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The Phoenix Suns traded center Kurt Thomas and two future first-round draft picks to the Seattle SuperSonics on Friday for a future conditional second-round pick.

In addition to salary cap relief, the trade leaves Phoenix with an $8 million trade exception for their use in future dealings.

"We are doing everything we can to keep our core group together. Sometimes in doing so, you have difficult decisions to make," Suns general manager Steve Kerr said in a statement.

"We feel good going forward having our core group of players under contract for several years, including the recent addition of free-agent Grant Hill. The bottom line is there are tough decisions to make, but we have flexibility and our core together. We really like the group of players we've assembled and feel we can make a legitimate run for an NBA championship next season."

Phoenix will send Seattle its own 2008 and 2010 first-round picks. The Suns will receive a conditional 2008 second-round pick from Seattle (via Orlando).

Thomas, a 12-year NBA veteran, spent the last two seasons with the Suns after he was acquired from the New York Knicks in June 2005 along with the draft rights to Dijon Thompson (54th overall pick in '05) for Quentin Richardson and the draft rights to Nate Robinson (21st overall). The 6-foot-9, 235-pound center averaged 6.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 21.8 minutes in 120 games (63 starts) with Phoenix.