3 times Frank Vogel tried to tell Suns' fans something was wrong this season

With the Phoenix Suns the first team eliminated from playoff contention, much has already been said about the state of the franchise heading into a massive offseason. We've had unfounded Devin Booker rumors, while owner Mat Ishbia held a bizarrely upbeat press conference about the state of the organization.

As is so often the case when a team with high expectations doesn't work out, head coach Frank Vogel now finds his position under scrutiny. This despite doing all that he could with the top-heavy deck he was given. With Booker the franchise player, Kevin Durant in The Valley less than two full seasons and Bradley Beal having a no-trade clause, Vogel is the easiest option to change.

But if you read between the lines of some of coach Vogel's comments and lineup decisions throughout the season, you'll see he was telling us something was wrong.

Coach Vogel is an even-keeled guy in front of the media, and also no stranger to being put into tough spots and forced to make a situation work. He did just that back in 2020, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a championship and helping LeBron James get his fourth ring.

Only when the front office in Los Angeles let some key contributors go and they instead trade for Russell Westbrook did Vogel run into trouble, just like any other coach would have. The team failed to deliver and he became the fall guy and was eventually fired. Sound familiar? Here are three times coach Vogel tried to show us through his words and actions that all was not right this season.

3. Durant at the five

Playing Durant at the center position made sense, because it allowed the Suns to go smaller against certain opponents. As a result of injury and trading for Royce O'Neale at the deadline we never got to see this in full flow, but the idea of Booker, Beal, O'Neale, Grayson Allen and Durant on the court together sounds like a good one offensively in theory.

Only Durant ended up spending some minutes there during the regular season, meaning he banged bodies with bigger guys when keeping him healthy and away from the paint should have been the priority. Make no mistake - Durant should get All-Defense consideration and he was brilliant in that role - but Vogel was trying to tell us about the bigger problems on this roster.

Namely that there was no size outside of Jusuf Nurkic, and no skilled size at all. Drew Eubanks was the backup big - and although Anthony Edwards appeared to have a soft spot for him - the lack of center depth was badly exposed by the Timberwolves in the playoffs.

When all you've got is Nurkic, Eubanks and Durant to go against Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns inside, you know you're in trouble. Vogel playing Durant at the five during the regular season was his way of telling us he needed more help to fill out the big man rotation, and he knew he wasn't going to get it. That is part of the reason they got swept by the Timberwolves.

2. Benching Nurkic in fourth quarters

This looks like it is going to be linked to the previous point, but Vogel was actually going in a different direction entirely with this one. Nurkic exceeded expectations during the regular season both by staying healthy and giving this club 11/11 each night. Yet despite this - and the aforementioned lack of center depth - he was still bench for entire fourth quarters on more than on occasion.

Nurkic was without doubt the best big this team had, and jumbo lineups featuring himself, Durant and Bol Bol had joy against beefier opponents like the Lakers as well. But rather than go small and bench Nurkic on occasion - which you could understand - the only logic behind sitting Nurkic when Vogel did was simply because he didn't think he was good enough in the moment to help.

To Nurkic's credit he never complained and going back as far as media day had hinted that this could happen and that he would be ok with it. But if you want to win a championship, your fourth best player has to be somebody you can trust in the fourth quarter in November. As it was Nurkic wasn't even that, as Allen quickly became the next best player after their "Big 3".

Sitting Nurkic when he did was Vogel's way of telling the fans and the front office that the drop off from the three star players to the rest of the roster was massive. So big in fact, that the extreme lack of depth was going to get exposed in the postseason. Which it did, as the Timberwolves picked on the limited Nurkic and he had a bad series.

1. David Roddy playing point guard

Without doubt the greatest cry for help from Vogel all season, was when he said the following...

This was after the Suns had signed Isaiah Thomas to a 10-day contract - which was eventually guaranteed through the end of the season - which in itself was bad. Thomas making it back to the NBA was a nice story, but the Suns were supposed to be in a much better place than trying to see if they could get anything out of the former All-Star.

Really though suggesting either Josh Okogie or David Roddy could play backup point guard minutes was outrageous. Neither are natural ball-handlers by nature. Roddy averaged 3.7 minutes in 17 regular season games, and somehow played half that in only two playoff contests. His nickname is apparently "Big Body Roddy"... and you want him running the point?

This was Vogel's way of saying to the front office "you made a mistake not getting a true point guard to run this team", and he was absolutely proven correct. Booker and Beal did the best they could together, but both are more natural scorers. Fitting the floor general in would have been hard, but they were needed badly to organize the offense, which froze when it was needed most.