Trade Kevin Durant? Trade Devin Booker? We asked national NBA media how to fix Phoenix Suns
The Republic asked several national NBA writers two questions about the Phoenix Suns after being swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round.
One, what went wrong? Two, how do the Suns fix this?
Let’s talk.
Tim MacMahon, ESPN
What went wrong?: “It’s pretty simple. They went all in to build a star-studded, top heavy roster that simply wasn’t good enough to contend in the Western Conference. The Bradley Beal trade was a massive risk that did not pay dividends. You can talk about his health. There was warning signs of that. It’s not like he was healthy his last couple of seasons in Washington. What you had were three big names and way too many holes to contend in an absolute loaded Western Conference. The Suns ended up being a pretty good team that just wasn’t good enough."
How do the Suns fix this?: “Good luck. I really don’t know what to tell you on that. Not only does Bradley Beal have maybe the most lopsided contract in terms of value in the NBA (five years, $251M), but he has a no-trade clause that somehow transferred over when you made the deal to get him when the Wizards were desperate to dump that contract. There’s obviously just not a lot of flexibility when you’re that far over the second (tax) apron under the current CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement). You’ve blown all your picks basically.”
Trade Kevin Durant?
MacMahon: “I think the best way out for the Suns is certainly not what Mat Ishbia wants to hear and that would be to trade Kevin Durant. Now, you’re not contending right away by doing that. You’re probably taking a step back, but if you want to have a chance to build something sustainable around Devin Booker, I think that would be the only logical route given the lack of assets. There would still be plenty of interest in Kevin Durant. My first phone call probably would be to his original home. I don’t know what Oklahoma City’s interest would be, but I could convince myself he would be one hell of a fit there and it wouldn’t be about the players you’re getting back, but obviously the picks in that case. Again, I think to build something sustainable around Devin Booker will require patience from Book, but you’re going to need picks and you’re going to need assets to be able to have any kind of a chance. The quick fix, the window right now, that’s not going to happen.”
Marcus Thompson, The Athletic
What went wrong?: "The Suns' need for a point guard proved greater than the franchise anticipated. After reaching the NBA Finals with Chris Paul, Phoenix perhaps should have known the value of a floor general. For all of Beal's greatness, managing a team in a postseason setting was a tough ask. The composure necessary for postseason basketball, the emphasis on attention to detail, the execution of time and situation – it's all vital. The T-Wolves had a cagey veteran in Mike Conley and a deft playmaker in Anthony Edwards, who knows the pieces around him well enough now to play to their strengths. Beal can get better at it. But when considering the master game managers and possession dictators in the West – including James Harden, Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray – it might behoove the Suns to bring in someone who can free up Beale to do what he does best.”
Howard Beck, The Ringer
What went wrong?: "This is really simple. The Suns tried to use a 2010 formula in 2024. They went for the Big 3, the super team, thinking they’d get the results that the Heat did 10 years ago or that the Celtics did in 2008. Two problems. The NBA rules now make it nearly impossible to build a decent roster around three max players and the Suns, frankly, picked the wrong third star. Bradley Beal is a good player, but he’s not a max player and he can’t stay healthy. The Suns lacked size, they lacked depth, they had no point guard to organize the offense. It all showed.”
How do the Suns fix this?: "Honestly, I don’t think this is fixable, not if fixing it means contending for a title. I just don’t see it. Durant is going to be 36 in September with a lot of miles and a really extended injury history. Beal is virtually untradeable. I think they’re stuck with him and the CBA rules make it nearly impossible to add high-level role players when you’re this far over the salary cap."
Trade Devin Booker?
Beck: "Honestly, I think the Suns’ best bet is trading Durant to fortify the roster around Booker and get back some draft capital, but honestly, I wouldn’t rule out trading Booker, too, since it’s going to be really hard to build anything sustainable given how little they have to work with.”
Michael Wright, NBA.com
What went wrong?: "Roster construction is what went wrong. Too top heavy with no depth. And when you've got three players that have largely been successful throughout their careers come together and not be successful, I think that manifests on the floor. I think we've seen that."
How do the Suns fix this?: "I have no idea. The Suns are pretty much locked into that expensive roster. Best they can hope for is the Big 3 spends some time working together in the offseason, Frank Vogel devises schemes that better optimize that Big 3 and they're healthier next season overall than they were this season.”
