When the Phoenix Suns rolled the dice on a trade for Kevin Durant at last season’s trade deadline, it mortgaged their future for a chance at capitalizing on a championship window, and when later that summer they pulled off another big trade for Bradley Beal expectations were high heading into the season.
The Suns didn’t even make it past the first round following a lackluster regular season, and were swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves who closed out the series in Phoenix sending the Suns to an unexpected early offseason.
“Roster-wise, everybody talks about the firepower, but you look around the league: It comes down to the details,” Suns superstar Devin Booker, who finished with a game-high 49 points, said following the game, according to ESPN’s Baxter Holmes. “I don’t want to keep saying that, but it’s a super important thing. You can’t just go out there and think you’re going to win off talent. The game is more complicated than that.”
The Suns were minus-51 when Booker, Durant and Beal shared the floor in this opening round playoff series and marked the worst plus-minus for any trio this postseason, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
“It’s disappointing,” Suns coach Frank Vogel said. “There’s no other way to put it. There’s no worse professional feeling in the world than getting swept in the NBA playoffs. I’ve never been a part of it. I feel pretty low right now. I want to speak to our fans directly and say, I share your passion. I’m as disappointed as y’all are. I share that with you all. But we got beat by a better team this year.
“And we put this team together with the mindset that we have a three- to five-year window where every year we’re going to have a chance to have a team with the firepower to compete for it. But this league is loaded with firepower. We’ve got a talented group; so do the Timberwolves. The top 10 teams in the Western Conference are loaded with talent as well. We’ve got to evaluate and figure out ways we can get better.”
The Suns now head into an offseason with limited room to navigate and a need for multiple players to help better balance their roster, as well as a need for a few solid point guards and likely a new head coach.
