Devin Booker admits Suns skipped crucial step needed to win this season

The Phoenix Suns were finally put out of their misery on Wednesday night, as the Oklahoma City Thunder came into town and officially bumped them from postseason contention. Yet another loss to pile with all the rest, with the Suns going to end up falling well short of even cracking 40 wins this season. An absolute disaster.

Devin Booker cut a defeated figure when speaking to the media after the game, and it is hard to blame him. Kevin Durant continues to miss time with an ankle sprain, while Bradley Beal appears to be having the time of his life on the court. Head coach Mike Bundeholzer has struggled, and Booker realized too late in the day that it was all on him to save their season.

Booker admits Suns missed crucial step to winning this season.

It is hard to figure out where exactly it all went wrong for this group - especially after an 8-1 start - but one major flaw was the Suns' defending. They sit 27th in defensive rating, allowing a horrible 117.9 points per game. Then again - when you're building a team around three offensive talents like the franchise did - then this is to be expected.

Connor Moreno of Burn City Sports took another avenue when given the opportunity to pose some questions to Booker during media availability on Wednesday, and he asked if the Suns every truly built a culture this season. Surprisingly, Booker was very honest, going on to say that "I think that's one of the steps we skipped, learning through the wins and the losses".

Booker also went on to say that - although there were spots that the team did appear to be learning from the wins and losses of a season and building something together - it wasn't consistent enough. "It has to be something that is turned on at all times" is a great way of phrasing this - and on any given night that you tuned in to watch Suns basketball - chances are you did not see that.

Which is why the prospect of bringing former point guard Chris Paul back in potentially shocking circumstances has to be seriously considered by the organization. He's soon to be 40-years-old, and only recently said that he's not sure he's going to call it a career after this season.

That is Paul's mind talking though - not his body - and it may be that his playing career is about to come to an end. If that is the case, the Suns have to get him back to The Valley in a coaching capacity immediately. Booker looked at his most lethal next to Paul, while the future Hall of Fame player brought with him to Phoenix the exact culture that hasn't been seen since he left.

If he's not ready to hang them up, then convincing him to come back and save the franchise on a minimum contract is the only other way to make this happen. Which the Suns would have to try and do - although even at his advanced playing age - Paul is worth a lot more than that. Even more so for what he brings off the court, which is where he is needed the most right now in Phoenix.

This is also a telling admission from Booker that the pieces just never came together the way they were supposed to. Durant and head coach Mike Budenholzer clashed several times, while Beal's relationship with the fans is not good. The vibes rarely looked high, and the losing never quite stopped.