The Phoenix Suns have made a late season push to make the play-in tournament, but don't let that distract you from the disaster this campaign has been. Beating the Cleveland Cavaliers is great and everything - but when it means you've put yourself into the 10th spot in the Western Conference - it puts the accomplishment in perspective.
This season is likely to end in disappointment, and that could only be ramped up if the Suns do actually make the playoffs. A date with the Oklahoma City Thunder the most likely outcome at that point, and it is hard to see how the Suns could both score consistently while also defending their basket against perhaps the deepest team in the league today.
The Suns may have spoken too soon on Kevin Durant's future.
Durant was awesome against the Cavaliers - pouring in 42 points - and was everything the franchise needed him to be and more in that moment. Kind of like the 36-year-old has been since getting to The Valley, only it feels like fans and the front office alike pick and choose when to back Durant and his incredible powers.
Yes he's not single-handedly winning games for his side like he used to, but that doesn't mean he's not doing it at all. You also don't pay Durant to come in and be the talismanic veteran everybody flocks towards as he leads them to the promised land. His style has always been more about letting his game do the talking, being honest with the media and getting into arguments on X with fans.
The Suns effectively gave up on the Durant and Devin Booker era at the trade deadline, as they made him available to the Golden State Warriors so that they could go and get Jimmy Butler. Durant himself turned that idea down, but it appeared to suggest his time in Phoenix was coming to an end. Both franchise and player appearing to need a change of scenery.
But the front office might want to re-think that one. There's no doubt Durant and Booker respect one another, while Bradley Beal's no-trade clause means getting a guy of Durant's calibre in the door this summer isn't likely either. With owner Mat Ishbia saying Booker was going nowhere and Beal having the power to decide his own future, moving on from Durant for the sake of it could backfire massively.
Yes the organization needs change - it is why head coach Mike Budenholzer might not survive beyond his first year in Phoenix - but just because Durant is the only way to make that happen, does not mean it is the right move. At his best he can lead good teams - which this version of the Suns' roster is - to wins that they probably have no right to steal.
The supposed asking price of three first-rounders and a young player with upside sounds great too, only it is unclear who would want to pay that for a soon to be 37-year-old entering the final year of his current deal and why. The Suns might want to have a conversation about perhaps sticking around because at this moment, Durant is the best and most consistent thing about this team.