I respect the “let’s just see what Booker and Durant” can do viewpoint…but it’s not realistic.
The Phoenix Suns are down, and they aren’t that close to coming back to true contention.
I like to believe in the best possible outcome when it comes to the Suns. I really do. I supported the Kevin Durant deal. Durant still had a lot left in the tank, it seemed, and I liked that the Suns’ new ownership was willing to take bold action to bring in all-time talent to complement Devin Booker and try to get over the top and win the championship.
I wasn’t as keen on the Bradley Beal deal, but I talked myself into supporting it eventually because it was done and I really wanted to believe that things would gel and this “superteam” would be an elite offense no NBA defense could contend with.
It didn’t work out. As painful as it is to admit. As much as I don’t want to encourage endless relitigation of the Mikal Bridges/Cam Johnson deal that brought Durant here, there it is. It didn’t work out.
The Suns got boat-raced by the Denver Nuggets last year. They got humiliated by the Minnesota Timberwolves this season, looking old, slow, disorganized, and at times almost apathetic.
“We still have Booker, Durant, and Beal” is a nice thought, but it’s also one that ultimately is but cold comfort as the blazing summer begins to set in upon the Valley.
Devin Booker is a good player. A very good player. Kevin Durant is still a top-three scorer in this league, all things considered. Beal is a solid complementary piece, though I honestly think he’s approaching the point of his career where he’s better suited as an “instant scoring off the bench” sixth-man type than as a starting combo guard, especially next to Devin Booker.
Last season, it was easy enough to make excuses for the Suns looking so ineffective against the Nuggets. Durant hadn’t had much time to gel with his new teammates, especially as he suffered an ankle injury shortly after the trade and missed a fair amount of time prior to the playoffs beginning. And the Nuggets, let’s give it up to them, were the best team in the NBA.
This season, the Suns really had no (good) excuses. The Wolves are a good team, but probably not the best team. But compared to the Suns they may as well have been the 1992 Dream Team. It wasn’t close. It wasn’t close statistically, it wasn’t close by eye test. The Suns didn’t just need another little tweak to strategy, or to clean up another mistake. I honestly believe if the Suns played the Wolves 20 times in a playoff setting, the Wolves would win 15 times.
How do the Suns extricate themselves from this? That’s a tricky thing I can’t claim to know the definitive answer to. I think you have to try your best to move Beal. That may not be easy at all, he’s owed superstar money ($150 million over the next three seasons) and is not a superstar, but his continued presence on the team’s payroll is an impediment to putting more athleticism and defense on the floor for the Suns.
Then you have to, for the first time in years now, get the Suns playing team basketball again. Running an offense, fighting hard on defense, paying attention out there for all four quarters.
If you do those things, maybe this team has one more year of a window to try to bring home an NBA Finals Championship. Maybe. “Blowing it up” is a very distasteful thought…but if legitimately improving the team doesn’t seem possible this offseason it might be something they need to consider.
Because this team, as constructed and coached, ain’t it. And trying to pretend it might be if we just give it a year isn’t doing ourselves any favors.