For the next few weeks we’ll be doing some theorizing on optimal returns at the trade deadline as the Red Sox look to do another tear down amidst a hopeless season. This week, we kick things off with the flamethrowing closer Aroldis Chapman.

Ah, rumors. Chris Cotillo heard it from a veteran scout this week: two prospects back for Aroldis Chapman, one of them a top-100 type. That’s only the floor. Bob Nightengale—though we can trust him as much as any bizzaro world character we can—has him rated as the top reliever on every contender’s board. With a 2.08 ERA and 14 saves (not surprising considering how many losses this squad has)— but still 378 in his long career (closing in on the all-time record), the market isn’t treating him like a rental. It’s treating him like the best available. For a 38 year old?! Ok.

The teams making headlines for Chapman are the Dodgers, Mariners, Phillies. In my opinion, there are five realistic suitors. Here’s what Breslow shudder should be targeting from each one.

River Ryan (RHP) + Chase Harlan (3B)

Of course the team that has all the money and continues to assemble super teams in the 2020s wants to add a flamethrower to their bullpen. The problem with the Dodgers is their best stuff is the stuff Boston doesn’t need. De Paula (#8), Hope (#17), Quintero (#34) land as their top three prospects…they’re all outfielders. The Red Sox have an outfield logjam that isn’t getting cleared any time soon between Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, Masataka Yoshida, Jarren Duran, the list goes on and on.

The package I’d push for snakes past all of that: River Ryan (#75, RHP) as the top-100 piece, plus Chase Harlan, an unranked third baseman quietly posting a 1.025 OPS with ten home runs through the first half. Ryan adds projectable front-end rotation depth the organization can actually use, especially in a right-hander. Harlan is the kind of raw power bat you stockpile when you don’t know who your future third baseman is (yes, I know we have Caleb Durbin, but keeping him at third feels like a giant mistake; I see him at second and slotting Mayer back to SS but that’s another piece). Do you hate trading with the new evil empire, the team that makes EVERYONE ELSE look bad? Yeah. Still, having one of the best farm systems in baseball to root from—and Boston still gets what it actually needs out of it? Fine.

Ryan Sloan (RHP) + Luke Stevenson (C)

The most specific package out there has Luke Stevenson at the center. I’d flip it. Make Ryan Sloan (#33 Pipeline, #7 BA) the headliner and let Stevenson come with him. Sloan is a top-35 arm, one of the better pitching prospects in the AL right now. Stevenson fills a specific gap—a left-handed bat behind the plate at a position the Sox are thin at long-term behind Carlos Narváez. Do you really trust Connor Wong and Micky Gaspar long term? I don’t think so. This package does real work: pitching depth plus positional coverage at a premium spot. If Seattle is serious about October, they know the price. They have the system to pay it. Adding in Chapman to Andres Muñoz would be a scary punch.

Gage Wood (RHP) + Aroon Escobar (2B)

The Phillies puzzle me. They always seem to be one or two pieces away and never hit their marks at the deadline. Is that a Dombo issue? Who knows. What Philadelphia does have is Gage Wood—70-grade fastball, tied with Andrew Painter (who isn’t moving), power curve that gives him mid-rotation upside or a high-leverage floor depending on how he develops. Baseball Prospectus has him at 66. He’s at Single-A, so he’s a few years away but a lot of room to rise. Aroon Escobar (2B, Double-A, 21) rounds out the package. Of the five teams in this conversation, the Phillies return is the thinnest and Breslow knows that going in. They can close this deal—just at a discount. I do remember the last time the Red Sox sent pitching pieces to the Phillies at the deadline…I think it worked out better for Boston, eh? (Nick Pivetta for Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree)

Nobody’s writing about Atlanta, and they should be. The bullpen has been inconsistent all year—even with Raisel Iglesias dominating as closer—and Chapman is the kind of arm contenders acquire when they want an answer at the back of a postseason roster—not depth, a second closer who can step in at any time. Cam Caminiti (#44) is the top-100 piece: 2024 first-rounder, touched 98, six-pitch mix, front-of-the-rotation ceiling. His breaking stuff kinda blurs together but the Red Sox pitching lab might be the best place to find that differentiation point. JR Ritchie debuted in April and would have been a piece I wanted: seven pitches, 93-95 mph with two fastball shapes, control refined enough to handle high-leverage innings. Tantalizing. But off the list. Boston already has Early and Tolle as elite lefties, so Caminiti is a depth add rather than a direct need-fill. That’s fine. You can say yes to depth packages like this one.

