The Phoenix Suns are still waiting to celebrate a first ever NBA championship, although they have gotten close already this decade. That run to the finals in 2021 - and going 2-0 up over the Milwaukee Bucks in that series - a constant reminder that as long as this franchise has Devin Booker, they're in the mix.
The addition of Bradley Beal last summer was meant to get the Suns back to the promised land, although one year on you could make the case the organization have actually taken a step back. Still, it is nice to dream about what a title celebration in The Valley one day soon could look like.
If and when the Suns do reach that point, what former players would be allowed back to celebrate with them immediately afterwards?
We ask this strange question because - in the wake of the Boston Celtics winning their 18th championship - none other than former Celtics player Grant Williams popped up in the locker room with the team. Why exactly that happened is unclear, although Williams did have Charlotte Hornets teammates Brandon Miller and Mark Williams with him.
It was a strange sight, not least because the Celtics willingly moved on from Williams on their way to winning the title. Even the Dallas Mavericks - beaten 4-1 in the finals - got better once they traded Williams to the Hornets for P.J. Washington at the deadline. This looks like a weak move, but if the Suns were in the same position, who would they let through the door to celebrate?
5. Dario Saric
A strange place to start, but the absence of Dario Saric in the 2021 NBA Finals is actually an important part of the Suns' story since drafting Booker. He missed the series with an ACL injury, having played 50 games on the run to that meeting with the Bucks.
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Would a healthy Saric have swung the series? Absolutely not, although he would have certainly seen the court in the finals and was an underrated part of their bench. Saric was a nice offensive-minded forward/center for the group, and shooting 34.8 percent from deep kept defenders honest.
There's probably some truth to the reasoning that Saric benefitted from playing with an all-time great point guard in Chris Paul, but the same is true of lots of players. Even more limited big men such as Bismack Biyombo. It seems only right that when the bottles get popped in the aftermath of winning it all, the Saric is hanging around in the back.