Grading Blockbuster Phoenix Suns-Charlotte Hornets Trade featuring Miles Bridges

On Sunday, the Charlotte Hornets' apparent (semi-)teardown continued, and the Phoenix Suns stepped into it to take Miles Bridges.

ESPN's Shams Charania broke news of the deal:

There is some logic to the deal for both sides, but it's a lot easier to find for one than the other.

We'll explain, in the form of some handy A-F grades, below.

Charlotte Hornets: A

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Just days after the Hornets moved LaMelo Ball in a future-minded deal to the Minnesota Timberwolves, they've now unloaded a second fifth of their starting five here.

It's surprising for a few reasons.

First, over the course of their six seasons together (sheesh, time flies), Charlotte is plus-0.6 points per 100 possessions when both Ball and Bridges are on the floor. Every other variation with those two (both off or either off) is negative.

Second, Bridges and Ball are first and second in both total points and wins over replacement player during the same six-year span.

And finally, while there's definitely some emerging excitement for Kon Knueppel and Brandon Miller, Ball and Bridges were the sources or drivers of much of the fame and national attention this team has garnered in the last half-decade.

So, why such a dramatic pivot away from those two now, especially on the heels of a blistering hot close to the 2025-26 campaign?

For Ball, the move can largely be chalked up to his health prior to 2025-26 (there's a sort of cold, brutal logic to selling high after his most durable campaign in years) and the wildcard nature of his game.

For Bridges, it might be as simple as not having Ball anymore.

LaMelo's playmaking supercharged Bridges' scoring efficiency in Charlotte.

Without him there, it was almost certainly going to be more difficult for Bridges to produce the way he did with Ball. He was likely to become a ball-dominant, iso-heavy battering ram (like Julius Randle), which could've stymied the development of Knueppel and Miller.

Replacing him with Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale in the short term (both complementary players who don't demand or require a ton of touches to be effective) will force Knueppel and Miller to develop a little quicker as on-ball threats. Both have that in them.

But the biggest win for Charlotte may lie in the details of those picks that were involved in this trade. The first and second that the Hornets sent to the Suns are protected. The 2033 first-round pick they got back isn't.

That could ultimately turn into a difference-maker from the 2033 draft (who knows where Phoenix will be then, when Devin Booker is 36?), or it could be added to a trade package at any point between now and then.

That's a huge asset for a player who didn't figure to be a huge part of the team's future plans.

Phoenix Suns: C-

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From a very simple "who got the best player in the deal" perspective, you can talk yourself into this move for the Suns.

Bridges is probably more talented individually than either of Allen or O'Neale. Over his last four campaigns, he's averaged 19.1 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists. He's one of the league's more exciting at-the-rim threats. And at least in theory, he has the size and athleticism to be a switchable defender.

But he's almost certainly going to have to be even better than he's been in those recent campaigns to make this deal age well for Phoenix.

The picks headed there aren't as valuable as the unprotected one the Suns sent out. Charlotte has multiple firsts in 2029 and multiple seconds in 2027. Phoenix gets the "less favorable" ones of the bunch. That's obviously better than getting nothing, but those could easily wind up being in the 20s.

And while Allen and O'Neale probably aren't the kind of ceiling raiser that Bridges might be for Phoenix, he's not the floor raiser those two are either. O'Neale and Allen were tied for third on the team (behind only Collin Gillespie and Devin Booker) in 2025-26 wins over replacement player.

One of the things that made the Suns such a pleasant surprise last season was the number of helpful role players on the roster who didn't seem to care about individual accolades or production. Allen and O'Neale were a big part of that.

Still, Phoenix didn't have anything close to a "second star" to play alongside Booker. Bridges gets the Suns closer to that, but he's sort of a long shot.