The NBA Finals matchup has been set, and the Phoenix Suns should feel pretty awful about it. Yes the Oklahoma City Thunder not making it is funny, but the reality of the series should be no laughing matter to them.
Suns would have zero players outside of Devin Booker start series
That's because if you look at the starting fives of both the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks, Devin Booker is the only player currently in The Valley who we could say with certainty would start for either of those two teams.
He'd slide into the Mikal Bridges role pretty well (or maybe Josh Hart even if he is not as tenacious a defender), while for the Spurs you'd take him over Devin Vassell. After that it gets bleak real quick, and that presents a long-term problem for the Suns.
They don't have any major draft picks to help them get better, while Booker is the only player they do have with franchise-changing value if they were to trade him. Which they will not. Outside of that there is not one player on the roster right now who you would say could even start for the two finalists if this series took place in 12 months.
Dillon Brooks is the closest shout, and you could make the case he might also take Vassell's spot. But the Canadian international is going to want a hefty extension as soon as possible, and the Suns might not be the best team to give that to him because of their current situation.
You can see from the Knicks that it takes picking your moment and targeting an undervalued star waiting to break out (Jalen Brunson), then following it up with big and timely trades to get to this point. The Spurs are way ahead of schedule, and that is because of their own first overall pick in Victor Wembanyama.
For those who point out that only one team can win each season and that success is built through stages, that is all fair. Which is why eventually trading Booker might actually be the play here.
But it remains massively concerning that the Suns have no clear path to even trying to be better in the coming seasons, outside of one of their own youngsters taking several leaps that to this point have not looked likely.
Enjoy the NBA Finals, because it is going to be a long time before the Suns get back there.
Add us as a preferred source on Google