The Phoenix Suns need to come up with ways to improve this limited roster, and Marcus Smart of the Memphis Grizzlies is an avenue worth exploring.
The big news out of the NBA this week is that Memphis Grizzlies’ star Ja Morant will undergo season-ending surgery on his shoulder. Ja’s injury won’t directly upset the balance of power in the West since the Grizzlies were already a long shot to make the playoffs.
It does, however, change the outlook of their season, and possibly their strategy at the trade deadline.
More importantly, Smart would give the Suns a ball handler that can take some of the pressure off their stars. Smart has a career’s worth of experience playing next to star players, specifically Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in Boston.
On those teams, Smart acted as a combo guard. He consistently led the team in assists, but it wasn’t a huge number as the ball was spread around the floor with everyone playmaking. That’s exactly what this Suns roster needs: a point guard that can be a connector rather than the central hub of the offense.
Given the Suns success playing small starting lineups, it shouldn’t be a problem playing Smart in that unit in place of Grayson Allen. Allen has been phenomenal this year, and would still see big minutes in the event of a switch, but Smart’s defense and playmaking would make him a must-start.
The Suns would also be able to stagger their lineups much more effectively with a player like Smart. There would never be an instance where they wouldn’t have two intiiators on the floor at the same time. This would be crucial in helping some of the Suns’ bench units.
Acquiring Smart wouldn’t be as easy as imagining his fit on the team. So often when teams are sellers at the deadline, they’re looking for premium draft capital. If the Grizzlies decide to go that way, then the Suns won’t be able to land Smart. For all the reasons above, he will be a hot commodity if he becomes available. Without any first rounders to trade, the Suns just don’t have the draft picks necessary to win a bidding war.
However, there’s no reason to believe that the Grizzlies don’t intend to contend next year with Ja back. They might prefer players that can contribute for that team as opposed to draft capital. If that’s the case, then the Suns can propose a trade centered around Jusuf Nurkić.