Ethan Salas (C) + Kruz Schoolcraft (LHP)

This is the one to watch. Ethan Salas was the eighth-best prospect in baseball before a back injury wiped out his 2025. He’s at Double-A San Antonio this year slashing .320/.396/.546 with five home runs through 28 games, climbing 90 spots in the rankings since the season started. Elite defensive catcher, left-handed bat, real pop. If Boston was drawing up their ideal long-term power piece behind Contreras, this is the profile. Pair him with Kruz Schoolcraft—6-foot-8 lefty, taken 25th overall in 2025, fastball already in the high 90s—and San Diego has assembled the most compelling package in this conversation. A rebounding top-10 talent at a premium position, plus a recent first-round arm who’s going to be very good. I know I just said having a lefty in this package seems redundant with Caminiti, but Schoolcraft intrigues the hell out of me. Only way I would take him out is if the Red Sox draft Brody Bumila in this year’s draft. I also know the Padres have Mason Miller closing, but again, you need all the scary you get come October.

If Breslow is doing this to win, San Diego’s scenario is the one worth chasing hardest to me, followed by Seattle. Salas is a potential cornerstone. The Mariners package is the most balanced return—Sloan is a top-35 arm and Stevenson fills a real gap.

Breslow has the leverage here having the asset everyone seems to want. Is he smart enough to part with it and get the right value back? Less sold on that. Still, this is absolutely worth tracking in the weeks ahead in this lost season.

Welcome back to the Butterfly Effect- kind of…

So far we have discussed the Anfernee Hardaway and Stephon Marbury trade to the Knicks that cleared up the cap space to acquire Steve Nash and Steve Nash’s departure to the Lakers.

This time, we aren’t quite done with Nash-adjacent topics, though we are getting a little further away from him. This week, I want to discuss Mikal Bridges. As we already discussed, the pick that became Mikal came to the Suns in the Nash to LA trade:

July 11, 2012 – The Inception

Los Angeles Lakers Trade:

The Mikal Bridges pick would go on to be traded on February 19th, 2015 to the Philadelphia 76ers in a three team trade for the Milwaukee Bucks’ Brandon Knight.

Now, so far we have been trying to pull the total on-court value from the trades the Suns have made to see if they have been worthwhile or not. This week, I want to do something different. This week, I want to take the excuse to make a quick journey through the entire career of one of my all time favorite Suns and NBA Champion, Mikal Bridges.

So, we are ditching the rules of the Butterfly Effect for a week. Let’s talk about the trades and performances of Mikal’s career and their impact on the Phoenix Suns.

June 21st, 2018 – The Hometown Hero, Draft Night

The child of a single mom, Philadelphia native Mikal Bridges sits in the green room during the NBA draft. The Ringer has him rated as the 10th best prospect in the draft. Sports Illustrated and ESPN both have him mocked to go 10th in the draft. It seems everyone is in agreement. The 10th pick in the draft should be Mikal Bridges.

And what a perfect fit that would be. Because the 10th overall pick in this year’s draft is owned by none other than Bridges’ hometown Philadelphia 76ers.

Now, the 76ers don’t need Mikal Bridges. They are coming off of a 52-win 2018 campaign that saw Dario Saric and Robert Covington play well as the forward duo in between Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. In fact, only Simmons played more games than this duo for the 76ers this season.

Covington was especially impactful, coming 8th in Defensive Player of the Year voting and making All-Defense 1st team in 2018. He had fully ascended to the title of superstar-role-player.

In some ways, Mikal Bridges may be redundant on this roster. In the Ringer’s 2018 draft guide, their number one comparison for him was in fact Robert Covington.

But that doesn’t change the fact that Bridges is currently one of Philadelphia’s favorite sons.

Just two months before, Mikal was the second leading scorer in the NCAA national championship game. He, alongside other future NBA players Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo, Eric Paschall, and Collin Gillespie, beat the University of Michigan 79-62. No weak feat, considering that Michigan team sported a few future NBA players as well, including future Phoenix Sun Isaiah Livers.

