Post Mortem 2023/24 - Phoenix Suns (Eliminated in 1st Round)

[Godymas]

a starting line-up of Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, Grayson Allen, Kevin Durant, and Jusuf Nurkic

that is what the Suns have locked themselves into

Guys like Eric Gordon and Drew Eubanks will likely walk. Josh Okogie might come back because realistically who's going to throw him a ton of money.

Vogel seems to be shouldering the blame (again) as if he's supposed to actually save a team that is built this poorly.

It's not the fact that these 3 guys could NEVER potentially beat out teams off of pure offense, but the lack of a true point guard to tie everything together is the bigger issue.

I mean to be honest, this team needs a Draymond Green, desperately. I don't think Draymond would ever be available though, but if there was a way to send Beal to Golden State and somehow get Draymond back, the only reason you do this is because Golden State is turning a new leaf and Klay is also out the door. Curry obviously stays in, he gets a younger co-star in Beal with a solid basketball fit, the Warriors lose Draymond but they hold onto CP3.

But is it really possible to blame the FO? Pretty sure the talks were that the FO wanted to hold onto their young guys but the ownership butted in and said "get us the stars now" and they made these moves. No one legitimately thought this team NEEDED Bradley Beal, no one was thinking "oh yeah the Suns should trade for Bradley Beal" and yet they did it.

Is there a poor man’s Draymond Green available? If they don’t have a natural PG, then a point forward is the next best option and replacing Nurkic with a defensive big, but no assets left to move

maybe Kyle Anderson. can still play solid defense, and he's been underrated in the passing game this year. he's a UFA this off-season, no clue what his true value is coming off the $18 million 2 year he signed recently.

[garrick]

Would I be crazy to think Phoenix will make a big move in the offseason, such as trading Kevin Durant to New Orleans? I'm picturing a player package of McCollum (they can call him their "point guard"), Nance (post depth) and Trey Murphy (3-point sniper and "potential") plus I have no idea what picks New Orleans can offer.

Trading KD would be admission of failure and I don't think Ishbia's ego can handle that.

Seems like besides firing Vogel that they're going to just run it back next year.

[TimberKat]

Suns still a fairly good team. My take is get an avg PG like PatBev/Lowry and move Beal to the bench as supersub scorer. The more difficult part is move Nurkic for a faster/agile center (like Vanderbilt). They will come back next year and win 55 games.

[Swish1906]

Healthy and they win 55+ games. The season wasn't as bad as ppl will make it out to be. They need 3 things, all of which are doable:
1) More PnR (KD is totally wrong about this)
2) a 5 who can space out to 3 and hold up on D. Guys were just leaving Nurk wide open.
3) more depth pieces

They weren’t even the team with the most DNP of relevant players. Also the key guys were healthy in the series against the Wolves….so?!

So if their big 3 don't miss a combined 50 games they aren't playing the Wolves in Rnd 1 to begin with.

Dude, Durant and Booker missed a combined 21 games. Beals missed games are basically irrelevant because he is trash.

Luka and irving missed a combined 36 games. Clippers Big3 32 games combined. Pelicans Big3 36 games combined.

If you want to play the healthy game the Suns still end up in their position (or worse) and getting trashed in the playoffs.

[Johnny Tomala]

Fire, fire, worse, waning.

[One_and_Done]

They weren’t even the team with the most DNP of relevant players. Also the key guys were healthy in the series against the Wolves….so?!

So if their big 3 don't miss a combined 50 games they aren't playing the Wolves in Rnd 1 to begin with.

Dude, Durant and Booker missed a combined 21 games. Beals missed games are basically irrelevant because he is trash.

Luka and irving missed a combined 36 games. Clippers Big3 32 games combined. Pelicans Big3 36 games combined.

If you want to play the healthy game the Suns still end up in their position (or worse) and getting trashed in the playoffs.

Health issues for the Clippers or Pelicans are baked in. Mavs injuries undoubtedly did hold their seeding back.

Beal isn't "trash", and his poor form/health wasn't a given.

[Papi_swav]

Best they can do is trade Beal for role player/pieces that fit with their core. They need a legit point guard, a better big man, bigger wings that defend, and depth. I still think they can be a good team, just won't be a legit contender unless guys are hurt from the other team so there is a chance. Booker/KD can score with the best of them, get a legit point and some good role players/depth and they should be fine. But getting rid of Beal for something actually worth it is the hard part

[Swish1906]

So if their big 3 don't miss a combined 50 games they aren't playing the Wolves in Rnd 1 to begin with.

Dude, Durant and Booker missed a combined 21 games. Beals missed games are basically irrelevant because he is trash.

Luka and irving missed a combined 36 games. Clippers Big3 32 games combined. Pelicans Big3 36 games combined.

If you want to play the healthy game the Suns still end up in their position (or worse) and getting trashed in the playoffs.

Health issues for the Clippers or Pelicans are baked in. May injuries undoubtedly did hold their seeding back.

Beal isn't "trash", and his poor form/health wasn't a given.

Maybe, just maaaaybe do your research first. So health issues with Clippers/Pelicans are baked in but Beals poor health wasn’t a given? The guy who played the last time more than 60 RS games in 18-19?

