NBA trade news: Suns GM admits team needs ‘some changes' before deadline, Markieff Morris possible trade piece

The Phoenix Suns may be forced to join the trading frenzy before the deadline, according to the team’s general manager Ryan McDonough.

The Suns have lost all hope for a playoff run after losing star point guard Eric Bledsoe to a season-ending knee surgery. The Suns are holding a 13-26 record and are 1-6 since losing Bledsoe against the Philadelphia 76ers, which could force McDonough to make changes in the Suns’ roster.

"We are looking at a number of things between now and the trade deadline," McDonough told Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, according to SB Nation’s Dave King. "We obviously need to make some changes."

King noted that while McDonough has not committed any particular deal during the radio interview, the Suns’ GM is pointing at a deal involving disgruntled power forward Markieff Morris, who has been demanding a trade from the franchise since his twin brother Marcus got shipped to the Detroit Pistons.

Markieff is most likely to get dealt before the deadline if the Suns really intends to shake-up their squad. Markieff has been playing the worst season of his basketball career, averaging just 10.1 points and 4.5 rebounds on 38.1 percent shooting, and playing just 24 of the Suns’ 39 games.

King noted that the Suns could trade Markieff for the Houston Rockets’ power forward tandem of Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas. Both big men could help the Suns this season as well as during the offseason due to their expiring contracts.

But according to Chris Kirby of Sports Illustrated’s Fansided, the Suns should also consider moving Brandon Knight, the team’s other scoring point guard. Knight has been a valuable scored for the Suns this season, but Kirby believes there is no reason for Phoenix to keep two offensive-type point guards.

“McDonough may want to explore trading Knight for some other reasons as well, including his other star guard Eric Bledsoe,” Kirby wrote. Both players are too similar to be playing next to one another moving forward. If you have to choose one to move forward with, Bledsoe may be worth keeping considering he plays defense.”

It may take the Suns until the February deadline to make a trade transaction, but consider the move inevitable for the franchise.