There were many big moves made at the 2023 NBA trade deadline, but none were bigger than the one that sent Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns. The Brooklyn Nets superteam was falling apart, and the Suns capitalized by adding a star player to come in and stabilize what has been a rocky season in Phoenix so far.

The Suns put all their chips on the table in an effort to go on a run to the Finals this season, and after moving for Durant, it looks like they are one of the strongest teams in the league. Any starting lineup that features Durant, Devin Booker, Chris Paul, and Deandre Ayton is going to win a lot of basketball games, and it will be interesting to see what they look like at full strength once Durant returns from his MCL sprain.

As perfect as the Suns starting lineup looks like right now, no team is perfect, and Phoenix has a pretty glaring flaw staring them in the face after the deadline. Whether or not they can overcome this flaw could determine whether or not they are able to win a championship this season, so let's identify this flaw and see why it could be so deadly for the Suns.

Suns fatal flaw: Lack of depth

As previously mentioned, the Suns might have the best starting lineup in the NBA once Durant makes his debut for the team. Add in veteran swingman Torrey Craig as the final piece, who is a decent three-and-d forward, and you have one of the most complete lineups in the league. When these guys are all on the floor, they have the potential to be able to destroy defenses in a way that no other team can.

The problem comes with what is behind the starting lineup. By trading for Durant, the Suns gave up key pieces of their rotation in Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, and Jae Crowder, although Crowder didn't play at all for Phoenix this season. That has left the Suns bench perilously thin, and it's the biggest flaw that could derail their season.

Right now, it looks like Phoenix would struggle to put together an eight or nine man rotation for the playoffs. T.J. Warren, Josh Okogie, and Damion Lee, and Terrence Ross are the top options, and things will get easier for them once Cameron Payne and Landry Shamet come back from their injuries, but these guys obviously have their flaws, and if more injuries pop up, it may be too much to overcome.

Getting Payne back will be a huge help, as he can run the point for the offense when Paul is off the court. Realistically, so can Booker and Durant, and there will be times when they are given the keys to the offense, but having a guy who you know can come off the bench and produce is going to be huge given what the Suns bench looks like right now.

While Warren, Okogie, and Lee are solid players, they don't come without their own individual flaws. There's no guarantee that the injury-prone Warren will stay healthy, Okogie and Ross aren't very efficient scorers, and Lee can be picked on defensively if he ends up in a mismatch. In the playoffs, teams will hunt him and other members of the Suns bench.

Now, there are obviously ways to combat this. Head coach Monty Williams isn't going to run their starting lineup as a full unit for the entirety of games, and will go through stretches where he mixes and matches which of his four stars are on the floor at the same time together. But if you have just one or two of your top guys on the court at once, it makes it easier for opposing defenses to key in on them and slow them down.

Having Durant back on the court will help, as Williams will spend the final 22 games of the regular season tinkering with his lineup and finding combinations that he likes. But it's hard to ignore how weak the Suns bench looks right now, and while they have some solid players, it remains to be seen whether they would be able to hold up over the course of a seven-game series against a playoff caliber team.

It's Finals or bust for the Suns right now, and in order to reach their ultimate goal, they are going to have to get through teams that are deep from top to bottom. They may have more top-end talent than their opponents, but as we have seen in recent seasons, that doesn't exactly guarantee success. Having those stars is nice, but they need support too, and if the Suns can't give their top players support, they will likely end up flaming out of the playoffs earlier than expected.