The Suns need a point guard ... are the Celtics a logical trade partner?

The doldrums of NBA August came to a halt on Thursday night after the Rockets and Suns managed to move two of the least desirable contracts in the league in a four-player trade. Phoenix acquired veteran power forward Ryan Anderson along with rookie wing De’Anthony Melton in exchange for point guard Brandon Knight and lottery bust Marquese Chriss.

The rationale for the Rockets in this deal is pretty simple. They dumped Anderson (and the $42 million owed to him over the next two seasons) in exchange for a slightly better ugly contract in Knight ($32 million owed over next two years). Knight is a volume scorer when healthy (he’s coming off a torn ACL), so he’s probably a better fit for their system right now than Anderson at this stage of his career. Houston also gets to take a look at Chriss (No. 9 overall pick in 2016), who has underwhelmed in his first two seasons but has 3-point range and is only 21. He may help, or he may not, but it’s a cheap look at $3.5 million for next season when it only costs them Melton and a guy they don't want anyway.

The Suns are taking the bigger gamble here, although they are cutting bait with one guy in Knight who probably had to go. It ended ugly two years ago when he was a healthy DNP for the final two months of the 2016-17 season on a tanking Suns squad. He then tore his ACL before last season even started. He has wanted out for awhile and gets to reboot his career in a good spot. Chriss was a lottery talent, but he’s been pretty awful over his first two years too. Most Suns fans won’t be crying about his departure.

The question that will have to be answered is whether Melton is good enough for the Suns to justify taking on Anderson’s big deal. Phoenix had a chance to nab him at No. 31 on draft night (he fell to Houston on No. 46), but a breakout summer league sent his stock skyrocketing. The Suns are buying high on him here. They didn’t risk much to do so in terms of talent, but their future payroll will suffer if they’re wrong (due to Anderson’s deal).

So why does any of this matter from a Celtics’ perspective? The Suns' depth chart at point guard is now quite weak without Knight. They have a pair of rookies in Elie Okobo and Shaq Harrison, along with Isaiah Canaan coming off a major ankle injury. That’s not going to get the job done for a team that wants to make the playoffs in the loaded West. A trade has to be coming for a point guard, and yes, the Celtics are one team around the league with some extra depth at the position in Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier. Do we have the ingredients to a potential preseason deal here? Let’s look at the factors at play to see whether there is a possible match. 

1. Terry Rozier is the more likely piece to get moved on the surface: This is for a couple of reasons. First, Smart is not eligible to be dealt until December 15th after re-signing in free agency. The Suns won’t want to wait that long to find their starting point guard for obvious reasons. The other big factor is price tag. Rozier earns just $3.05 million, which makes salary matching much easier for deals. Bostonsportsjournal.com reported back in June that the C’s did talk to other teams about Rozier at the draft but did not find an offer they liked. With Smart signed now for the long-term, his cost certainty gives him more security, for now anyway.

2. The Celtics aren’t going to deal Rozier or Smart for strictly future assets: This is something I’ve been told repeatedly by team sources over the summer. Boston is in the business of contending this year, so it’s hard to envision doing anything to their roster that would force them to take a step back on the court. While future draft capital will be appealing for the C’s, especially with a big luxury tax bill looming for the foreseeable future, don’t expect Rozier to be dealt for just a future first-round pick. The C’s would be happy to proceed with this deep group into the season, and Rozier is an important part of that. They aren’t going to trade him for simply help down the road. With that said, the presence of Brad Wanamaker at the guard spot would help the C’s withstand any Rozier deal over the course of the year. He gives them added valuable depth here.

3. The Suns may not be in a hurry to deal with the Celtics after the Isaiah Thomas deal: Suns GM Ryan McDonough has had a rough go of it in previous dealings with Danny Ainge. The Suns received only a late first round pick and Marcus Thornton in exchange for Thomas back in 2015, and that one left a mark. There were rumblings around the league that the C’s actually were in on PJ Tucker a couple years ago at the 2016 trade deadline and made a similar offer to the Raptors. Ultimately, McDonough went with the Raptors’ weak offer for Tucker (two mid second round picks), and the C’s were left with nothing. I’m sure the two sides will talk here, but my guess is that McDonough will be hesitant to do anything with Boston, probably for good reason.

4. It’s hard to find a deal that makes sense for both sides involving the Suns and a Celtics point guard: Kyrie Irving is an interesting name to consider here (Phoenix was rumored to target him last summer), but I don’t think they have enough to get him, assuming Devin Booker and DeAndre Ayton are off the table (they will be). Mikal Bridges, Josh Jackson and T.J. Warren are the names that would surely interest the C’s if the Suns are after Rozier, but the Suns likely won’t give up any of those young pieces. Warren is on a bargain contract for the next four years, and Phoenix gave up a lot for Bridges only a couple months ago at the draft. Moving him to pay Rozier in a year anyway would seem foolish from their perspective. Jackson showed promise last year and is under contract for three more years. McDonough won't move him for one cheap year of Rozier.

There really isn’t anything else on the roster that is worthy of moving Rozier for. Just overpaid veterans (Tyson Chandler, Darrell Arthur) and young guys with question marks (Dragan Bender). Draft picks could get involved obviously but we talked about that earlier in point No. 2. It won’t be enough to get Rozier (unless the C’s have another deal lined up). These two teams will surely talk in the coming days and weeks but don’t expect a trade here.