The “Big Three” of the Suns has been a failure from the start (a surprise to no one with a brain). They just don’t fit together. Instead of trading Durant, who has a very positive plus-minus in all lineup combinations, we should trade Beal, who has negative plus-minuses in all lineup combinations. There’s just one minor problem…

I scoured all the teams for trades where Beal could start (which would surely be one of Beal’s requirements), and I could find nothing where the Suns wouldn’t have to give up an unreasonable number of assets, much less Beal waiving his no-trade clause to allow it. There isn’t even enough bad money out there to make a trade work. The best I could find is Jarami Grant, who at season’s end will have three years with $90M remaining, which is in the ballpark of a fair exchange (with Suns draft assets), but even if Portland would agree to it (highly unlikely) there is no way Beal would waive his no-trade clause to go to non-contender Portland without even a viab…

Notes:

This trade can only be accomplished at the trade deadline when Dennis Schroder's 60-day recently traded restriction expires. That is why it technically fails right now.

It is widely known that the Suns are above the second apron and therefore cannot aggregate contracts in a trade. However, in this case, per the CBA, the Suns CAN aggregate contracts for this because it ultimately results in them being at $187.7M in salaries, below the second apron threshold of $188.1M

This was a very complicated trade to get to work, so there is a lot of underlying cap wizardy which I may forego explaining. I'll explain the main parts.

Suns recognize that this roster is unrecoverably flawed and lacks the chemistry and edge to compete for a playoff spot (maybe not even the play-in). So they trade Booker to Houston and Durant to GS. Hopefully Beal will waive his no-trade-clause after the season when he recognizes that the Suns are rebuilding. If not, he can be our tank commander just like …

Suns realistic trade for a center. Grayson to Nets on a good, flippable contract. Also can provide floor spacing for the Nets. Won’t impact their winning either….

Lavine to Nuggets as rumored. Bulls’ primary goal is to get off of Lavine’s long term money and have optionally going into the summer, which they will get because Butler is opting out to go to a contender.

Butler returns home to Chicago. They can either let him opt out or re-sign him for 120M over three years.

Heat go five out with shooting. Bam moves to PF. Heat replace 34 years old Butler with 26 year old Porter Jr. Butler was leaving anyway, and this is a good option to keep them competitive.

I didn’t really consider draft compensation as I believe it would be minimal.

Only issue is Bulls go slightly over the cap, which they won’t do for this uncompetitive roster. Assume there might be another piece in this trade or another contract dump to a team with cap space to get Bulls under the tax.

And for anyone who finds fault in this because you think the Bulls are “rebuilding “… Reality check from someone who grew up in Chicago, the Bulls ownership and management has never ful…

Memphis consolidates role players and picks into Butler, a valuable but declining and injury prone asset. They will sign him to a three year 40M contract when he declines his option. This makes them a true contender without sacrificing young depth and still maintaining most of their draft capital.

Heat get what they can for someone they will lose for nothing this summer. They replenish their sparse draft capital to be able to enter the trade market. Kennard is expiring, Smart will be an expiring next year who they can package in a trade. Clark is a valuable backup PF. The Phoenix pick in 2030 is particularly valuable….

Lavine has played well and has shown that he’s healthy following his offseason surgery. Slots in as starting SG/SF who can take the ball handling burden off of Curry and be another reliable scorer and third best player on the Warriors. Yes his contract isn’t great, but the Warriors are looking for a third “star”, and Lavine is one of the only guys who is available. And he’s still only 29, so you’re getting the latter years of his prime. Craig thrown in to make the money work and be the backup SF behind Kyle Anderson / Zach Lavine.

Bulls get Wiggins and expiring contracts. They need a starting SF and Wiggins is 20M less than Lavine. Bulls will have huge cap space next year. No draft compensation from Warriors due to cap relief. Bulls also benefit from further ability to tank and retain their 2025 top 10 protected pick. Also benefit by clearing out another guy from their guard rotation. Warriors also sign Fultz to a minimum to fill in GP role as defensive guard.

Utah gets Gid…

Bucks will be trading Lillard, Lopez, and everything not young next for a full reset.

As for Nets, their plan would be to keep what they want of their team (Claxton? One or both of the Cams? Schroeder as a sixth man?) and sell off the rest (DFS, and any of the previous players I mentioned) for draft picks to replenish what they lost. They will the. target free agents next year. They have some promising young wings in Clowney and Williams, as well as a high end backup C in Sharp. They are not without talent, as their surprising competitiveness shows.

Some possibilities at the top of the roster might be:

Fred Van Fleet - Rockets may not want to re-sign him given all the young talent they need to extend, with their length and athleticism based lineup. They doe struggle on the court without him, though

Julius Randle

Myles Turner

Naz Reid

Brandon Ingram

Get a few of those guys and fill out the roster with a few more $10-15M players and some of their own gems and you have yoursel…

Succeeds on Dec 15…

Charlotte goes for a more win now move with a slight upgrade at center and an expiring contract next year. Gets 2031 first round pick swap for their troubles.

Suns get Richards and split up bigger money contract. Plan to possibly trade Micic….

Grizzlies get Ingram to fully round out their lineup and vault them into being a true contender. Assumes they believe they can sign him for around $160M over 4 years because he will have a soft market when he hits free agency and will be happy being on a winner. Green thrown in to make the money work.

Pels need depth and size. They get a rotation PF/C in Aldama, a versatile defensive G in Smart who can guard bigger than his position. Konchar is another depth piece and had to be added to make the money work. Also get a low first round pick.

Rationale…

Pels won’t go over tax and therefore cannot sign Ingram next year. This is a money and depth move. They are getting as much as they can for him in a very soft market. They also get to play their best lineup now with Murray, Trey, Jones and Zion on the court at the same time. Murphy needs to start. And instead of Ingram’s difficult to trade contract, they get smaller contracts, including Smart, who will be expiring next year and…

Raptors get Bridges as a starting SF to round out their wing heavy lineup.

Hornets get expiring Brown contract and get off of remaining Bridges 3 years). Pick a first and an early second….