T.J. Warren may be on the trading block as NBA Draft nears

Former NC State wing forward T.J. Warren has been a member of the Phoenix Suns since being selected by that franchise in the first round of the 2014 NBA Draft. He began his career there as a bench player but has been a regular starter over the last three seasons, and he averaged 18.0 points per game last year.

But the Suns have been bad consistently despite Warren’s improvements, never winning more than 39 regular-season games while he’s been there. They finished 19-63 in 2019 and it appears the franchise is ready for a reset—The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Monday that in the leadup to Thursday’s draft, the Suns have been considering trade offers that include Warren.

The Suns, for their part, have denied that they are considering moving Warren, but then of course they would say that. They probably are willing to move Warren in a package that could include their No. 6 overall pick in the NBA Draft, and the Dallas Mavericks and Indiana Pacers are among the teams interested.

Maybe that’s the dramatic change that both the Suns and Warren need—and just from my selfish NC State-based standpoint, I’d like to see TJ somewhere other than the hopeless whateverthing you might call the Phoenix Suns. Warren is five years into his NBA career and hasn’t come close to the playoffs. That ain’t right.