With the NBA Draft in the rearview and the free agency period beginning soon, it’s time to reflect upon who the Phoenix Suns might work with to free up some salary cap space this offseason.
As the Suns’ trade for former Washington guard Bradley Beal earlier this month showed, there’s no shortage of creativity on deals during the NBA’s offseason. Take, for instance, the trade the Wizards made in the days after acquiring veteran guard Chris Paul from Phoenix, where Washington dealt the future Hall of Famer to the Golden State Warriors for Jordan Poole and a handful of draft picks.
Because of the Suns’ shuffling this offseason, Arizona sportsbooks see the team as one of the top NBA title favorites.
In the last five years, Phoenix has added rotation pieces like Paul (from Oklahoma City in 2020) and Dario Saric (from Minnesota in 2019) to go with valuable bench players like Australian forward Jock Landale (from San Antonio in 2022), Landry Shamet (from Brooklyn in 2021) and Aron Baynes (from Boston in 2019).
BetArizona.com took a look at the most frequent trade partners of the Suns. Utilizing Basketball-Reference.com, BetArizona.com determined the number of trades made between the Suns and each team — as well as highlighting the most successful acquisition of the team’s trade history between the two teams.
Phoenix’s Most Frequent Trade Partners
BetMGM Sportsbook Arizona lists the Suns at +600 to win the NBA championship, tied with Milwaukee for third. Boston and defending champion Denver share the top spot at +450.
Who Are Suns’ Most Common Trade Partners?
The Suns seem to have a fondness for making deals with a quartet of Eastern Conference teams in Boston, Detroit, Washington and Cleveland.
The Beal trade on Father’s Day was the 11th between Phoenix and Washington, joining others like the deal between the two teams that netted the Suns guard Kyle Macy in 1979.
Fans backing the Suns on Arizona betting apps hope the Beal deal is more productive.
Macy went on to average 10.6 points, 4.0 assists and 2.3 rebounds per game for Phoenix between 1980 and 1985, posting an 8.2 VORP, according to Basketball-Reference.com.
The Suns best deal with the Celtics was in 1975, when they acquired future Basketball Hall of Famer Paul Westphal, who went on to average 20.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in 465 games with the club.
Westphal, who later served as the Suns coach between 1992 and 1995, posted a VORP of 20.0 and had 51.5 win shares during his six-year run with Phoenix, dwarfing his impact with the Celtics (2.8 VORP and 9.7 win shares).
The Suns best trade, in terms of VORP and win shares, with the Pistons was the move that landed them veteran guard Jeff Hornacek, who went on to post 17.4 VORP and 43.8 win shares in the Valley between 1986 and 1992.
Phoenix’s best value trade with the Cavaliers was in 1988, when they dealt Larry Nance and Mike Sanders for Kevin Johnson, Mark West and Tyron Corbin.
Johnson went on to post 90.9 win shares and 36.8 VORP in 683 games with the Suns, serving as a key cog for the Phoenix teams that made the NBA Finals in 1993, to go with Western Conference Finals appearances in 1989 and 1990.
Whether Suns President and General Manager James Jones will make any more major deals before the opening of the season remains to be seen — but now might be a good time to back the Suns using Arizona sportsbook promos before those odds change.
