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ESPN felt the Phoenix Suns were having a very successful offseason until they traded an unprotected first-round pick to the Charlotte Hornets in acquiring Miles Bridges.
Zach Kram gave the Suns a B-minus offseason grade instead of a B-plus because of the Bridges trade in a July 22 story.
"The Suns handed out a bunch of smart contracts this summer, to Collin Gillespie, Jordan Goodwin, Mark Williams and Luke Kennard. If they'd stopped there, they would've had one of the best offseasons for any team. But then they went one step further and traded an unprotected 2033 first-round pick for Miles Bridges, who has just one season left on his contract and is less impactful than his surface stats suggest. That deal was so questionable on its own that it knocked the Suns from a B-plus summer to a B-minus."
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The Suns dealt Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neale and a 2033 unprotected first-round pick to the Hornets for Bridges, a first-round pick in 2029 and a second-round pick in 2027.
The Suns scheduled an introductory news conference with Bridges for July 22 at the team's practice facility. The Suns aren't live-streaming the news conference.
The Suns re-signed Gillespie (four years, $48 million), Williams (three years, $38 million), Goodwin (three years, $19 million) and signed free agent Luke Kennard (two years, $13 million), who ended last season with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Kram noted any grade above C suggests "a team met its offseason goals" to some extent and they didn't for grades below C.
The San Antonio Spurs and Utah Jazz received A grades while the Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers and Hornets were given an A-minus.
Kram gave the Houston Rockets a B-plus, the Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks a B and handed the Brooklyn Nets, Dallas Mavericks, Indiana Pacers, New York Knicks, Portland Trail Blazers and Suns a B-minus.
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ESPN drops Phoenix Suns offseason grade after Miles Bridges trade
