Should Suns Make Any Trades After Hot Start?

The Phoenix Suns have exceeded their preseason expectations so far with an 11-7 record approaching the quarter mark of the 2025-26 season.

This season was thought to be a transition year for the Suns as they hoped to build a new identity with a new coach in Jordan Ott, but things have come together a lot quicker than expected up until this point even while dealing with injuries.

There were multiple reports in the summer that the Suns had some trade discussions involving sending out Grayson Allen, Royce O'Neale and Nick Richards, but all three have now become integral parts to their hot start of the season.

Should Suns Trade Away Any Key Players?

Richards seems like the most likely of this group to be traded given that Phoenix plays three centers in Richards, Mark Williams and Oso Ighodaro when all three are available and also has No. 10 overall pick Khaman Maluach waiting his turn on the bench.

However, Ott has said that the Suns are at their best when they play this three-center rotation, so Phoenix clearly sees value in what all three bring to the table.

Still, it seems unlikely Phoenix will be able to retain Richards, who will be an unrestricted free agent next summer, past this season given that Williams is a restricted free agent and Ighodaro and Maluach will still be under contract.

"Phoenix has made Nick Richards available for trade since this past summer, league sources say," NBA insider Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported Wednesday.

At least one contender will be wanting a serviceable backup big man at the trade deadline, so the Suns should try to get assets for Richards especially if they can figure out their center rotation to only need two players or a way to fit in Maluach.

Allen and O'Neale are both enjoying career seasons, so there is an argument to be made that the Suns should sell high on both of them to get real value back, especially after teams didn't see much value in either one this summer.

However, the Suns should just wait and see where they are closer to the Feb. 5 trade deadline before even thinking about this.

If they remain firmly in the playoff hunt with both players still being key contributors, it'll be hard to justify trading away either player.

There are not really any arguments to be made for trading away any other players unless Phoenix wanted to keep Richards over Ighodaro, in which case it could explore trades for the second-year big man.

Suns Shouldn't Make Big Swing in Trade

One thing that's for sure is that the Suns do not need to go star hunting or even explore it after moving on from Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal this summer.

It's too hard to build chemistry with multiple stars, especially if it came around the trade deadline, and more notably, it's very difficult to construct a roster around stars with the current CBA as Phoenix found out the last couple seasons.

The Suns are making do with what they have around Devin Booker even with Jalen Green only playing in one complete game this season due to a hamstring injury, and it is working so far.

Once Green comes back, it might become more apparent if there are any specific needs the Suns have to fill, but as of now, they do not have any glaring holes.

Overall, the Suns are blowing past expectations with a roster that wasn't supposed to do much, so there doesn't appear to be any reason to ruin a good thing they have going this season, although some smaller trades may end up becoming in play once the team is at full strength and their needs become more obvious.

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