Suns Acquire New Center in Two-Player Swap With Hornets

There's a new center in Phoenix.
Charlotte Hornets center Nick Richards looks to pass the ball.
Charlotte Hornets center Nick Richards looks to pass the ball. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Charlotte Hornets and Phoenix Suns indulged in a trade on Wednesday, which includes the Hornets sending center Nick Richards and a 2025 second-round pick to the Suns in exchange for forward Josh Okogie and a 2026 and two 2031 second-round picks, ESPN's Shams Charania reported.

The Suns needed a center badly in their lineup, so 7-foot Richards is expected to fill that gap. Through 21 games this season, Richards is averaging 8.9 points and 7.5 rebounds with the Hornets.

However, Richards hasn't won the starting center position outright. He'll compete with the rotating starting centers already in Phoenix: Mason Plumlee, rookie Oso Ighodaro and Jusuf Nurkic, who is currently sidelined with the flu.

Nurkic started in the most games (23) before being benched and taken out of the starting lineup earlier this month. He's averaging 8.6 points and 92 rebounds per 25 games. Plumee's earned 16 starts, while Ighodaro has only started in two games.

On the other hand, the Hornets will receive Okogie, who's only started in one contest this season. He'll likely work as a viable option coming off the bench behind starting small forward Josh Green. Okogie's averaging six points and 2.9 rebounds in 25 games with the Suns this season.


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Madison Williams
MADISON WILLIAMS

Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University. She is a dog mom and an avid reader.