PHOENIX — The most persistent question surrounding the Phoenix Suns this offseason centers on the backcourt pairing of Devin Booker and Jalen Green. Booker remains the franchise cornerstone and the roster is being constructed around his skill set; the team’s personnel moves since Chris Paul’s departure have included several attempts to find the right guard to pair with him. Those experiments have yet to produce a long-term solution, and Green — in his first season wearing a Suns uniform — is already the subject of trade chatter despite still being early in his tenure with the club.
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Green’s opening campaign in Phoenix was hampered by a nagging hamstring injury that repeatedly interrupted his availability and curtailed his ability to find consistent form. In the stretches when he was healthy, he flashed the scoring instincts and athletic explosiveness that helped make him the No. 2 overall pick in his draft class. Yet when circumstances thrust Green into a primary scoring role while Booker was sidelined, inefficiencies crept into his production and prompted renewed questions about how he should be deployed alongside Phoenix’s veteran star.
Phoenix Suns guard No. 4 in a close-up during the 2026 postseason, photographed as trade speculation mounts over his fit with the team’s core.
That uncertainty helped fuel a recent mock trade scenario that sent Green to New Orleans as part of a three-team exchange designed to land the Suns a more traditional lead guard. In the hypothetical deal, Phoenix would receive Dejounte Murray, the Pelicans would receive Green, and Phoenix would also send a 2032 second-round pick to the Chicago Bulls while obtaining wing Jordan Hawkins from New Orleans. The proposal framed the move as an immediate push to upgrade the backcourt with a player who can run things off the ball and complement Booker’s strengths.
"The Suns are clearly all in on winning now, and the best way they can upgrade their roster now is by acquiring another difference-maker for their backcourt," the mock-trade writeup stated. The scenario argued that Murray’s playmaking profile would allow Booker to function more frequently as an off-ball scorer by moving him away from constant primary ball-handling duties, a role change many in the fanbase and front-office circles have discussed since Paul’s departure.
Phoenix Suns guard No. 4 reacts on the court in a game action shot used to illustrate debate over whether the club should move the young guard.
Proponents of the theoretical swap pointed to fit and financial considerations. "Murray fits better with Devin Booker than Green does," the analysis argued, and it included a projection that the Suns would save approximately $3.6 million in salary in that transaction, placing them near $207 million in payroll for 14 players. The piece noted that move could help Phoenix avoid crossing the first apron, depending on how the team handled contracts for role players such as Jamaree Bouyea and Haywood Highsmith. Those savings and roster-composition nuances were presented as part of the rationale for making an aggressive backcourt upgrade now rather than waiting.
Still, any decision to part ways with Green would come with caveats. He is 24 years old; the potential that made him a top-two pick remains visible in flashes, and the Suns’ front office appears inclined to see the pair operate as a fully healthy duo before making a definitive call on his future in Phoenix. Views inside and outside the organization differ — some voices argue the franchise should maximize trade value while Green’s stock could be relatively high, while others counsel patience and more time to develop chemistry between Booker and Green once injuries are no longer a factor.
For the foreseeable future, Green’s name is likely to remain in the trade rumor mill. The franchise’s stated priority of winning now gives logic to moves intended to shore up the backcourt on the margins, yet the team also has reason to evaluate what a healthy Green paired with Booker could become. Until the Suns see consistent, extended availability and on-court results from Green alongside Booker, the debate about whether to trade or keep him will continue to animate roster discussions in Phoenix and among national observers.
Following Phoenix's acquisition of Miles Bridges from Charlotte, ClutchPoints insider Brett Siegel tweeted that the move signals the Suns are positioning for a major roster change, leading him to believe Jalen Green's long-term future isn't in Phoenix. This adds fresh context to the internal debate over pairing him with Booker versus maximizing his trade value now.
The Suns completed the Miles Bridges trade on June 28, 2026, acquiring Bridges along with a 2029 first-round pick and a 2027 second-round pick from Charlotte in exchange for Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neale and a 2033 first-round pick.
Green is under a three‑year contract extension worth roughly $105.3 million that he signed in October 2024; that deal carries a club cap hit of about $36.25 million for the 2026–27 season and includes a player option structure that affects his free‑agency timeline.
For concrete payroll context, the NBA’s 2025–26 figures put the salary cap at $154,647,000, the luxury‑tax threshold at $187,895,000, the first apron at $195,954,000 and the second apron at $207,824,000 — the latter is the point at which a team faces the most severe roster and acquisition restrictions.
Suns insider reporting in the days after the Bridges deal indicated the organization was not actively shopping Jalen Green and expected him to be part of the roster on opening night, even as outside commentators flagged him as a likely tradeable asset.
Across the 2025–26 season Green appeared in 32 games (27 starts) for Phoenix and averaged about 17.8 points per game while showing the scoring flashes referenced in the article; those raw numbers are part of the calculus teams use when evaluating his trade value.