The Charlotte Hornets are trading veteran forward Miles Bridges and two future draft picks to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for guard Grayson Allen, forward Royce O’Neale and a future first-round pick, a team source confirmed to The Athletic.
The Suns will receive a 2029 first-round pick and a 2027 second-round pick in the deal, while the Hornets get back a 2033 first-round pick, according to the source, who was granted anonymity to speak about the deal because it hasn’t yet been finalized. ESPN first reported the deal.
Bridges, 28, has started 131 of the 133 games he appeared in with the Hornets over the last three seasons, including 77 starts this past season when he averaged 17.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists. Those three averages were all down from the previous two seasons, but came in a campaign that saw Charlotte reach the Play-In Tournament after posting the team’s second winning season in 10 years.
Still, that hasn’t kept Charlotte’s front office from shaking up the starting five. Immediately after last week’s NBA Draft, the Hornets swung a deal to send LaMelo Ball to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Naz Reid and draft compensation.
The Suns have had interest in Bridges for a while. The 12th pick of the 2018 NBA Draft, the Michigan State product has been productive throughout his time in Charlotte.
The 6-foot-7 forward provides toughness and grit, qualities owner Mat Ishbia and general manager Brian Gregory have coveted since overhauling the roster last summer. Bridges is not an all-league defender, but he can guard both forward positions. He takes assignments seriously, publicly apologizing after letting the Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum find an early rhythm against Charlotte in a loss late last season.
Off the court, Bridges has had serious issues. On Nov. 3, 2022, he entered a plea of no contest to a felony charge that he assaulted the mother of his children in front of them. Bridges was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to complete parenting classes, domestic violence counseling and community service.
Bridges sat out the 2022-23 season as a restricted free agent, and the NBA suspended him for 30 games without pay, which the league ultimately reduced to 10 games since Bridges already missed an entire season.
In 2023, North Carolina authorities issued a criminal summons for Bridges, alleging violation of a domestic violence protective order, misdemeanor child abuse and injury to personal property. The summons alleged Bridges threatened the mother of his children during a custody exchange, threw pool table balls at her car and threatened to withhold child support if she told police. In February of 2024, however, those charges were dismissed due to insufficient evidence.
Suns officials on Sunday were not available to comment, but they would not have had to look far to find people who could comment on Bridges and his character. Tom Izzo, who coached Bridges during his college days at Michigan State, is a mentor of sorts to Ishbia. In addition, Steve Clifford, an adviser with the Suns organization, coached Bridges in Charlotte.
Bridges could step into the starting Phoenix frontline, joining Dillon Brooks and center Mark Williams, who last week agreed to re-sign with the Suns for three years and $38 million. Provided the Suns don’t make additional deals, Devin Booker and Jalen Green would be the starting guards.
Allen and O’Neale were productive during their time with the Suns. Allen was held in high regard by every coach he played for in the desert — Frank Vogel, Mike Budenholzer and Jordan Ott. He became one of the league’s top shooters and attacked the basket with more frequency last season. He also struggled to stay healthy, however, missing 31 games with various issues while averaging a career-best 16.5 points per game.
O’Neale was also a top shooter whom coaches trusted to inbound the ball during key possessions. At the end of last season, however, he started losing minutes to rookie forward Rasheer Fleming, who provided more defense, size and length.
Bridges has one year left on a three-year, $75 million deal he signed in 2024.
Trade analysis
This trade has some minor tax implications for the Suns, moving them a bit further from the second apron line and making it plausible they could land under the first apron if they’re careful. But the bigger storyline here is cleaning up a roster that had eleventy-seven shooting guards and not a whole lot of anything else. Adding Bridges gives the Suns a true power forward and allows Brooks to go back to playing the wing. The Suns will likely now target a wing with their taxpayer midlevel exception to make up for losing two of them in one shot.
Allen is 31 and has a player option in 2027, while O’Neale is 33 and has two years left on his deal. The two also combine to make more money than Bridges, although Charlotte can easily absorb them following the Ball trade. Newly acquired Naz Reid now seems likely to be the Hornets’ starting power forward, while Allen and O’Neale become wing depth on a team that was notably lacking in that department a year ago. Adding the two players takes a bite out of a potential mother lode of cap space in 2027, pending an extension for Brandon Miller and other moves.
One more thought: What if the trade was expanded to include the Wolves? The way to do this would be if Minnesota preferred O’Neale to Josh Green, and if the Hornets would rather not have O’Neale on their books next year. The Hornets could un-trade Green, who has an expiring deal instead of O’Neale’s $10.4 million for 2027-28, and the Wolves would have a more rotation-ready piece for this year and next who also helps them dance further below the second apron. — John Hollinger