Player Suns desperately tried to trade for this offseason is now thriving

The Phoenix Suns couldn't have done much more this offseason to pivot away from the Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal era. The haul gotten back for the 37-year-old future Hall of Famer from the Houston Rockets felt a little underwhelming at the time, although we are still yet to see Jalen Green suit up. Dillon Brooks has been as advertized, while rookie Khaman Maluach just needs a chance.

You need only look at the L.A. Clippers and how Beal has impacted that team in the early goings of the season (not very much), to know that his time in The Valley had rightly come to an end. There is one other individual who Phoenix pursuited for months, before coming up short in trying to make a trade for him. They are now balling out with their current team.

Suns missed the boat on adding Jonathan Kuminga.

It cannot be overstated just how much pulling off an improbable trade for 23-year-old Jonathan Kuminga of the Golden State Warriors would have helped speed up this Suns' rebuild. The reason they couldn't get a deal over the line, was because the Warriors had no interest in a combination of Grayson Allen/Royce O'Neale, Nick Richards and four second round draft picks.

If anything Allen has shown so far this season that his trade value is higher than previously imagined, but that still wouldn't have been enough to get a deal done. If the Suns were in any way reluctant to part with Oso Ighodaro... well they shouldn't have been. Kuminga did eventually sign a two-year, $48.5 million deal in Golden State, the kind of move Suns' owner Mat Ishbia easily would have surpassed.

Phoenix surely wishes it had the opportunity to do just that, as on the basis of his play so far this season, Kuminga would have made a difference on both ends of the court. Already his passing and playmaking has been at a level we generally haven't seen from him in the past, and we all know Devin Booker needs all the help he can get in that area.

Defensively is where he would have unlocked different and better lineups for the Suns - as although they still have have been small with him on the court - the combination of Kuminga and Brooks would have been a problem for opponents. Throw in Ryan Dunn in certain matchups and that would have gone up another level, while Kuminga and Brooks still would have provided something offensively.

There's a reason they couldn't get a deal over the line, but the Suns' front office is surely kicking themselves right now. Jonathan Kuminga would have been the perfect forward who is growing better as a two-way force by the day, and he was disgruntled enough that the Warriors were willing to listen to offers. That the Suns didn't have the players/picks to get it done is a painful reminder of their past.