The Phoenix Suns may not feel the full sting of this offseason move until Grayson Allen starts doing Grayson Allen things in Charlotte.
Phoenix took plenty of heat for the decision to land Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges, and the reaction wasn’t just about the unprotected 2033 first-round pick that went out the door. The Suns also sent away Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale, a pair of shooters who combined for 371 3-pointers last season. That’s a lot of spacing to replace, and Luke Kennard alone doesn’t come close to covering the loss.
Allen was the bigger piece of that shooting punch, burying 159 threes despite appearing in only 51 games because of injuries. In a lot of ways, he delivered a career year in Phoenix. If that version of Allen shows up again in Charlotte, the Suns could end up looking even worse for this deal.
What makes that possibility so uncomfortable for Phoenix is that Allen’s numbers weren’t just about hot shooting on low volume. He’s now on the wrong side of 30 and has dealt with injuries throughout his career, with more than 70 regular-season games in a season only twice. Still, when he’s on the floor, he remains one of the league’s most dangerous perimeter shooters.
His 3-point percentage dipped to 34.9 percent last season after he had shot 42.6 percent and a league-best 46.1 percent in the two seasons before that. But the drop in efficiency came with a huge jump in volume.
Before last year, Allen had never averaged more than 5.9 3-point attempts per game. In Phoenix, that number shot up to 8.9 a night.
That would have ranked him third in the league if he had qualified, behind only Luka Doncic and LaMelo Ball.
Kennard is the obvious comparison because he’s the one effectively stepping into Allen’s spot in The Valley, but the difference in shooting workload is stark. Kennard took just 3.1 shots from beyond the arc per game last season between Atlanta and LA.
And Allen wasn’t just a gunner. He gave Phoenix more across the board than people tend to remember, posting career highs of 3.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game while also averaging three rebounds. Kennard’s numbers in those same categories were 2.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 0.7 steals per game.
That’s the part that could really haunt the Suns: Allen’s value went beyond the box score headline of made threes. If he brings that same blend of shooting and secondary production to Charlotte, the trade for Bridges will only keep drawing sharper criticism.
He also lands in a setup that could suit him well. Charlotte already has plenty of pull-up and perimeter firepower with Kon Knueppel, Brandon Miller, and new addition Naz Reid. Allen should come off the bench as the sixth man, spelling Knueppel or Miller and helping keep the Hornets’ shooting intact when Charles Lee turns to the second unit.
For Charlotte, that could mean Allen gets a clear offensive role right away. For Phoenix, it means the fear is simple: if he stays healthy and keeps rolling, the Suns may have handed away a lot more than they realized.
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For a Suns team that has already dealt with plenty of roster and asset headaches, the outlook is still far from clean. Phoenix does not control its 2031 and 2033 first-rounders, but the Clippers punishment leaves Los Angeles facing a much harsher draft drought over the long haul, and that matters in a league where pick inventory can change a franchises ceiling as quickly as a star trade does. [Read more 🡒]