The Phoenix Suns completely botched the 2025 NBA trade deadline, according to several writers, with one calling them "an embarrassing disaster." Ouch.

In Sept. 2023, Allen came to Phoenix in the three-team Damian Lillard trade. The deal sent former Suns starting big Deandre Ayton and their former second-round pick from that year to Portland, Lillard to Allen's former team Milwaukee, and Phoenix brought in Nurkic.

“I’ll use ‘toxic’,” Shelburne said, describing the Suns’ locker room after a tough trade deadline that saw most players floated in deals. “That shootaround, I heard, was very awkward, very weird because everyone was on pins and needles wondering what they were going to do.”