Bridges, of course, accomplished this great victory at Philadelphia’s own Villanova University.

While Bridges likely isn’t destined to be an MVP and therefore doesn’t have Derrick Rose to Chicago or LeBron James to Cleveland levels of hometown hero aura about him, he is still a Philadelphia champion, and is available when the 76ers are on the clock at pick #10.

Bridges and his mother celebrated in the green room. Her son was going to be staying in their hometown. Mikal’s mother, by the way, worked in the Philadelphia 76ers human resources department. The connections to Philadelphia seemed never ending.

But, Mikal would not be staying home, he would be traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for Zhaire Smith and a 2021 first round draft pick. If you’re curious, that pick ended up becoming Tre Mann.

Mikal presented a professional face to the disappointment of being shipped out by his hometown team.

Years later on Andre Iguodala’s Point Forward podcast, Mikal was a little more honest about how he felt on draft night.

“I was pissed off. I couldn’t control my emotions. After everyone went out, I’m in my hotel room, like, f**k this.”

But, Mikal did come to Phoenix. Despite later saying that Booker was just about the only thing he knew about the Suns, Mikal packed up and headed for the Valley, where he would become a fan favorite.

Mikal made a home for himself in the Suns organization. In his rookie season, he averaged 8 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists per game. His sophomore season wasn’t much more impressive, though it did come with an increase in efficiency.

In his third season in the NBA, 2020-2021, Bridges began to pop. Increasing his scoring to 13 points per game and continuing to be a great defender, he helped lead the Phoenix Suns to the NBA finals as a key starter.

A proven winner and true iron-man, Bridges played all 22 playoff games for the Suns that year. He was key in the Suns game two victory over the Bucks in the NBA Finals, scoring 27 points alongside Devin Booker’s 31 to take a 2-0 lead.

It’s hard to overstate how much Mikal Bridges was loved in Phoenix. There were times where Suns Twitter and Reddit were filled with people posting nothing but his name in awe of a great play here or there.

While I can’t find the original tweet from the turn of the decade, The Timeline Podcast’s Mike Vigil returned to the trend during this year’s Finals.

2023-2024 – The Centerpiece

When Mikal Bridges was traded to the Brooklyn Nets as the centerpiece (along with Cam Johnson and every pick known or unknown to man) of the Kevin Durant trade, he was averaging 17 points per game and coming off of a 2021-2022 season where he came in second in the DPOY race.

Many fans were excited about Durant coming to Phoenix. Every fan was sad to see Bridges leave.

In Brooklyn, Mikal shined. He averaged 21 points per game in his two years on the Nets on solid, though lower than normal, efficiency. He wasn’t a superstar. He was a very talented guy playing in a role that he didn’t belong in and still doing well.

While I, and most every Suns fan, was happy to see him do so well on the east coast, the failures of the Suns in the Durant era led to a lot of buyers’ remorse.

It always felt like Mikal belonged in Phoenix in a way that was never true of Kevin Durant.

In July of 2024, the Brooklyn Nets traded Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks for four unprotected first round picks, one protected first round pick, a first-round pick swap, a second round pick, and some salary filler.

It was a gross overpay. One made worse, in my mind, by how many picks the Nets got when they traded for Bridges.

If you count the first round picks that the Nets got for KD, as well as the first round picks that the Nets got when they traded away Bridges and Johnson, who came over in the KD deal, you count up eleven first round draft picks. The Nets traded away Kevin Durant and received back eleven first round draft picks by the time it was all said and done.

But, the deal was done. Mikal Bridges would join former Villanova teammates Brunson, DiVincenzo, and Josh Hart. The ‘Nova Knicks were born.

Fast forward to today, and those ‘Nova Knicks are champions (except for DiVincenzo, who has spent the last couple of seasons in Minnesota).

Now, I have never cared for the big cities on the coasts. I love rooting against anything Los Angeles or New York. But, I couldn’t help but root for the Knicks during these playoffs once the Suns were eliminated. I wanted to see Mikal achieve what the Suns should have in 2021.

Mikal Bridges has been many things in his career. The hometown hero, the warden, the centerpiece, and now the champion. To me, he will always be an all-time favorite.