Kevin Durant and 3 other Phoenix Suns who are as good as gone this summer

The Phoenix Suns have finally been put out of their misery, and we now know that they will not be a part of the playoff picture for the 2024-25 season. They won't even be taking part in the play-in tournament, an unthinkable outcome to begin the campaign but one that this group most certainly deserves.

Finishing 11th in the Western Conference when you have both Devin Booker and Kevin Durant on your books is unacceptable, and so we know big changes will be coming this offseason. The first domino to fall might not even be a player - or indeed head coach Mike Budenholzer for that matter - but their departures should not surprise if that does happen.

Much as fans would love to see Bradley Beal make this list, right now that is not the case. Although Suns' insider John Gambadoro has already claimed that there is a "zero percent chance" Beal will be back in The Valley next season - because he holds a no-trade clause an appears content with the Suns - we won't believe that until we see it. These four though, oh they're gone gone.

4. Damion Lee

Starting off on the fringes, and there is little doubt that Damion Lee is going to be brought back next season. As a person he appears really popular with fans and his teammates, and it is unfortunate that a meniscus injury last season meant he began this season having to fight for minutes.

He was limited to only 25 games played, and saw his 3-point shooting crater from over 44 percent two seasons ago, to a dreadful 24.3 percent this time out. Making matters worse for Lee, he filled no position of need for the roster and was caught between many of the spots that the Suns desperately needed help.

He's not big enough or effective enough to be a plus defender, which is why Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale beat him out for time on the court. He also can't control the tempo like Tyus Jones or Monte Morris, while rookie Ryan Dunn and trade deadline addition Cody Martin brought some defensive toughness to a roster that really needed it.

Lee is a holdover from the good vibes days of two years ago, when the team had made the finals prior to that and looked like they could still be contenders. He might have a tight relationship with Booker, but that is no longer reason enough to keep him. He's about to become an unrestricted free agent and the organization needs his roster spot to improve around the fringes in any way they can.

3. Kevin Durant

From the smallest name on this list to the biggest, and the time has now come for Durant to leave The Valley. He practically alluded to being the odd man out when taking to social media ahead of the team's last game of the season - a loss to the Sacramento Kings - a contest he did not play in because of an ankle sprain.

Durant was shopped at the deadline during the regular season, and at 36-years-old he likely has one final destination in him to try and win another championship. We know that Phoenix is not the place that this can happen, and there is still a chance for the Suns to get some sort of compensation back for him in any deal.

There does also exist the possibility of Durant re-upping with the franchise on a two-year deal - something that was floated about a number of weeks back - but it is unclear why the Suns would do this. Durant might have interest so that he can get paid and then move on anyway, but starting fresh as soon as possible remains the best course of action here.

What that means for Booker's future in Phoenix is unclear, but we now know owner Mat Ishbia's experiment has failed. Durant isn't even the main reason for this - everything from a lack of depth to trading for Beal can be pointed towards as more damaging reasons - but he has to go in order for the Suns to take a step back and recoup some capital moving forward.

2. Bol Bol

Bol Bol's two seasons with the Suns have been as puzzling as they have entertaining at times, which is probably a good way to describe his season as a whole. Bringing him back last offseason was a no-brainer - his fit with the roster looked good after getting some run under previous leading man Frank Vogel - and the hope was that he could kick on under coach Budenholzer.

That did eventually happen - sort of - although we may never know why Bol was given more of a chance when it was clear the season was circling the drain. He was eventually given a run of starts - and had some nice offensive moments throughout - before being benched without warning again by the coaching staff.

Luckily for Bol, he did enough this season to convince another team to take a chance on him. They'll likely be a rebuilding organization, but Bol won't care. He has shown he deserves his spot in a rotation - and while the Suns continue to be one of the best fits for him in the league - he can't have another season next time out just like the last two.

Bol continues to be viewed as the ultimate luxury player, when the reality is he can actually be an offensive weapon for stretches of a game. It is just a shame that his defensive inefficiencies were so badly exposed, playing next to slow centers like Jusuf Nurkic or undersized point guards such as Jones. Time for Bol to go for his own sake, but the Suns could yet regret this one.

1. Tyus Jones

What a disaster 2024-25 was for Jones. He took the veteran's minimum for a chance to both boost his own stock ahead of signing a bigger deal this summer, while also chasing a championship. Instead he lost his starting spot just over halfway through the season, and was frustrated with his role in The Valley by the time it was all said and done.

He definitely won't be back, but there are now two reasons for that. Initially it was believed that Jones would play so well that he'd price himself out of sticking around, because the Suns are in the second apron and could only offer him the minimum. He could yet get the midlevel to go elsewhere, but the player himself rightly has no interest in running it back in 2025-26.

Jones did everything he was supposed to in Phoenix, taking care of the basketball and limiting turnovers. But being part of one of the bottom five defenses in the league meant his height and lack of chops on that end were badly exposed - and although that was to be expected - offensively the group never lit it up with him on the court to make the sacrifice worth it.

About to turn 29-years-old, it is unclear if there is one, last big contract out there for Jones to ink. All of this because he bet on himself and joined a franchise he believed had title aspirations. That not only blew up badly in his face, it likely cost him some money as well. Jones will clearly never wear a Suns' uniform again.