Gold Coast sits precariously in regard to the 2025 National Draft after loading up on multiple first-round selections last year in a bid to facilitate five Academy-linked prospects.
The Suns' dealings in the 2024 trade period yielded John Noble and Daniel Rioli notably, but the Queensland club also stocked up on Collingwood and Port Adelaide's future first-round selections, and as it stands, they hold Picks 8 (Power), 14 and 18 (Collingwood).
Zeke Uwland and Dylan Patterson pose as top 10 selections, while Kalani White, Koby Colson and Beau Addinsall are also making waves in their draft year.
"In a perfect world, we'd like to take them all," Gold Coast recruiting manager Kall Burns said on AFL Media's Gettable.
"But we understand that the rules have changed this year, and that's made it significantly harder to match bids.
"There's been a lot of levers changed at once, and there's a real squeeze on. There's more access for NGA clubs to access their players, the Academy market has shifted slightly, the DVI points have come down, and there's less picks with points attached.
"We'll have to stay agile and have strategies for all types of scenarios."
The Suns also hold Picks 32, 56 and 68, tallying 3,708 total draft points, the fourth most in the competition, only behind West Coast, Essendon and Richmond.
Burns acknowledged that the incoming crop of Academy prospects is a "special group", and said the club was "open" to trading out Pick 8 to help welcome the talents.
"We did identify this group as a particular special group with a fair bit of depth to it," Burns continued.
"We always wanted to push draft picks into this year, and we were able to achieve that through different mechanisms to have the three first-rounders this year.
"It's a smaller market with more people active in that market, and it'll be really challenging to manoeuvre those picks."
The Suns have had large amounts of success in recent years with their Academy graduates, led by quartet Jed Walter, Ethan Read, Jake Rogers and Will Graham from the 2023 intake, as well as Leo Lombard last year.
