Phoenix Suns wrongly painted as having had disastrous offseason

The Phoenix Suns were finally forced to wave the white flag on their "Big 3" experiment this offseason, as they finally cut ties with both Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal. Alongside Devin Booker - in the trio's two full seasons together - they never won a single playoff game. Getting to the second round prior to that was done with just Durant and Booker, plus Deandre Ayton and Chris Paul.

Change had to come, and the way to achieve this was always going to be ugly as well. The franchise stuck in the second apron until they bought out Beal, which was necessary but will hurt them in years to come. Rather than suck it up and pay him $110 million for the next two seasons before being rid of him, he'll be on their cap sheet for the next half decade, albeit at a fraction of the cost each year.

Suns did not have one of five worst offseasons in the league.

Over on the Fansided network - which we are a part of - Christopher Kline broke down what he believed to be the five worst offseasons in the league in terms of business done and direction of the franchises in question. The Suns came in at number four, with much of the negativity surrounding their summer because of the fact Jalen Green was the best player they got back for Durant.

Was that ideal? No, but he's still only 23-years-old and clearly has a ton of offensive upside. Last season while he was with the Houston Rockets, Green's team also conceded over six points more per game when he was on the court per Cleaning The Glass, which is a number that is going to have to change. The hope is that a better defensive system under head coach Jordan Ott can fix that.

But that right there is exactly why the Suns shouldn't rank so poorly on any offseason board. Despite now being one of the five worst teams in the Western Conference and with next to no draft picks at their disposal, they still managed to convince 28-year-old Booker to stick around. There is a world in which Green pops, and we know Dillon Brooks will make a difference defensively.

Then there is 10th overall pick Khaman Maluach - a center as raw as they come - but somebody with huge upside. Fellow picks Koby Brea and Rasheer Fleming have also excited fans, with Brea in particular having some nice moments in Summer League. If Mark Williams can stay healthy, he will have resolved the center issues by himself.

The point is - despite seemingly having no outs left - the front office managed to build out some youth and depth around Booker. Two key ingredients desperately missing from the previous version of this roster. The road ahead is not going to be pretty - and this will only help a small bit - but The Valley has its team back, and they also have a couple of players they can trade too.