Suns Acquire Nick Richards From Hornets For Josh Okogie

Keith Smith
Keith Smith, Resident NBA ExpertJanuary 15, 2025
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#nba #trade #phoenix suns #charlotte hornets #nick richards #josh okogie
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NBA trade wheels are back in motion! The Phoenix Suns added some frontcourt depth and the Charlotte Hornets picked up some additional draft capital in a three-weeks-to-the-deadline swap.

Here are the particulars:

Phoenix Suns acquire: Nick Richards, less favorable Nuggets or 76ers 2025 second-round pick

Charlotte Hornets acquire: Josh Okogie, 2026 Nuggets second-round pick, 2031 Nuggets second-round pick, 2031 Suns second-round pick

Let’s dive in!

Phoenix Suns

Incoming salary: $5.0 million in 2024-25

  • Nick Richards (C, two years, $10.0 million (2025-26 non-guaranteed))

Outgoing salary: $8.25 million in 2024-25

  • Josh Okogie (SG, two years, $16 million (2025-26 non-guaranteed))

With Jusuf Nurkic underperforming, and recently removed from the rotation, the Suns were looking for additional center depth. They got it in Nick Richards, who is quietly having a very productive season for the Hornets.

Richards has established himself as one of the better backup centers, especially for how good of a value contract he has (more on that in a bit). This season, the fifth-year big man is averaging 8.9 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 21 minutes per game off the Hornets bench. Richards has also shown improvement as a passer. He’s not much of a shooter, but he’s drawing a career-best 4.1 free throws per game, despite his limited minutes.

Think athleticism, energy and physicality on both ends and you have a solid profile of what Richards does. The Suns have some of those things in Mason Plumlee and rookie Oso Ighodaro, but this rounds out the Phoenix frontcourt nicely.

The Suns are now protected against injury, without having to turn back to Nurkic, assuming he even sticks around (more coming on that too). Also, if Ighodaro hits the rookie wall, Phoenix won’t be forced to make him play through it.

In addition, Richards’ contract is very team-friendly. He’s owed $5 million this season. By trading out of the $8.25 million owed the Josh Okogie, the Suns reduced their luxury tax bill by $20 million. That’s how punitive the penalties are with how deep into the tax Phoenix is. That savings can’t be discounted.

Beyond this season, Richards is signed for another $5 million for next season, which is also non-guaranteed. If, for some unlikely reason, Richards isn’t working out, Phoenix can move on without increasing their tax bill.

Trading out three seconds is offset a bit by getting one back. The 2025 second-round pick is going to be the Nuggets pick, given how far ahead of the 76ers they are in the standings. But that’s really about having an additional tradable item for the Suns, more than having a great value pick. We have no idea what the Suns or Nuggets will be in 2031, so we’ll leave those two in TBD stage for now.

Phoenix started the day nearly $31.5 million over the second apron. That left them with very restricted trade options. They did well here to use Josh Okogie’s inflated contract (Remember: Okogie was given the bigger deal to basically become a human trade exception) along with some limited draft capital, to get a rotation upgrade.

Also important: The Suns didn’t end up giving up Jusuf Nurkic in this deal. That’s huge, because now Phoenix can use his $18.1 million contract in another deal. That seems very likely, as Nurkic is clearly out of the plans in Phoenix.

Charlotte Hornets

Incoming salary: $8.25 million in 2024-25

  • Josh Okogie (SG, two years, $16 million (2025-26 non-guaranteed))

Outgoing salary: $5.0 million in 2024-25

  • Nick Richards (C, two years, $10.0 million (2025-26 non-guaranteed))

This trade was about getting additional draft capital in for the Hornets. Richards is a nice player, but with Mark Williams healthy, he was never going to be more than a very good backup for Charlotte. In addition, the Hornets are very high on two-way player Moussa Diabate, who has given the team good minutes when they were down other centers due to injury.

Josh Okogie could stick in Charlotte for a bit. The Hornets aren’t exactly flush with big guard/wing depth. Brandon Miller and Josh Green are solid starters, but there’s not a lot behind them. Tre Mann has been out with an injury. Nick Smith Jr. continues to yo-yo in and out of the rotation, and Cody Martin is more of a forward than a guard.

There’s a chance Okogie gets a real look. He was pretty good for Phoenix two seasons ago as a regular rotation guy. It’s a small sample size in his limited minutes this season, but Okogie is also shooting better than ever.

Think of this as a tryout of sorts, until/if the Hornets need a roster spot. If they do (possibly to convert Diabate to standard deal), Charlotte can move on with relative ease.

Part of the reason the Hornets can move on with relative ease is that Okogie’s contract is non-guaranteed for the 2025-26 season. That’s the same flexibility the team had with Richards, but Richards was never a candidate to get waived. Okogie is, given he hasn’t been a part of the long-term build for Charlotte.

The cost of this was $3.25 million on the cap sheet for the Hornets. Given the team is still over $7 million shy of the luxury tax, Charlotte has more than enough clearance for further roster shuffling.

The second-round picks are basically additional at-bats for Charlotte. They trade out what will be a late second this season, for what could possibly be a better Denver pick next season, if the Nuggets slip. And we have no idea what the Suns or Nuggets will be in six years. Both teams could be deep into rebuilds by that point.

If nothing else, Jeff Peterson added to his draft pick stash and gave himself potential assets to offer in future deals. All by trading from a position of strength and for renting a little bit of his space under the luxury tax. That’s solid work in a non-blockbuster move.

 


#nba #trade #phoenix suns #charlotte hornets #nick richards #josh okogie
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