The Phoenix Suns are not trading Devin Booker. He wants to spend his entire career with one franchise, and Suns owner Mat Ishbia is set on winning. They stunning missed the playoffs with the league’s highest payroll this season. There was plenty of blame to go around, but where do the Suns do from here?
The Kevin Durant rumors are just getting started. Phoenix cannot stay over the second apron with a non-competitive roster. They have limited assets and the anchor of Bradley Beal’s contract weighing down their books. If the plan is to keep Booker, Durant becomes the only tradeable asset capable of getting back the necessary return to allow the Suns to retool. Phoenix cannot afford to make other players off limits and further limit their return.
Booker is a four-time All-Star in his prime. He is under contract through 2028 and happy in Phoenix. Trading him seems foolish, but how do the Suns build a winner around him from where their roster is? Their only untouchable shouldn’t be.
Suns have no path to building a contender around Devin Booker
The Suns have $193.1 million committed to seven players next season. It puts them just $2.8 million under the first tax apron with less than half their roster filled. The Suns are not getting off Beal’s contract, which runs through 2027. Trading Kevin Durant for a couple of role players and picks would be wise, but can that roster compete?
The Suns missed the playoffs in Booker’s first five NBA seasons. It was not until Chris Paul arrived in 2020 that Phoenix became a contender. Now imagine, having no assets to acquire that star and a massive contract on the books that limits your flexibility. That is the current Suns.
To make matters worse, Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro are the only players on their roster under 25 years old. The Suns have to give their 2025 lottery pick to the Rockets and the only selections they own are the lesser of swaps through 2031. Phoenix has no way to add young pieces and lacks the salary space to upgrade in free agency or via trade.
That all goes without mentioning the team’s current search to revamp their front office and coaching staff. It is a laundry list of problems in Phoenix that Booker cannot fix. He is one of the top 20 players in the world, but the 28-year-old cannot do it alone. The supporting cast is years away from being good enough, which is a massive problem when you have a prime star.
Things are not getting better for the Suns with a Kevin Durant trade. Phoenix is giving up one of the all-time great scorers, but KD turns 37 in September. The Suns may think they are getting five first-round draft picks and role players, but that deal won’t exist. Durant will fetch a haul just not one that compares to what the Suns gave up to land him.
The future is bleak for the Phoenix Suns. They want to keep Devin Booker, but having one building block means they have none. With no young talent and limited assets, the franchise is stuck. It will result in a decade of pain unless the Suns trade Booker to get their draft picks back. That does not sound like what Ishbia wants to do, so prepare for more bleak years in the Valley.