3 former Phoenix Suns who will excel elsewhere in 2023-24
By Luke Duffy
The Phoenix Suns will enter the 2023-24 season as a completely remade outfit. With the addition of Kevin Durant at the trade deadline last season fresh in the minds of many, the Suns have been busy this offseason ensuring they enter the next campaign as championship favorites.
Sharpshooter and All-Star Bradley Beal has been added to the mix, with the organization then doing the impossible and adding the kind of quality depth that most thought would elude them. Keita Bates-Diop, Yuta Watanabe, Eric Gordon and Drew Eubanks might not scream championship winners, but next to Durant, Beal, Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton, they look a whole lot better.
This summer has firmly established the Suns as one of the top teams in the league, but they haven’t exactly shed scrap metal to get to this point.
Whether it was through the mega Durant trade, or making the necessary moves to go out and get Beal, the Suns have had to say goodbye to some players who have served them well in the last number of years. This is not easy to do, especially considering a version of this roster made the NBA Finals in 2021.
Which is why it shouldn’t be a surprise when some former stars pop up next season in different locations having the kind of seasons, or at the very least run of games, that make fans wonder what could have been if they’d stuck around.
If that seems a stretch given how stacked the Suns’ roster now is, then the following three players will at least give fans reason to smile and cheer for individuals who have found themselves in situations where they can once again be successful. Even if that definition of success ultimately differs from what the Suns are trying to achieve, which is a first ever championship.