The Unprotected 2033 Pick Phoenix Just Gave Up for Miles Bridges Is a D-Grade Disaster

Alright, fam, listen up. The NBA offseason is absolutely wild right now, and Charlotte is out here making moves like it's a chess grandmaster. Just days after shipping LaMelo Ball off to Minnesota, the Hornets were back at it, flipping Miles Bridges to the Phoenix Suns. And honestly? The Suns cooked themselves. Phoenix just got slapped with a D-grade for this deal, and when you look at what they gave up, you'll see why.

Phoenix's Problematic Picks Pile Up

Here's the lowdown on what went where: The Suns got Miles Bridges, a 2029 first-round pick (the least favorable of Jazz, Timberwolves, and Cavaliers picks), and a 2027 second-rounder. Charlotte, on the other hand, walked away with Grayson Allen, Royce O'Neale, and an unprotected 2033 first-round pick. Yeah, you read that right. 2033! This isn't Phoenix's first rodeo bungling their draft assets either. Back at the 2025 trade deadline, they traded their own unprotected 2031 first-round pick to the Utah Jazz. The idea was to split that one valuable pick into three lesser ones for "flexibility." But what did they do with that flexibility? They used one pick to dump Jusuf Nurkić's salary on the Hornets. Another one got them Mark Williams from, you guessed it, the Hornets! Williams just re-signed, but with Oso Ighodaro

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ascending and number 10 overall pick Khaman Maluach developing, it's not even clear he's one of their top two bigs. Those moves haven't made Phoenix any better, period.

Jazz GM Called It: The Future Is Gold

Utah's GM Justin Zanik knew exactly what was up back then. He said, "The way it makes sense for us is that we now have another shot at a pick that has a lot of variability. The three picks we traded have no chance to be the No. 1 pick, and this one does. It balances out what we want, but we've always talked about bites at the apple or more swings in the draft, but it also is about the quality of the swings, and this is, in my opinion, the most valuable asset on the market right now." And he was proven 100% correct! That 2031 Suns pick ended up being the cornerstone asset in a trade for All-Star Jaren Jackson Jr.! Picks deep in the future are mega valuable, especially with lottery reforms expiring after 2029 and nobody knowing what the rules will even be in 2033. When other teams like Miami are grabbing two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo or Minnesota is landing talented guards like LaMelo Ball for their 2030s picks, Phoenix giving up an unprotected 2033 pick for this return feels like a total head-scratcher. What are the Suns even building over there? For Charlotte, though, you gotta respect the asset management. They're just piling up those future swings.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.