The 2018 30-team NBA mega-trade that solves nothing and makes everyone mad
By Ian Levy
Phoenix Suns
Sending out: Dragan Bender (UTA), Alex Len (ATL)
Bringing in: Mario Hezonja (ORL), Lucas Nogueira (TOR)
The Suns are still a mass of unformed parts. They have a wealth of young talent but still haven’t really figured out how to fit it together into a coherent team, or decide on what other parts they’d like to put around it. This deal is admittedly, a gamble, but it sets the Suns up for an extremely interesting evolution.
Dragan Bender has been a project and while he might pay off in the end, he doesn’t look like a sure star. Len is likely gone at the end of the season anyway. In exchange for giving up on Bender’s potential, the Suns get Hezonja and Nogueira. The former has struggled with the Magic but finally appears to be breaking out a big over the past few weeks. In theory, he’s a dynamic shooter and creator with good size. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent this summer but if he’s working the Suns could probably get him at a very reasonable price.
Nogueira is also young and has shown plenty of potential with the Raptors as a defensive anchor and as a rim-runner on offense. Put him in the middle, Chriss at the other forward spot. Josh Jackson plays on the wing, with Hezonja and Devin Booker in the backcourt. Those three wings are all complimentary ball-handlers but together could handle point guard by committee, all complimenting each other with play-making and shooting (not so much in Jackson’s case). It would be an experiment on defense but creates a hyper-athletic switchy squad. Or they can stand pat and wilt away in the Arizona heat.