NBA rumors: Suns' Nick Richards trade earns 'underwhelming' take around the league
01/17/2025 06:50 PM
The Phoenix Suns were desperate to make a move to improve their team, which has been very underwhelming to this point in the season. Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal have struggled with injuries and the Suns have struggled with inconsistency overall, causing them to fall near the bottom of the playoff picture about halfway through the season.
One of the subplots to this frustrating season that has flown a bit under the radar has been center Jusuf Nurkic falling out of favor. Nurkic has shown that he’s not a great fit with this roster and was recently benched, leading the Suns to trade for Hornets center Nick Richards in an attempt to upgrade on the interior.
Despite the big move, people around the league aren’t moved by the trade according to Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.
“The fact the Suns already had so little to trade, and that Richards — a serviceable backup center but hardly a difference-maker — cost them much of those assets had several sources around the league underwhelmed by the move,” Bontemps and Windhorst wrote.
Richards is expected to start at center for the Suns as soon as he gets settled with the team, and he does offer a different look for a team in desperate need of a shakeup. As it stands, the Suns are sitting at 20-20 and are in a tie for 10th place in the Western Conference.
What does Nick Richards add to the Suns?
Nick Richards offers a completely different skillset than Jusuf Nurkic did for the Suns, which could help them drastically this season. Nurkic is a below the rim player on the offensive end and a liability defensively, which is not what the Suns need on either end of the floor.
Richards isn’t an excellent defender, but he does have some pop as a rim protector and a help defender on the weak side. His athleticism also makes him more switchable on the perimeter than Nurkic was, even if he can get out of position at times.
Offensively, Richards is a much better fit next to Bradley Beal and Devin Booker. He is a much better roll threat and an above the rim player who can catch lobs from the two star guards in pick-and-roll, and he can also clean up on the offensive glass to give the Suns extra possessions.
The Suns do lose a little bit from Nurkic to Richards in terms of creating his own offense, which Richards doesn’t really do at all, but the Suns don’t really need that with Beal, Booker and Kevin Durant in the fold. As a result, more possessions can start and end in the hands of those guys while Richards can fill in the gaps, making him a much better fit in Phoenix.
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