Washington D.C. already took one Phoenix figure when the day began Friday when the Washington Nationals signed former Diamondbacks third baseman and third base coach, Matt Williams.
Little did we all know, there would be three more Phoenix athletes heading to Washington later in the day.
On Friday afternoon, the Phoenix Suns overhaul continued as they made a trade with the Washington Wizards as first reported by ESPN’s Mark Stein.
The Suns pick in return according to reports is a lottery protected first round pick. It is protected until the 12th pick in 2014 and up to the 10th in 2015 and beyond according to John Gambadoro. The Suns also add center Emeka Okafor who is currently out indefinitely with a neck injury.
The writing was on the wall before the season started that Marcin Gortat would be traded before the season was over. He even knew at media day a few weeks back. He was in the final year of his contract and was really the best trade piece that the Suns had.
Shannon Brown’s tenure with the Suns has been an odd one. After having a solid role with the team two years ago off the bench, he was resigned for the 2012-13 season where he led the team in scoring while Alvin Gentry was the coach. But after Gentry was fired and Lindsey Hunter was brought on as the Interim coach, Brown couldn’t seem to get off the bench. Then after it seemed Brown’s time with the Suns was over at the end of last season, the team picked up his team option for another season. Only to now be traded a week before the state of the regular season.
Kendall Marshall’s time with the Suns seemed to be over before it began. Just weeks after he was drafted in the first round, the Suns signed Goran Dragic to a long term deal to be the point guard on the team for the present and future. During the 2012 season, Marshall adapted to the NBA game slowly and was even sent down to the NBA developmental league for a short stint. Then this past off-season with the Suns acquiring Eric Bledsoe, it seemed Marshall’s days were numbered in Phoenix as well.
The Suns before this trade was made, already had more draft picks than any other team in the league for the next two seasons. After this one, they now have the potential of four first round picks in the 2014 draft if the Wizards pick later than 12 and the Timberwolves pick later than 13. They own first round picks from the Lakers and Pacers already as well as their own.
It should be noted that the upcoming draft class is as much anticipated as there has been in quite some time. It is headlined by Kansas’ Andrew Wiggins, Oklahoma State point guard Marcus Smart, Duke’s Jabari Parker and Aaron Gordon from U of A just to name a few.
For Suns fans, the present may be difficult, but the future can be very bright if everything plays in their favor.
