3 Phoenix Suns whose stock is fading fast

In the early goings of the 2023-24 NBA season, the Phoenix Suns have failed to live up to the lofty expectations they had going into this season. The good news is that they have plenty of time to change that, and they also possess a superstar in Kevin Durant who is playing as well as he ever has.

They’ve also had some of their role players over-perform expectations for the team, although back-to-back home losses to the San Antonio Spurs set the whole organization back. It is clear head coach Frank Vogel is still trying to figure out his best rotations and lineups, with that fifth starter position seemingly still up for grabs.

It is hard to escape the fact that some of the Suns’ players simply have not been pulling their weight, and it is beginning to show for the group.

Devin Booker has missed time because of both ankle and calf issues so far, but he is certainly exempt from this list. He is the franchise player – and although his absence has been as puzzling as it has been worrying – he will be back soon and once he is, will vault himself right back into the MVP conversation.

There have been three other candidates though who have watched their stock fall considerably, and all for different reasons. Some had sky high expectations and haven’t gotten going, whereas others came in with a modest output predicted, but instead haven’t done anything at all with the Suns so far.

3. Bradley Beal

A terrible place to start, but here we are. Bradley Beal is 30-years-old, is an All-Star level player and has put up over 30 points in two seasons in the past. He is everything the Suns need from a third option, except he is yet to appear at all for the franchise so far this season. A “back tweak” forcing him to sit.

Beal’s stock has fallen then because we haven’t seen him play in the regular season and therefore don’t know how good he will fit on the court with Durant and Booker. There were mild concerns that the knocks Beal had suffered the past with the Washington Wizards could come back to haunt the Suns, but nobody predicted it to happen as quickly as this.

If any player is going to get themselves off this list, and quickly, it is Beal. The Suns have one game remaining on their three game, East coast road trip, and Beal could yet surprise us by suiting up. He looked lively during warmups in Sunday’s win over the Detroit Pistons, and it is clear the organization are being overly cautious.

But it is also fair to point out that the Suns likely wouldn’t be 3-4 had Beal played up to this point, and his importance to coach Vogel’s offensive schemes is obvious. We may look back on the start of this season later in the year and laugh at how worried fans were about this rocky start. Until that happens, Beal finds himself in this unwanted position.

2. Jusuf Nurkic

Having fun yet Suns fans? The idea of center Jusuf Nurkic was – in theory – a solid one. Unlike Deandre Ayton, who the team gave up to get Nurkic, Grayson Allen (who has fit right in), Nassir Little (had a couple of moments) and Keon Johnson (already waived), Nurkic was going to be the big who fit well with their “Big 3”.

He was going to diligently run up and down the court, not see much of the ball, screen effectively, pass out of the paint and generally do everything around the stars in place. Nurkic can still do all of those things in bursts, and offensively he is capable of having the team run some plays through him in the absence of Booker and Beal.

Defensively though, it has been ugly at times for Nurkic. Although it has only been seven games, the Suns rank an impressive 10th in defensive rating (109.6). Most felt that offensively this team had a chance to be an all-time level threat, and once healthy that may end up being the case.

On the other end they were always likely to struggle, and yet their role players have stepped up admirably. With Nurkic on the court though, the Suns have a defensive rating of 112.6, which would put them in the bottom 10 teams in the league.

Nurkic has had worse seasons on that end statistically, but it still early doors and he does not look to be getting any better. Add in the fact he is injury-prone (to his credit Nurkic is yet to miss a game so far), and there’s a reason he was so readily available via trade from the Portland Trail Blazers. If the Suns made Nurkic available via trade today, who would call?

1. Bol Bol

Big man Bol Bol finds himself in an altogether predictable situation, having been mothballed by the Orlando Magic last season down the stretch even after being everything they needed earlier in the campaign. He still managed to play 21.5 minutes per game across 70 contests (33 starts), numbers Bol could only wish to be posting now.

This season he’s appeared in two games, seven minutes total, and scored a single basket. Given that Suns fans were excited to add him to the back end of their roster, Bol isn’t being given any kind of opportunity to show what he can do. Don’t tell a certain Hall of Fame floor general though, who believes Bol is in the same class as Victor Wembanyama.

He clearly is not, and defensively has been awful throughout his career. That might explain why coach Vogel – a known defensive specialist – has been reluctant to throw Bol out there. He’s stopping nobody, and is beyond raw on that end, even though he is in his fifth season and is usually the tallest player on the court.

Looking at this another way however, and perhaps Bol will get some minutes alongside Durant, Booker and Beal when all three are healthy. That doesn’t seem likely though, as defensively the Suns need players like Josh Okogie and Eric Gordon to surround their stars to help on the other end.

If anything Bol should be playing in the absence of these stars, because he represents a problem for opponents to solve with how he can score outside of the paint, especially next to Durant. That isn’t happening, and the intrigue of Bol has withered away slowly so far because he’s not playing even when the Suns are winning, or losing and in need of something different. That is a worry.

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