👋 GOOD MORNING

Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025 — Happy Thursday! I’ll get to the Suns’ Nick Richards trade in a moment, but to lead off, I just wanted to take a moment to recognize Arizona’s win over Baylor on Tuesday night. The game finished a little late to write about it in the newsletter, but the Wildcats’ 81-70 win over No. 25 Baylor was its seventh straight, and they are now 5-0 in the Big 12.

Arizona’s 4-5 start didn’t look good on paper, but a look at the quality of opponents who they lost to early in the season paints a clearer picture into their current winning ways: Losses to No. 12 Duke and No. 24 UCLA prepared the team for the gauntlet Big 12 schedule.

The Wildcats have beaten three ranked opponents since, all within the conference, and will likely face their biggest test of the season at home on Jan. 27 against Iowa State. Yes, my alma mater, but I won’t let that personal bias get in the way, I promise….

…Just don’t judge me based on today’s “Tip of the Cap” section at the bottom of this post 😆

On to the show!

Suns’ Trade For Richards Reignites Hope in The Valley

My, oh my, what a difference 24 hours makes.

Just one day after falling below .500 following a loss to the Hawks in Atlanta, the Suns swung for the fences and added some big help in the middle, acquiring center Nick Roberts and a second-round pick from the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for guard/forward Josh Okogie and one two three second-rounders. It’s a pretty steep price to pay, but it became clear with Jusuf Nurkić’s struggles that Phoenix needed some help at center, and Roberts certainly provides that.

The deal is an exciting development if Richards can perform to expectations, but it comes with consequences that may reverberate for seasons to come.

What the Suns’ Trade Means in the Short Term

Simply put: Start winning.

Nurkić has not panned out as many had hoped heading into the 2024-25 NBA season, so the addition of Richards provides much-needed support for Mason Plumlee and Oso Ighodaro, who have been the focal points in the middle. The 27-year-old Richards stands at an even seven feet, and has averaged 8.9 points and 7.5 rebounds in 21 games this season.

Remember those 20 offensive rebounds the Suns gave up to the Hawks on Tuesday? Yeah, probably won’t be seeing much more of that. His bread-and-butter comes down low, so don’t expect him to be pulling up for any surprise 3-pointers anytime soon — he has attempted just four shots from beyond the arc in his 221 career games, making one of them.

So, what happens with Nurkić? He had already been relegated to the bench before being fully pulled out of the lineup, having not appeared in a game since Jan. 7 (to be fair, Budenholzer said his most recent absences stem from a battle with the flu). Phoenix had already been rumored to be shopping the center before the deal, and now that he wasn’t included, what’s next?

Tough to tell. Maybe he’s packaged with the team’s few remaining assets as part of a different deal. If anything, the Suns have shown they are very much in win-now mode, but the makeup of the team just doesn’t quite have that championship feel. It’s hard to imagine this is the only deal to go down, but given limited financial wiggle room and just one first-round pick left to trade away (2031), GM James Jones is going to have to get creative.

Richards Deal Clouds the Team’s Long Term Status

The cupboards weren’t exactly stacked with assets before, and Phoenix wound up with two fewer after the trade. It may be even more amplified considering the NBA Draft has just two rounds, and given an aging Kevin Durant, there are going to be issues down the road.

The Suns will still have first-round selections in 2026, 2028, 2030 and 2031, but have zero second-round selections beyond this year (that obviously could change through a future deal). That’s not a whole lot of draft capital to work with.

A relatively young Richards could prove to be impactful, but his current deal only runs through the end of next season. He’s an unrestricted free agent following 2025-26, so if he is part of a long-term vision, you’d like to see him locked up sooner, rather than later.

Okogie’s departure isn’t likely to leave shockwaves through the organization — he was averaging just six points and 14 minutes in 25 games this season — but the exodus of future draft picks is something to keep an eye on depending on how future seasons go.

Did the Suns’ Trade Make Them a Contender?

Not yet.

Remember, the Suns started 9-2 this season, and a truly impactful center is something that could put the derailing train back on the tracks. Even so, it doesn’t feel like this iteration of the team is prepared to make any sort of championship run. Is there another deal in the works? It would be awfully tough to pull off. But fans would be forgiven if their eyes drift towards a potentially bigger deal on the horizon (Jimmy Butler, anyone?), even if the reality is that would be incredibly tough to pull off.

That sure would bring an awful lot of excitement to The Valley come springtime.

Full PHNX Sun Coverage

🧢 TIP OF THE HAT BY BRANDED BILLS

This is how you put an exclamation point on a big win.