According to NBA trade rumors, the Phoenix Suns have been one of the most active teams heading into tomorrow’s NBA trade deadline. There have been pieces floating around the internet that they’ve been discussing moving Jermaine O’Neal to the Knicks and Sebastian Telfair to the Raptors.
Today’s biggest rumor though has Phoenix making a push to acquire Kendrick Perkins from the Oklahoma City Thunder as part of a multi-player deal. AZCentral reports that there was “All-Star break talk of Oklahoma City exploring Marcin Gortat and P.J. Tucker for Kendrick Perkins, Jeremy Lamb and a first-round pick.”
As the article points out, a Perkins acquisition would seem to fit in the Suns’ new push for a more defensive-minded team, while adding also adding perimeter threat in Lamb.
For the Thunder, they would make up some of their lost defense in P.J. Tucker, who ends up putting in minutes guarding guys like LeBron on a regular basis. Gortat would give them a more athletic big, who can score and rebound at a higher rate than Perkins. He would be an offensive threat in the paint and would provide a 10-15-foot jumper option that they don’t really have right now. Anything to ease the burden on Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook could be a big help.
What do you think of the deal? Should the Thunder mess with a good thing?
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