Ben Golliver, Washington Post
What went wrong?: "Well, to put it simply, they traded for Bradley Beal. By taking on Bradley Beal's contract, they really had to make cuts at other parts of the roster. Kind of created a top-heavy team that couldn't rebound well enough, didn't have enough size on the wings and didn't really have a great backcourt defensive stopper, either. They kind of got a worse version, an older version of Devin Booker. You didn't need two of those and they wound up having two of those. They never achieved the elite offense they had hoped to get with the Big 3. So trying to undo this winds up being a really tricky deal because Bradley Beal just doesn't have a ton of trade value right now."
How do the Suns fix this?: "I think their best move going forward is to simply run it back and to wait. Take a page out of the Los Angeles Lakers playbook. They traded for Russell Westbrook. It was a total disaster. Their Big 3 didn't work. They waited. The money went down a little bit. They were able to swing a deal to move off of Russell Westbrook and to get some role players that made some more sense at the trade deadline last year. Guys like D'Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt. That's kind of what you want to do. You want to ship out Bradley Beal to get some role players who better support Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, but you're not going to be able to do it anytime soon. He just doesn't have the trade value this summer. So you're going to wait until the trade deadline, hope he plays well to start next season and if that doesn't work, maybe you have wait all the way to next summer. Unfortunately, I think the Suns are going to be stuck as this sort of good, not quite very good, not quite elite team. You're just going to have to settle for now."
Michael Scotto, HoopsHype
What went wrong?: "Several things went wrong for the Phoenix Suns during the 2023-24 season. First, the Suns built around a Big 3 of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and acquired Bradley Beal as the third piece. Beal is on a max contract and doesn’t seamlessly fit with Booker in the backcourt as both players have traditionally have occupied the same shooting guard spot for most of their careers even though they can create for others at times. So by building around three stars, it left Phoenix with little flexibility for depth and their free agent signings for veteran minimum contracts to start the season didn’t provide enough production, which is one reason they traded several second round picks to acquire former Nets swing man Royce O’Neale, who is going to be a free agent this summer. The Suns failed to acquire or sign a traditional point guard who can create and initiate the offense and play defense. It’s one reason why the team was linked to Pacers guard T.J. McConnell on the trade market during the season.”
How do the Suns fix this?: "First, the team needs to figure out if Frank Vogel is the right coach for the job. If they keep Vogel, they’ll need to find another veteran coach to replace Kevin Young, who is departing for the BYU job in college basketball and was considered essentially the offensive coordinator for the Suns. Since there’s no indication Durant or Booker is going to be traded and no team is expected to take on Beal’s large contract, the Suns then need to add a traditional point guard via the trade market or in free agency who can set up the offense, play defense and nail catch-and-shoot 3-pointers around their stars. Phoenix will likely be limited to using minimum contracts and will have to potentially take chances on players looking to rebound from a down season considering depth was a major issue for Phoenix last season.”
Ian Begley, SNYtv
What went wrong?: "Bench depth really hurt the Suns. My man Bobby Marks from ESPN pointed out they were last in 3-point shooting off the bench (31.9% in the regular season). Lack of a point guard I think hurt them as well. You would think with all that firepower on offense, they would’ve just blown teams out more often than they did this past season. Defensively, there were issues on that side of the ball as well. So plenty to try to fix for James Jones and the Suns this offseason.”
How do the Suns fix this?: “It’s not going to happen, but I might try to turn the page and see what the market is for Kevin Durant and with Devin Booker, this is probably the best time to trade him if you’re going to totally change directions. I don’t either of those are going to happen. So you’ve got to get creative. You got to try to really recruit some veteran free agents that can defend, particularly on the perimeter. Try to recruit those guys to come for minimum contracts. Got to hit on the draft this year. Try to do what some of the other contending teams have done, which is take an experienced college player and hope that player can contribute in the rotation right away. It’s not easy. A lot would have to go right for them to get to where they want to be and it’s tough because obviously the financial limitations, but I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility for them to come back and get it right and be a contending next year.”
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: National NBA media address fixing Suns: Break up Big 3 of Booker, Durant and Beal?
