Here we are on the other side of the trade deadline, and the Suns operated pretty much how I thought they would. Across the league, this was not a deadline built around star chasing or headline hunting. This was a deadline about restraint. About accounting. About reality setting in.
We are now three years into the new collective bargaining agreement, and the league is feeling it. Front offices are no longer flirting with the penalties. They are actively avoiding them. The priority shifted to saving money. Getting under the luxury tax. Staying clear of the repeater, where every dollar over the line costs $2.50. Spend $1 million too much, pay $2.5 million for the privilege. That math changes behavior fast.
From a fan perspective, it is always easy to look at the roster and spot areas for improvement. No team is perfect. Every roster has holes, soft spots, and theoretical upgrades. That is part of the exercise and part of the fun. So it makes sense that when fans were asked whether the Suns should make a move before the deadline, 62% said yes.
I landed with the other 38% for a simple reason. I liked this team as it was. I liked who they were becoming. And while Nick Richards was never going to swing outcomes, I valued what he brought in terms of center depth. As for the tax, it is not my money. So that part never really bothered me.
That said, I am not opposed to the move they ultimately made. Because it quietly opens a door, one that is a developmental runway. There is a chance for Khaman Maluach to see meaningful minutes and grow through experience instead of theory. That matters more than it might seem in the moment.
This is always how trade deadline conversations split. There are two separate questions that get tangled together. Should the Suns make a move? And will the Suns make a move? They are not the same thing.
62% of the fan base wanted something to happen. Only 52% believed it actually would.
This part is interesting because it tells you the fan base has adjusted along with the team. There is an understanding now that the Suns and this front office have course-corrected. An ownership group that came in hot, aggressive, and willing to push every lever has shown restraint lately. That shift is noticeable.
Ask this same question a couple of years ago, and 90% of fans would have said the Suns were going to make a move. No doubt about it. The fact that only about half believed they would this time speaks volumes. It reflects a changing identity. A different operating posture. Less impulse. More intention.
Now the deadline is behind us, and that is where the real work starts. This is the roster. Barring a surprise buyout addition, which feels unlikely, this is the team for the rest of the season. The hypothetical conversations start to fade. The wish lists get put away.
What replaces them is reality. Not what this team needs. But what this team is. And from here on out, that is the only conversation that matters.