Suns GM on draft pick predicament: ‘We’re always going to be good’ - Arizona Sports

What the report says

Arizona Sports reported that Phoenix Suns general manager Brian Gregory defended the team’s latest draft-pick gamble after the club acquired Miles Bridges in a deal that sent out Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale. The trade also included Phoenix giving up an unprotected 2033 first-round pick, while receiving a 2029 first-rounder with heavy swap conditions and a 2027 second-round selection.

At Bridges’ introductory press conference in Phoenix, Gregory said the organization was comfortable with the full structure of the transaction and argued that the added pick gives the Suns a run of upcoming first-round selections. Arizona Sports noted a clarification: Phoenix does not have a first-rounder in 2031 and instead holds first-round picks in five of the next six years. Gregory also downplayed concern over sending out an unprotected future pick, saying the Suns expect to remain competitive and asking where their own picks would land if they are “always going to be good.”

The report framed that stance as unusually confident for a team coming off a 45-win season and facing long-term uncertainty around elite roster talent. Olson wrote that Phoenix does not control its own first-round picks until 2032, a selection it cannot trade under league rules, and that the picks it has added may be limited by swaps or likely placement later in the first round.

The issue matters because future first-rounders are among the NBA’s most important tools for acquiring young, cost-controlled talent or making major trades. Gregory also cited changed lottery rules as affecting distant pick value, while Arizona Sports characterized that view as debatable rather than settled.