The Phoenix Suns are limited in the amount of moves they can make but on Wednesday afternoon, the team made a move as they traded away Josh Okogie to the three second-round picks to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Nick Richards and one second-round pick. This move is something that the Suns needed to do in order to get some more depth at the center position and get some spark going. Let’s take a deeper dive into this trade and discuss what it means for the Phoenix Suns going forward.
Phoenix Suns Trade for Nick Richards
Arizona sports talk radio host John Gambadoro is reporting that the Phoenix Suns and the Charlotte Hornets have agreed to a trade. The Suns needed to get a spark going as they are currently 11th in the Western Conference with a 19-20 record and very limited in moves they can make. The full trade sees the Phoenix Suns trade the Denver Nuggets 2026 second-round pick, Denver Nuggets 2031 second-round pick, the 2031 Phoenix Suns second-round pick, and Josh Okogie to the Charlotte Hornets for Nick Richards and the Denver Nuggets 2025 second-round pick.
This really puts a limit as to what the Suns are able to trade as the Denver Nuggets 2025 second-round pick and their own 2031 first-round pick are the only incoming picks for the team remaining. Nick Richards is a center who has dominated in limited action as a starter this season but in 21.0 minutes he is averaging 8.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.2 blocks, and 0.3 steals per game. The seven-footer is going to add depth to the five spot with Jusuf Nurkic now on the bench and Mason Plumlee currently the team’s starting center.
Losing Josh Okogie is tough but he has not really had much of a role this season. He has played in 25 games and averaged 6.0 points, 2.9 rebounds, 0.6 assists, 0.4 blocks, and 0.8 steals in 14.0 minutes. Nick Richards is on the second year of a three-year, $15 million deal with the possibility of having it end after this season as the 2025-26 season is not guaranteed money. Overall, this is a last-ditch effort to give this Phoenix Suns team a spark as they would not be in the playoffs if the season ended today. With a less-than-stellar future in terms of roster configuration and needing to keep both power forward Kevin Durant and shooting guard Devin Booker happy, the Suns are looking to help boost the roster with little moves here and there.
