Subscribe
Follow Us
The Phoenix Suns have been a mixed bag as of late, at times looking like legitimate contenders and at others appearing listless, including in Wednesday's home loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The game was a rematch of last year's first round playoff series between the two teams, which Minnesota won in a clean four game sweep.
That series result opened up major questions for how the Suns would approach the future considering they appeared to be far away from true contention while not having many avenues to improve, and that trade speculation has continued into the present day, with most rumors revolving around Bradley Beal but murmurs also including Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.
Ahead of this trade deadline, Phoenix is hoping that “changes at the margins will be enough to keep Durant happy,” reported Ramona Shelburne and Bobby Marks of ESPN.
Evidently, some teams believe that Booker could also be a potential trade candidate, although the Suns themselves don't seem to share that viewpoint.
“The Suns have also rebuffed teams bold enough to inquire about Booker, who is 100 points away from becoming the franchise's all-time leading scorer,” reported Marks and Shelburne. “Booker has never given any indication he'd leave Phoenix in pursuit of a championship if this current construction doesn't pan out, team sources said. He remains under contract through 2027-28.”
What should the Suns do?
In many ways, the Suns find themselves in NBA no man's land, not bad enough to start tanking for a high draft pick but not good enough to compete with teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference.
It also doesn't help that Beal's contract has a no trade clause, meaning the former All-Star will have to sign off on any agreement that Phoenix may make with another team for him.
Of course, Durant and Booker are still lethal enough scorers to strike fear into the hearts of any potential playoff opponent, but Durant has now been swept out of the first round in two out of the last three years, dating back to his time with the Brooklyn Nets when he was teammates with another dynamic backcourt mate in Kyrie Irving.
In any case, the Suns will next take the floor on Friday evening vs the Golden State Warriors.
