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Anthony Tolliver is a nice man whose basketball will not be remembered in the Valley unless his departure turns into something more.

The Suns traded Tolliver to Detroit on Wednesday after 24 ho-hum appearances in order to increase their cap space and have an empty roster spot for potential stars who go on the trade block.

The Suns acquired Tony Mitchell in the trade but will waive him, bumping their cap space to more than $6.1 million and putting them one below the 15-man roster maximum.

"The thought process is to try to put ourselves in the mix to add a big player via trade," Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough said, referring to stature not size. "We want to be aggressive and active. We want to solidify ourselves as a playoff team. The flexibility would allow us more wiggle room to make a trade."

The Suns will be in position to trade a draft pick and absorb a player's contract or deal for one more player than they send out.

The Suns (16-14) are in eighth place in the West after a four-game win streak with Tolliver not playing.

The Suns are open to trades but not just for short-term gain.

"We'll stay consistent with our approach and philosophy," McDonough said. "We have a good core of guys in their early 20s and mid-20s and they have us in the playoff hunt. It'd be something in that range that could help us this year and then grow with us."

The Christmas Eve timing was unavoidable because the Pistons' interest in Tolliver came Monday after waiving Josh Smith.

The Suns signed Tolliver to a two-year, $6 million contract in July with $3 million for each year, although only $400,000 is guaranteed for next season. His long-range shooting was targeted to help replace the spread power forward role of Channing Frye, who left for Orlando in free agency.

Tolliver could not stick in the rotation, often playing briefly in one half when he was in the mix and falling out of the rotation for the past four games.

Tolliver averaged 3.3 points and 1.8 rebounds in 11.3 minutes per game. He made 39 percent of his 3-pointers but only shot 35 percent overall. He had consecutive three-for-five 3-point shooting games in losses this month to the Clippers and Heat but was two for eight on 3s over the next three games. Coach Jeff Hornacek then tightened his rotation to nine players and used Marcus Morris and P.J. Tucker as backup power forwards for a more consistent style.

"He was a great guy and a consummate professiona,l but it was a bit of a tough spot because Markieff Morris has been our most consistent player," McDonough said. "They are very different players."

Detroit will be Tolliver's eighth NBA team in seven seasons. Mitchell had an $818,482 salary this season to create the payroll decrease for the Suns.

On Tuesday night, Tolliver hosted four families with tickets to the Suns-Mavericks game, dinner and personally gave them presents after the game.

TASTIC wrote:I don't mind Mitchell, has insane athleticism and some defensive potential, but sounds like we've got an eye on a big prize which is great to see!

Jdiddy701 wrote:I just hope the Suns aren't dumb enough to trade Bledsoe. I would be so pissed.

Maystack wrote:More minutes for Warren now hopefully.

SF88 wrote:

Maystack wrote:More minutes for Warren now hopefully.

Tolliver wasn't in the rotation anymore so no.