5 biggest mistakes the Suns made in 2023-24

4. Overestimating the buyout market

Without doubt one of the biggest mistakes the Suns made was thinking they could get a true difference-maker through the buyout market once it rolled around. Both because this happens far less frequently than fans would like to admit, and because of what it said about the state of affairs in The Valley.

No roster featuring Booker, Durant and Beal should even be thinking about the buyout as a way to seriously get better ahead of the postseason. Fill out the end of the bench in case of emergency? Absolutely. But in adding Thaddeus Young, all of a sudden there was a belief that he could be the eighth man in their playoff rotation.

Instead the 35-year-old Young appeared in 10 regular season games, and once the playoffs began, he was seen once. One single sighting, in what was four minutes of garbage time as the Timberwolves took their souls. To be clear, the buyout market can and is a useful tool when trying to add a veteran to the mix.

But you need only look at Gordon Hayward not scoring a single point in a playoff series for the Oklahoma City Thunder as even further proof that relying on this avenue to get considerably better just does not work. Admittedly the Thunder traded for Hayward, but he is exactly the kind of buyout candidate the Suns need to not put too much stock in next season to try and help.