Pros, Cons of Suns Trading Draft Pick

The Suns have a predicament on hand when it comes to their 2024 NBA draft pick.

Dec 31, 2023; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia applauds during the first half of / Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

The Phoenix Suns are highly rumored to be interested in dealing the No. 22 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft next month - what are pros and cons to the move?

Pro: Idea of Acquiring Vet

The thought process of trading future assets for current help certainly aligns with the apparent strategy of this iteration of the Suns' front office.

The Suns could look to package the 22nd pick in this draft along with the 2031 first-rounder owned by them and a player (likely Nassir Little) to get a "win now" player.

While a rookie could be an instant contributor on a title contender, there's no guarantees attached - and the Suns should do due diligence.

Con: Too Focused on Present

That line of thinking is a double-edged sword.

One would think it could be advantageous to hang onto malleable, cost-controlled players with a sizable future ahead on top of a core primarily built around veterans.

Hollowing out the asset pool now simply makes it more difficult down the road to change philosophies.

Pro: Exhausting All Options

Management of the Phoenix Suns appear to be committed to building a consistent winner by any means possible - and trading picks would be further indication, regardless of personal opinions on a potential transaction.

There were simply too many years in the last decade where the front office didn't appear to be making well fleshed-out decisions.

That lead to nearly a decade of mediocre and even putrid on-court products.

This iteration of management looks to be much more calculated in approach, even with some perceived "misses" over the last year.

Trading the pick would show further confirmation that the franchise is committed to doing what they deem is best.

Con: Player Pool Could be Thin

The Suns can swing a trade with two picks and Nassir Little - but what would the package draw?

The Suns can't aggregate salaries in trades - which means trades must be one-for-one. They also can't acquire more salary than they send out.

This means Phoenix is very unlikely to be able to trade for a useful role player such as Alex Caruso under these circumstances - so it begs the question as to who they truly can get.

The win-now vs. find a balance between now and the future debate is certainly an interesting one - it will be seen what the franchise ultimately decides to do on draft night, which is set to be held on June 26th.