How This Trade Impacts Phoenix Suns

Things have changed quickly for the Phoenix Suns. They selected in the lottery a year ago, and now they are the defending Western Conference champions. Their timeline was accelerated, leaving them in a tough spot.

The Suns are locked into win-now mode. As long as Chris Paul is on the roster, that will be the case. Jalen Smith, who has great potential, doesn’t fit that timeline. He isn’t ready to help a team compete for a championship right now, and as a result, the Suns would be better off trading him for someone that would.

Packing him and Dario Saric for a player such as Kelly Olynyk would make sense for the Suns. Olynyk, despite his shortcomings, would give Phoenix a player better suited to help them win now.

Olynyk would present an upgrade in the frontcourt that can more than adequately replace the injured Saric. He is a good floor-spacer, knocking down 36.7 percent of his 3-point attempts in his career. He’ll bring a little scoring punch and rebounding, but his defense leaves a lot to be desired.

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The Suns are an excellent defensive team, so they could conceivably cover up for him when needed but that will limit his playing time once the postseason rolls around. But, Olynyk does have some postseason experience, something that teams, especially ones looking to win, can never have enough of.