3 former Suns who have seriously struggled since leaving The Valley

2. Chris Paul

This one is definitely tinged with sadness, because Suns fans rightly love Chris Paul for all he did for The Valley. It is also a case of Paul being traded for Beal at a time when he was always going to start to decline anyway. So him leaving the Suns didn't make him worse, rather it was always going to happen and it came about when he was playing elsewhere.

Paul was actually pretty good for the Golden State Warriors last season, it was just a case of injuries - as they so often have for the "Point God" - hampering his campaign at exactly the wrong time. Showing a willingness to come off the bench was great, and it says a lot that he made it work with a former enemy in the Warriors.

But the Paul who pulled all the strings and was the final piece in turning that fun 8-0 bubble run squad making it all the way to the biggest stage is now gone. Had he come back on a minimum deal to come off the bench for the Suns, everybody would have been delighted and it would have worked out for both team and player.

Instead Paul is going to play with Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs, a cool experience no doubt but it will be another season without a championship. Paul is one of the best to ever do it, and the Suns got the 39-year-old at the tail end of his absolute best. Since departing it's only gotten worse.