Durant playing 75 games at this point was actually a miracle. He played more than 70 games in just 3 of the past 10 season…so again, the Suns weren’t unlucky

[FarBeyondDriven]

With an active and competent off-season there zero reason to believe the Suns will be bad or miss the playoffs next season. Will they be favorites to reach the Finals? No, but they weren't this year either despite the current revisionist history rampant on here claiming otherwise. No, nobody thought they were Finals worthy lmao. And no, this doesn't tarnish KD's legacy because this isn't a super team and nobody should have had high expectations. Sure, maybe getting swept wasn't a great look but losing to the Wolves was expected.

And the consternation about the future draft picks is hilarious too. If they decide to blow it up in 2 years they'll get picks and young players via trades negating the loss of those other picks. It'll sting not being able to tank themselves because they don't have their pick but they'll still be armed with picks. So relax. I don't know why realgm has to be so hyperbolic all the time. They get every major story (trades, FA signing, playoff performance, etc) wrong

[One_and_Done]

Dude, Durant and Booker missed a combined 21 games. Beals missed games are basically irrelevant because he is trash.

Luka and irving missed a combined 36 games. Clippers Big3 32 games combined. Pelicans Big3 36 games combined.

If you want to play the healthy game the Suns still end up in their position (or worse) and getting trashed in the playoffs.

Health issues for the Clippers or Pelicans are baked in. Mavs injuries undoubtedly did hold their seeding back.

Beal isn't "trash", and his poor form/health wasn't a given.

Maybe, just maaaaybe do your research first. So health issues with Clippers/Pelicans are baked in but Beals poor health wasn’t a given? The guy who played the last time more than 60 RS games in 18-19?

Durant playing 75 games at this point was actually a miracle. He played more than 70 games in just 3 of the past 10 season…so again, the Suns weren’t unlucky

Beal was held out for a lot of games in Washington for tanking reasons. People expected him to play more and look better.

[FarBeyondDriven]

I can't think of an NBA team in history that has been in a situation like this. They're in salary hell, they don't have draft picks, and they just got swept out of the first round with everyone healthy. There's really nothing they can do to improve, and tanking isn't an option.

how many times does this need to be corrected before it finally sinks in. They DO have draft picks. They have this year's #22 pick which they can use or trade back to get more picks. They will have likely late round picks in 2026, 2028 and 2030. They can't trade those future picks because they're tied up in swaps but they still have picks.

[schnakenpopanz]

How can you blow it up when you don't own your picks?
The only thing they might do, find better surrounding ieces than Eubanks, Bates-Diop, Watanabe, Metu, Little etc.
And don't get trash players who were solid in the past like Eric Gordon.
FFs he played 30+ minutes in am elimination game.

[LaLover11]

DLo is going to be your Point Guard Next season Suns Fans

[benson13]

I can't think of an NBA team in history that has been in a situation like this. They're in salary hell, they don't have draft picks, and they just got swept out of the first round with everyone healthy. There's really nothing they can do to improve, and tanking isn't an option.

how many times does this need to be corrected before it finally sinks in. They DO have draft picks. They have this year's #22 pick which they can use or trade back to get more picks. They will have likely late round picks in 2026, 2028 and 2030. They can't trade those future picks because they're tied up in swaps but they still have picks.

You're missing the point. What happens if Phoenix does terrible and gets the number one pick in two seasons?

[spanishninja]

How can you blow it up when you don't own your picks?
The only thing they might do, find better surrounding ieces than Eubanks, Bates-Diop, Watanabe, Metu, Little etc.
And don't get trash players who were solid in the past like Eric Gordon.
FFs he played 30+ minutes in am elimination game.

the ideas is not to "blow it up" now, but remain kind of a treadmill team for a few years so that we're good enough to not swap picks with anybody. and even if the swaps happen, a good enough GM can still find value contributors later in the first round. Just that James Jones has not historically been great at that.

[Demagoog]

Personally, I do not think the Suns performed worse than expected. Everyone with at least one eye could see that this team had glaring issues that are very difficult to overcome. 46-50 wins is about where I would expect a team as poorly constructed as this Suns team, with little assets to fix said holes. For that FO needs to go.

Getting swept in the first round was under expectations, but perfectly possible against a bad matchup. Vogel will probably get the boot too, but I think 95% of coaches would have a hard time here.

[Jadoogar]

Idk if you can fire the front office. How much is the owner pushing for these moves? Suns had a chance to trade for Durant when he first demanded a trade. They didn't make a move until Ishibia came in. I think the owner is driving the decision making here.

[SkyBill40]

I can't think of an NBA team in history that has been in a situation like this. They're in salary hell, they don't have draft picks, and they just got swept out of the first round with everyone healthy. There's really nothing they can do to improve, and tanking isn't an option.

how many times does this need to be corrected before it finally sinks in. They DO have draft picks. They have this year's #22 pick which they can use or trade back to get more picks. They will have likely late round picks in 2026, 2028 and 2030. They can't trade those future picks because they're tied up in swaps but they still have picks.

You're missing the point. What happens if Phoenix does terrible and gets the number one pick in two seasons?

There will be pitchforks and torches in front of the arena. You think fans are angry now? Just you wait.

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