Ever since LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh teamed up on the Miami Heat and made successful title runs, teams across the league have been vying for their own version of the Big 3. The Phoenix Suns have their chance at a great Big 3 and should give up everything to make it happen.
SLAM Magazine recently featured a cover story on Karl-Anthony Towns, D’Angelo Russell, and Phoenix Suns‘ own, Devin Booker. The article called them the “modern day goodfellas” of the NBA, sharing a strong friendship off the court.
Three big name NBA stars being friends is not all that eye-popping, but here is the quote worth latching onto from D’Angelo Russell:
"“We gotta do this (another feature for SLAM) again, when we’re all on the same team….when we’re all on the same team—I ain’t gonna tell you which team because I don’t know—we’re gonna do this again.”"
The article makes it sound that Russell’s tone was that of as a joke. Maybe it was, but behind any good joke is a shred of truth, or at least hope.
In today’s NBA, where players have more control over their own destinies than ever before, friends, or at least players eager to team up, negotiate deals to combine their powers into one super team all the time.
It is like a hoops version of Captain Planet.
The logistics behind all three of these guys ending up in Phoenix together are complicated at best, impossible at worst, but in a forthcoming post, Adam Maynes will explore a three-year plan to make this happen.
No matter what kind of scenario it would take, the Suns should make every effort to get this done.
Give up Ayton, Rubio, Sarver (oops, Freudian slip), Oubre, draft picks, whatever. Teams that go for broke are the ones who have success.
As much as everyone loves the new culture of the Valley Boyz (and they should, it is exciting), the ability to pair up three All-Stars (that includes Booker who should make the team this year), would be too good to pass up.
Essentially, the Goodfellas are more compelling than Valley Boyz.
“Taking the next step” is nice and all, and Suns fans should definitely hope for that this season. But if James Jones ever wants a chance to kiss the Larry O’Brien trophy as a GM, he needs to do everything in this power to team up Book, D-Lo and KAT.
He already has one player of this trio who wants it to happen. That is a huge first step.
Whether your Millennial-hating uncle agrees or not, players these days value friendship over the bitter rivalries of the Bird-Magic days.
Friendship is the same reason I argued that Tyler Ulis should still be on the Phoenix Suns in my debut post.
If the opportunity is there (and even if it is not they should force it), the Suns need to be willing to give up everything to bring these three young studs to Phoenix.
It might be their best chance to win a title this millennium.