This season has been nothing short of a disaster for Phoenix. After going 49-33 last year, it was swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round and has yet to regain its footing.
It fired first-year head coach Frank Vogel and replaced him with the more offensively minded Mike Budenholzer. However, not even Coach Bud could make Phoenix’s supposed “Big Three” of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal work together.
This isn’t a typical NBA season from hell; this season was a historically catastrophic one for Phoenix. With over $366 million in payroll and luxury-tax penalties, this year’s Suns team is the most expensive in NBA history to miss the playoffs. And, to add insult to injury, Phoenix’s first-round pick this year goes to the Houston Rockets (52-28) as a result of the Suns’ trade for Durant.
There isn’t just one quick fix for the Suns, as Booker knows.
“There’s not one thing or one person or one player or one coach that’s the problem,” Booker told ESPN. “When you’ve had a season this bad, it’s a bunch of things. I think the most frustrating part is being that close a few years ago, and now being back to where we are.”
Where do the Suns go from here? How does a team that was two games away from an NBA championship only four years ago return to winning basketball?
The most likely move is drastic roster changes. Phoenix can’t improve through the draft, so it will have to improve through trades and free agency. Because Beal has a no-trade clause and a huge contract ($110 million due over the next two years), the Suns have to consider trading Durant.
There were rumors of Durant being shopped at the trade deadline, but now with the Suns out of the postseason, it looks like those rumors will become a reality this summer.
Durant, who turns 37 in September, is the only bargaining chip the Suns have. A few teams the Suns could send Durant to are the Rockets and the Timberwolves, both of whom Phoenix talked to at the trade deadline.
The Rockets desperately need an isolation scorer who can create for themselves and others, especially in late-game scenarios. Durant could be a perfect fit around the young, scrappy and athletic team coached by Ime Udoka, who coached Durant while KD was with the Brooklyn Nets.
Minnesota is another intriguing option. Uniting Anthony Edwards with his “favorite player” would certainly make for one of the most prolific offensive duos in the league, but the Wolves don’t have many assets to move after the Rudy Gobert trade.
Phoenix is stuck at a franchise crossroads. It’s a tough position for the team, which thought going all-in on the Beal-Booker-Durant trio would lead it to prolonged playoff success. But trading Durant might be the only move that could hold off a full-scale rebuild and keep the Suns competitive for the rest of Booker’s prime.
