Post Mortem #10 - Phoenix Suns

[OxAndFox]

Nico, please save us. You need more win now players like KD.

Nico is ready to trade AD for Beal. But he will demand the #51 pick be put in there by the Suns.

[sp6r=underrated]

If it wasn't for Dallas, Phoenix would be the most depressing club in the NBA. Just a disspirited group of players who wanted to play together yet don't fit. And coaches trying to coach players who only want to play iso ball. Just a miserable group.

[djsunyc]

the beal trade just destroyed everything.

[SkyBill40]

There are far too many things wrong to discuss it in a short blast of disgust. I'm going to just drop this here for the time being and will revisit later: Durant and Beal trades destroyed the team and Budenholzer was just another dead coach walking coming into it.

[Johnny Tomala]

Change, change, worse than expected, declining.

[Mamba81p]

That failed Durant trade was the nail in the coffin.
I thought they were pretty good when he played before that. They were 24-15 with him playing and 1-9 without him.

If they didn’t try to trade him behind his back I think they would be in play-in tournament

[Pelon chingon]

Time to clean house, everyone goes, but Booker.

So the plan is there is no plan? KD will bring in a few picks but even if everything goes right that's still years out. KD and Booker have to be dealt.

[jbk1234]

it is not possible to get the return they need to to be competitive. houston can low ball them as they don't need durant or booker. they are as good as it gets in their timeline. will be at least another 10 year until the suns will be relevant again.

The Rockets absolutely need a No. 1 scoring option and they're unlikely to land one better than Booker.

[Lacanm1]

team is **** with a capital F

[doogie_hauser]

As of right now, they are in the worst position of any team in the NBA. This has to be the worst attempt at putting a superteam together ever, maybe only rivaled by the 2014 Nets. They need to completely tear everything down to the studs and start over

Philly's situation is just as bad if they lose their lotto pick to OKC.

[Mr Puddles]

It probably isn't a record but getting a 4th of your total wins in the first 2 1/2 weeks of the seasom is a truely mind blogging feat

Especially when you consider that the Suns didn't have a particularly easy schedule during that stretch: LAC 2x, LAl 2x, DAL 2x, Portland, Miami, Philly.

[Jakay]

Time to clean house, everyone goes, but Booker.

Beal, is who you mean. Everyone goes except Beal.

[Johnny Bball]

Seems to me that until new ownership learns its lesson, which they should have now, nothing would change.

[Mr Puddles]

Time to clean house, everyone goes, but Booker.

Beal, is who you mean. Everyone goes except Beal.

This is what the Suns should do but not likely what will happen.

Beal expires in two years, so the Suns should plan to do a two year rebuild.

Part 1: trade KD and Booker for picks and young players or bad contracts players ideally not exceeding two years. In a perfect scenario, the '27 Houston pick gets recovered. There probably isn't a way in which the' 26 swap can be recovered as it's too complicated.

Part 2: trade neutral and positive non-rookie contracts for bad two year contracts and whatever draft capital can be gained. This would include Royce O'Neal and Grayson Allen.

In two years you'll have a ton of cap space and a bunch of pick/young players.


Ofcourse what will happen instead is that KD will be traded for a win-now players and the Suns will add whatever remaining draft capital they have to move Beal somewhere in a desperate attempt to make the play-ins next year.

[durden_tyler]

Get *some* first round picks off Durant trade
Surround Booker with players like Bridges, Johnson and the likes (LOL)
Waive Beal (if there are no takers, which is very likely)

[TheAlchemist]

There where very little people that thought this would workout. What's completely wrong in this whole picture is the lack of professionalism Bradley Beal has to uphold his contract. But that's on the Suns for wanting him. For years the Wizards where a basement dwelling team, and now have started to properly rebuild. Bradley Beal and John Wall where huge reasons for that.

Firing the coach won't help. Trading Durant would barely move the needle. They need to trade Booker and all assets on the team and do a deep haul.

Booker would get you one hell of a package. Durant will add you some decent prospects / players. They can net some stuff for Nurkic / Royce / Maybe Tyus (if they don't keep him).

But that's it, that's all she wrote here. There's no development of young guys. Bradley is a toxic entity there, and Booker will leave or demand a trade very soon.

[OxAndFox]

What do Suns fans think will happen? I mean you have to go from what the owner wants right? He wants to compete. If KD does want to change and the Suns owner wants to compete still, who can the Suns realistically trade KD for that will make them not lose ground, or perhaps gain ground on the competition?

What is the alternative? Keep KD and trade him at the deadline if things aren't look great? Let him expire? It will be interesting how they navigate the off season IMO.

[ArksNetsSince99]

Time to clean house, everyone goes, but Booker.

Beal, is who you mean. Everyone goes except Beal.

This is what the Suns should do but not likely what will happen.

Beal expires in two years, so the Suns should plan to do a two year rebuild.

Part 1: trade KD and Booker for picks and young players or bad contracts players ideally not exceeding two years. In a perfect scenario, the '27 Houston pick gets recovered. There probably isn't a way in which the' 26 swap can be recovered as it's too complicated.

Part 2: trade neutral and positive non-rookie contracts for bad two year contracts and whatever draft capital can be gained. This would include Royce O'Neal and Grayson Allen.

In two years you'll have a ton of cap space and a bunch of pick/young players.


Ofcourse what will happen instead is that KD will be traded for a win-now players and the Suns will add whatever remaining draft capital they have to move Beal somewhere in a desperate attempt to make the play-ins next year.

2 years rebuild , trading Booker and KD for picks and assets while letting Beal expire it’s the only reasonable decision

Depending on draft luck somehow , In just 2 years you can have it back , young promising likable roster

Worst case scenario for the Suns , Ishbia trade KD to the Knicks for Bridges and some low value players

[Chuck Everett]

Kevin Durant is dare I say, uncoachable. All this I'm a hooper talk. If you smell poop everywhere you go, you stepped in it. I don't care if he's old. Highest paid player, take them to the playoffs. He failed.

[Chuck Everett]

it is not possible to get the return they need to to be competitive. houston can low ball them as they don't need durant or booker. they are as good as it gets in their timeline. will be at least another 10 year until the suns will be relevant again.

The Rockets absolutely need a No. 1 scoring option and they're unlikely to land one better than Booker.

Here's the problem. The moment Houston knows Booker is on the block, here comes the lowball. Why? Because now those Suns picks are valuable (for the Rockets to keep). You may be trading Booker for Houston's picks, not returning your own. The Suns wouldn't be dealing from a position of strength here, no matter how much people want to overrate Booker. These last two years haven't been kind to his reputation. Still can't handle double teams a decade in and turns 29 in October. We may have already seen the very best from him on a basketball court.