The Phoenix Suns acquired Nick Richards and draft picks from the Charlotte Hornets for Josh Okogie in a deal that was an interesting one for the Suns.
Details of Shams Charania are as follows:
“The Charlotte Hornets have traded center Nick Richards and a second-round pick to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for forward Josh Okogie and three second-round picks,” sources told ESPN.
“The Hornets will send Denver’s 2025 second-round pick to Phoenix, and Phoenix will trade a 2026 Nuggets second-round pick and a 2031 second-round pick (Denver, Phoenix) to Charlo,” sources said. special.
This trade isn’t a super-significant one for either team, but it could be the start of Phoenix making room on the cap sheet for a bigger deal — perhaps a trade for Jimmy Butler.
Shams also said that Richards “is expected to compete to be the Suns’ starting center” now that Jusuf Nurkic has exited the starting lineup and appears to be no longer in Mike Budenholzer’s favor.
The Suns rank last in the league in starting center scoring, with Nurkic and fellow starting centers Mason Plumlee and rookie Oso Iguodaro giving up the ball on offense.
Richards is expected to provide the Suns with the spark they are looking for, averaging 8.9 points and 7.5 rebounds in 21 games this season, his fifth with the Hornets.
He has performed even better in nine starts this season, averaging 11.3 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game.
According to ESPN Research, Richards has shot 65 percent from the field over the past four seasons, ranking fifth in the NBA (minimum 800 attempts) during that span.
As for Charlotte, look at Okogie’s defensive wing, who has a team-friendly non-guaranteed role in 2025-26.
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