Here’s Why The Suns REFUSED To Trade Khaman Maluach For The Pelicans’ 2026 Draft Pick

Here’s Why The Suns REFUSED To Trade Khaman Maluach For The Pelicans’ 2026 Draft Pick

Let’s get to our next one. This is where part of the meat of the show is going to be here. What do you think of Hollinger’s analysis about Malaw watch’s summer league performance? He stated that Kaman’s hands were concerning. Not being able to catch contested rebounds and alleyoops. This is from Suns World uh on Twitter. as well as developing good hands in the NBA for big men who don’t have so already is difficult and raising the ultimate question of if if the Suns fumble the bag by not taking the 2026 unprotected first from New Orleans and the 23rd pick in this year’s draft for number 10 considering the Pelicans could have yielded a top pick in next year’s talentheavy draft. So, for those of you who missed it, John Hollinger over at the Athletic uh did write that the Suns turned down an offer from the Pelicans that Atlanta wound up taking um where they, you know, the Pelicans gave up a unprotected 2026 pick uh and number 23 in this year’s draft to move up to where Atlanta was. Uh I did reach out to a source about this from the Suns. Uh and the source confirmed that the Suns turned down that Pelicans offer of number 10 um and number 23 who turned out to be uh Asa Newell who they liked but they weren’t counting on anyone good being there. The Suns were at number 23. Um the Pelicans were calling everybody from 10, 11, 12. They really wanted to move up to get Derek Queen like that. They were calling multiple teams. It wasn’t just the Suns. And for the Suns, their reasoning for kind of turning it down was the question, would you rather have number 23 and a potential top 10 pick next year or just take a guy that you actually like in the actual top 10 this year? Like cuz the Suns liked Malawatch. They didn’t think he was going to be there. And when he was still there at number 10, in their thinking, it was a no-brainer. If Malawatch had not been there, I’m I’m told that the thinking would have been different. the conversation would have been different in terms of potentially taking New Orleans up on that offer. Um, and like the Pelicans pick next year, it could be very valuable. We know that like the Pelicans team, their roster does not look great. We know that the 2026 draft has like four guys at the top that are like franchise changing prospects there. So, this could look bad if that Pelicans pick winds up being top three, top four, whatever, and it yields one of those guys. But at the same time, like we saw it this year, a a pick that projects to be at the top of the class. Like the Pelicans could finish with the worst record in the league and they could still drop to number five, number six, number seven. Like we’ve seen it with these flattened lottery odds. It doesn’t guarantee you anything. So I I know that a lot of fans value like draft picks. It feels like sometimes we value draft picks more than the actual players that they’re used on. Uh it it’s like that that mystery box thing from Family Guy like could do you want the boat or do you want the mystery box? It could be anything even a boat. Like just take the boat. They really liked Mwatch. And I know that it’s it’s a little tougher to swallow that news now because Mwatch didn’t exactly like ball out in summer league, but it’s way too early to be saying, “Ah, we messed up. It’s he’s a draft bust. He’s we knew he was a project. We knew he was 18. The Suns are still really high on his potential.” Um, so just something to keep in mind because in their minds, if Malawatch had not been drafted this year and had gone back to school and was a candidate to be selected in next year’s draft, they would have targeted him as like a top five pick at worst, maybe even a number one candidate at best. So, the Suns really liked him. Um, that’s why that they took him there. They didn’t want to wait and see like we could get a potential top 10 pick next year or we can just use the one that we actually have on a guy that we actually like. So, um, that was the thinking there from a source that I spoke with about this. Do you guys think this would have been as big of a deal if the Suns had more than as many first round picks as they have? Like if they if their draft cupboard wasn’t so barren? Yeah, exactly. Like would people care about having a Hawks or having a Pelicans pick? They probably still would just because I think a lot of people were shocked the Pelicans gave up an unprotected pick in next year’s draft with the state of their roster, but I don’t think it would be to this degree. I think it’s like if Malaw watch had gone out there and average like 15 and 10 in summer league, we would not be talking about this at all really. Uh I’ll preface with a question for for you and for uh Franco Mamba. Was Malawas drafted to be good now or to be good later? I think a lot of people want him to be good now, but I think for the Suns, they understand he could be a monster in time. It’s not going to immediately happen this year. They know that. I mean, he’s an 18 turning 19 year old with five, four years of basketball experience. I think if you expected him to come out here and drop 20 and 10, I think you should reevaluate what you’re thinking about. But yeah. Okay. Thank you. I just wanted to get that part squared with you. I’m glad we’re all on the same page. I have my reservations about Kaman Malaw. I mentioned them on draft night when they made the when they made the deal to move up and then subsequently had Malawatch be in their lap. Um, we talked about it before the pick was official. I said that they should trade back and try to get more value for to pick for someone else at that position. I still remain the same on that. Now, I’ll be the first to admit if I’m wrong, if he turns into what they hope he turns into, which is some version of Joel Embiid in an evolved fashion that stays more healthy, can shoot a little better, more sooner and things like that, the potential is obvious. It’s undeniable. The summer release strong was not the best. No. However, if we’re going to sit here and act as if there was nothing positive to take away from his summerly stent, then we’re just looking at it completely wrong for multiple reasons. Talking to you, John Holler. respect everything that you have been to our space, but if we’re talking about analyzing a player, a scouting report, if you will, you’re not looking at a prospect for what the prospect is bringing at this very moment, especially when you get the context of them playing for four or five years and barely being 18, 19 years old. This is a long-term play. This is a stock investment for the Suns. They’re buying low now and hoping that they can cash in on all of their deposits going forward, but you’re not going to get the best version of them in summer league, especially considering what summer league is. Everybody trying to prove to be themselves, not a team. Right. Things hit a little different there, right? And I have no problem with Hollinger’s analysis of Malaw watch’s play because in the article he said, “Yeah, he struggled with grabbing contested rebounds and contested alley oops around the rim,” which he did. Like there was. I I don’t think it’s fair to sum up his entire Summer League performance with just those two things. There was more to it than that. But I also understand he has to cover multiple teams, multiple prospects. You only get a paragraph or two. So, um, something to keep in mind there. But, yeah, I I think and again, I I know that Pelicans pick could be valuable. It could look bad if it goes top three, top four, and you get one of those franchise changing players that goes to Atlanta because they did take him up on that offer, especially if Milew watch doesn’t pan out. But again, we’re talking about this before the kid has even played a single NBA game, let alone a full season. So, um, something to bear in mind. I think a lot of people have their preconceptions about a player and what they can and can’t do going in and then every bit of evidence that supports them. They cling to it. They grab on to it and every bit that does not they ignore it and don’t talk about it at all. So it it just feels a little disingenuous and hopefully Match pans out to be a good player and we don’t even have to worry about this anyway. So real quick, Rahu, yes, you can teach hand speed. There’s a ton of different technology um types of skill development that take place now to develop hand eye coordination as well as hand speed. So on top of technique in general, they can kind of supplement them there on the off the court stuff. [Applause] [Music]

The Phoenix Suns could’ve traded the No. 10 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft to the New Orleans Pelicans for the 23rd overall pick and the Pels’ 2026 first-round pick, but instead, they decided to keep the pick and use it on Khaman Maluach. Gerald Bourguet of the PHNX Suns Podcast spoke to a source and reported the reasons why the Suns refused to trade Malauch to the Pelicans for that offer.

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