The Phoenix Suns will not be trading their No. 1 overall pick for Kawhi Leonard, but they may still be finding a way to factor into the proceedings.
Scott Bordow of the Arizona Republic said this weekend that the Suns could get involved in a potential Leonard trade as a third team facilitator. Bordow goes on to add that a move they could make would be taking Luol Deng’s contract off the Los Angeles Lakers’ hands, provided that the Lakers attach one of their young players to the deal as well.
Deng, 33, holds what is widely viewed as the worst contract in the NBA right now: a four-year, $72 million albatross that is only halfway complete. Making matters worse is that Deng was basically a healthy scratch last season (playing in just one game all year), despite his entire salary being fully guaranteed.
Granted, some might argue that the contracts of New York Knicks big man Joakim Noah or Memphis Grizzlies forward Chandler Parsons are worse. But it wasn’t too long ago that Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson literally laughed off a question about finding a taker for Deng’s deal, so the Suns could just be the Lakers’ manna from heaven here.
H/T RealGM
