PHOENIX Suns and Milwaukee Bucks made their moves at the lifting of the National Basketball Association’s moratorium on transactions on Monday (Tuesday in the Philippines) with the acquisition of All-Star guards Chris Paul and Jrue Holiday, respectively.
In a report by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Paul and Abdel Nader would be traded by the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Phoenix Suns for Ricky Rubio, Kelly Oubre Jr., Ty Jerome, Jalen Lecque, and the Suns’ 2022 first round pick.
The acquisition of the 35-year-old Paul is huge for the Suns after falling short from playoffs contention last season while also giving star Devin Booker an experienced backcourt partner.
Paul, who is set to reunite with his former New Orleans Hornets (now Pelicans) head coach Monty Williams at the Suns, is set to play for his fifth NBA team after starting with the Hornets before moving to Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets and the Thunder.
Paul, who was acquired by the Thunder from Rockets a year ago in exchange for Russell Westbrook, had a resurgent year for Oklahoma City during the 2019-2020 season where he averaged 17.6 points, 6.7 assists and 5.0 rebounds in 70 games.
This was the second deal entered into by the Thunder the past few days after agreeing to send Dennis Schröder to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Danny Green and a draft pick.
The Bucks, on the other hand, are set to receive Holiday from the NO Pelicans in exchange for veterans Eric Bledsoe, George Hill and Milwaukee’s three future first round picks and two more second round selections.
Milwaukee has also secured the services of Bogdan Bogdanovich from Sacramento Kings via sign-and-trade. The Bucks will be sending Donte Divincenzo. Ersan Ilyasova and DJ Wilson to the Kings.
Wojnarowksi added that the Bucks pushed for the Holiday and Bogdanovich trades to convince NBA MVP awardee Giannis Antetokounmpo to sign an extension amid reports that he is considering a move elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Detroit Pistons traded defensive guard Bruce Brown to the Brooklyn Nets for Dzasan Musa and a 2021 second round pick while the Rockets sent Robert Covington and their 16th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft to Portland Trailblazers for veteran Trevor Ariza.
All the trade deals were only agreed on principle and will be finalized after the 2020 NBA Rookie Draft on Wednesday night./PN
