I think this one is in my top three as well. I'm gonna go for my top three, the Alex Caruso trade at number three. I'm gonna go the Mitch Robin at two, and then I'm gonna go with the trade that I brought up, the Nick Richards, Cody Martin deal at my third. But like I said, I wanna appreciate you guys for tuning into this video, breaking down, listening to us break down these possible use of Nick Richards. It's not a foregone conclusion that he is going to be off the roster, but it's a possibility that his name could be thrown around. And if you guys wanna make sure you stay up to date on more Suns rumors, trade stuff, talking about head coaching, front office, all that jazz, this is the home for you, this is the space. So check out the videos linked at the top, hit that subscribe button for your boys, Bruce and CJ. We would greatly appreciate it as we're on the road to 1000 subscribers and you guys have been absolutely killing it the last couple of weeks for us, hitting that subscribe button. Once again, we'll catch you guys in the next video, signing off here on Suns Digest. Peace out and go Phoenix Suns.