Does this trade make sense for the Phoenix Suns?

Talent-wise, Eric Gordon definitely makes the Suns a better team given that he is a veteran player that can make a difference off-the-bench, but his salary is too much for them to take on. Unless they were going to dump a lot of the salaries of their young talents like Cameron Johnson and Mikal Bridges, which they should not, the Phoenix Suns really cannot afford to bring on Gordon even though they technically can. 

The Suns made it all the way to the NBA Finals this year and while injuries in the Western Conference helped them advance this far, them making it to The Finals was not a fluke. Chris Paul, Devin Booker and DeAndre Ayton are all high-level talents and with other key talents in Jae Crowder, Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson and Cam Payne, this Suns team was one of the best teams in the league during the 2020-21 season. 

They really do seem like they are one piece away from winning a championship, but Eric Gordon is not that missing piece. Finding more talent to aid them in their frontcourt is a must, which is why trading for Eric Gordon in this scenario does them no good.

Plus, both Jevon Carter and Jalen Smith are two guys the Suns are very high on moving forward and they could look to integrate them in their rotations next year. Moving on from the 29th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft is definitely in play for the Suns, but moving it for Eric Gordon is not the right play financially for this franchise. 

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If they were to make this trade, the Suns would put themselves $22.9M over the salary cap and just $1.6M under the hard cap before free agency even begins! This would make bringing back Paul and Payne even harder, which is why trading for Eric Gordon would be a bad move for the Phoenix Suns.