Hollinger on the Suns-Jazz trade: “…no team, no matter how badly run, is going to make a trade like this and then just say, ‘Well, now maybe let’s see what we can do?’… you’re doing it to satisfy a particular need that has already been communicated by another trade partner.
…the Suns could send out Jusuf Nurkić and a pick in one trade to get something back, and Grayson Allen and a pick in another trade to get something back.
It’s just hard to believe that’s the actual reason they’re doing this — for two reasons. First, no team, no matter how badly run, is going to make a trade like this and then just say, “Well, now maybe let’s see what we can do?”
They already know the answer. You’re not doing a trade like this on spec; you’re doing it to satisfy a particular need that has already been communicated by another trade partner.
Second, Phoenix probably wouldn’t do this unless it was doing something big, because this is the Suns’ last chip. I can’t emphasize this enough since the Suns keep coming up with deals to squeeze more out of their diminishing draft-pick stock: This is where it ends.
This portion of Hollinger’s article seems to be an indirect rebuttal to what Stein has recently reported about the Suns’ intentions with their newly acquired draft picks:
Sources with knowledge of the Suns’ thinking insisted to The Stein Line that Phoenix made its Tuesday trade with Utah without a specific follow-up move lined up.