On Monday evening, Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns suffered arguably their most frustrating loss of the season to a San Antonio Spurs squad that was playing without the services of their rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama, who missed the game with an ankle injury. Despite the Suns knocking off the Spurs just two nights prior–with Wembanyama in the lineup that time–the team was unable to stop San Antonio down the stretch on Monday, ultimately falling victim to a late three pointer from Jeremy Sochan and dropping their season series to the Spurs 3-1 in the process.
One subject of intense debate regarding Phoenix this year has been the team's lack of a traditional point guard. While Devin Booker has filled that role admirably at times this season, there are other instances in which it's become clear that the team would benefit from having a true floor general to get the ball to their three headed monster of Booker, Durant, and Bradley Beal in more comfortable positions.
One person echoing such sentiments is none other than NBA insider Zach Lowe of ESPN, who recently took to his own The Lowe Post podcast to break down his thoughts.
“I don't need a point guard whatever, it would just be helpful if one of these guys were like an “A” passer, and I don't think any of them are,” said Lowe, per NBA on ESPN on YouTube. “As much as Book has advanced and is a six, seven, sometimes eight assists a game guy, he's a scorer at heart. And I think sometimes late in games he just kind of takes the offense and that's cool, I love Devin Booker, he's an All-NBA player, but that's not the best way to use Kevin Durant, for instance.”
An up-and-down year in the valley
Expectations were sky-high for the Suns entering this year following their high-profile acquisition of Bradley Beal from the Washington Wizards this past offseason. While health has been a major concern for Phoenix so far in 2023-24, even when the star trio is on the court together–as was the case on Monday evening in San Antonio–the results have been underwhelming at best.
It's clear that talent is not the issue for the Suns. At times, the trio is more than capable of overwhelming opposing defenses with their sheer star power, as was the case in their recent win on the road vs the Denver Nuggets, a game in which Booker didn't even play due to injury. However, there is also a noticeable lack of cohesion with this Suns roster, which at times feels more like it was slapped together in a video game rather than constructed with true team-building principles in mind.
Of course, star power is a very good thing to have in the playoffs, but at the rate they're currently going, the Suns might have to participate in the dreaded Play-In tournament just to have a chance to play in the big dance, which is far from ideal.
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