The Phoenix Suns may have to live with Jalen Green longer than they want to.
Right now, the market for him looks thin, and unless he strings together a real bounce-back, there may not be much of one at all. If Phoenix tried to move him today, the return would likely be limited. For the moment, the Suns are probably stuck.
That reality starts with fit. Green is set to open the season in the starting lineup next to Devin Booker, and that setup does him no favors if the goal is to boost his value. The pairing has already looked awkward, and Green will need a long stretch of big nights while Phoenix keeps winning - Booker’s job in this arrangement - before rival teams start taking him seriously as a trade target.
There’s also the health question. Green played a career-low 32 games for the franchise last season because of a lingering hamstring issue, so he has to prove he can stay on the floor long enough for another team to believe in him.
Miles Bridges adds another layer to the problem. He’s in the final year of his current deal and will be chasing an extension in Phoenix. Like Green, he can handle a heavy offensive load, but Bridges brings the advantage of being one of the better-scoring forwards in the league today.
Phoenix could try bringing Green off the bench to highlight what he can do against second units, but that comes with its own downside. Sure, he might rediscover his rhythm and put up 20 a night, but that kind of production could still leave him boxed in as a microwave scorer rather than a player whose value climbs to the level the Suns would want.
There is, however, a way Phoenix can frame this mess in a more forgiving light, even if it means taking a loss on Green. Moving him as a sixth man for a couple of picks or another distressed asset would sting, especially after the Suns gave up Kevin Durant to get him. But the addition of Dillon Brooks and Khaman Maluach gives that deal a lifeline.
Brooks gives Phoenix a long-term piece and helps reset the culture in The Valley, even if Green turns out not to be the player many expected. For now, the Suns may have to hold onto him until at least around the trade deadline, when a desperate team could talk itself into making a move.
Until then, Phoenix is looking at streaky shooting next to Booker - and, if Green comes off the bench, better numbers that may not translate into a better trade package.
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The catch is that this kind of move usually comes with a second decision not far behind the first. The Suns already showed with Mark Williams that they are willing to extend a player after trading for him, and Bridges could push them into a similar conversation if he settles in as one of the teams core pieces. The question now is whether Phoenix sees him as a short-term fit or as someone worth paying to keep around if his impact grows quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Ryan Dunn Is Running Out Of Chances With The Suns
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Kevin Durant Just Reopened A Brutal Debate About His Suns Run
Kevin Durants time in Phoenix is still being measured against the promise that came with it, and his latest reflections only sharpen that conversation. He said the Suns had the pieces to be successful and entered with championship expectations, but the results never matched the vision, and his exit to the Houston Rockets last summer marked the end of a short, high-profile run that never quite found its footing.
The most difficult part for Suns fans is how quickly the window closed on the Durant-Booker-Beal era, with the partnership never delivering the breakthrough the franchise was chasing. Phoenix did at least recoup real value in the deal, landing a top ten draft pick along with Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks, but the lingering question around Durants Suns tenure remains the same one that followed him out the door. [Read more 🡒]