Even though the NBA's regular season is not yet completed, it seems relatively safe to assume the Phoenix Suns will not be playing basketball into June this year. Even with a trio of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, this has been a season that will be remembered for all of the wrong reasons.
Beal could never stay healthy for long enough periods of time, while Durant and Booker's heroics could only take the organization so far. Really though Booker doesn't deserve any blame for how this season has turned out - and no matter what happens with this version of the team - he is going to be around for the long haul.
It is never too early then to look ahead to this coming summer, and take a way too early look at some free agents the front office should be targeting.
General Manager James Jones did a great job of rounding out the roster last season around three max contract players, and he will have to do the same again this offseason. The veteran's minimum is the Suns' friend in order to achieve this, with Bol Bol one of the low-risk, high-reward players that the franchise were able to get the most of this season.
Repeating the trick will be difficult - and some of these targets are going to be tougher to achieve than others - but the Suns are going to need to aim high if they want to win a championship. With Booker, Durant and Beal on the books for over $150 million next season alone however, this will be an uphill battle.
4. Justin Holiday
Starting off with a realistic option here - and the point guard position is one which will be looked at a lot for obvious reasons - and the Suns may have to go for a player like Justin Holiday to round out their roster.
Holiday has played nearly 700 NBA games, and many forget he won a championship in 2015 with the Golden State Warriors when they broke through. Yes he rode the end of the bench then - and with the Denver Nuggets this season he has only averaged 14.6 minutes in 51 games played - but he continues to get chances in the league.
About to turn 35-years-old Holiday - brother of both Jrue and Aaron - would surely be a better backup option than Isaiah Thomas? Adding him would also mean not giving up on the Booker and Beal as the main ball-handler experiment, since Holiday is mostly used as a two-guard. Given the cap sheet situation of the franchise, this is one to keep an eye on, whether it inspires you or not.