Even the most optimistic of Phoenix Suns' fans would have to admit that this season has been poor up to this point. Injuries have once again played their part - but the bitter reality is that - even when fully fit this roster does not look capable of competing with the top teams in the Western Conference.
The organization have started to take steps to try and fix this in the last week, and they go beyond simply trying to trade for Jimmy Butler to change their trajectory. Even if both player and team want one another - and owner Mat Ishbia's apparent willingness to pay Butler surely helps - actually getting a deal done will be incredibly difficult as they are in the second apron.
There's more reason for hope that Suns fans continue to ignore.
Finally bringing Bradley Beal off the bench was a move that was a long time coming, and it has already looked like the right one. In three games he's scored 25 points in two of them, as the Suns have gone 2-1 in that time. Their single loss a dreadful one to the Charlotte Hornets, which proves that Beal being moved to the second unit alone is not going to fix everything.
Benching center Jusuf Nurkic altogether though - as the franchise finally did in the win over the Atlanta Hawks - was an even better step in the right direction. It is clear that the tandem of Mason Plumlee and rookie Oso Ighodaro are going to bring more to this group at the five, and not having Nurkic out there meant their weakest link was taken out of the firing line.
When you put all of this together - plus the 17-19 record of the Suns right now - do you know what you get? A team that are only four full games back on home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Yes you read that correctly, so why on earth would you want to blow this up when there's still so much left to play for?
No we're not saying that this group is close to winning a championship - in truth they've looked even further away than last season - but the trade deadline hasn't even passed yet. Suppose the Suns could get another center - Nick Richards is a name you hear brought up often - and maybe even another actual rotation player. Then this group becomes a different proposition to beat.
Right now the Denver Nuggets hold the fourth seed at 21-15 - and while Nikola Jokic is as extraordinary as ever - it's not like that team have been brilliant this season. The Suns just beat them on Christmas Day - and although the Nuggets beat them prior to that - it shows they can at least mix it with the middle of the West.
Believing this is all over and that the organization should look to cash in on Durant seems crazy, especially when the 36-year-old is likely one of the reasons Butler would consider Phoenix. That plus a load of money yes, but The Valley had rarely before the arrival of Durant and Devin Booker before him been considered a destination for free agents.
Suns possession looks dead, but Oso Ighodaro quickly pivots into calling for the flare screen for Grayson Allen to get open. Good instincts pic.twitter.com/hSrrPx3tUv
— Shane Young (@YoungNBA) January 10, 2025
Four out of the next five Suns' games come against the Washington Wizards (twice), Brooklyn Nets and Detroit Pistons. It's fair to point out that young and hungry opponents like the Pistons have given the Suns fits so far this year, but there's a world in which they win all of those games to go to 21-19. Especially with the lineup changes that have been made.
Small as the sample size is, across the last three contests the Suns also have the fourth highest made field goal percentage (50 percent) of any team in the league. Perhaps a sign of things to come with Beal looking more comfortable assuming a more dominant role he's familiar with off the bench, and Nurkic not touching the ball at all.
So it is not completely over in Phoenix, not yet. We'd be lying if we said a championship was waiting at the end of this season, and that is the reason this roster was put together. But until the deadline has passed we don't know how this roster is going to look, and right now they've made the necessary changes to hang on in there. Four games back? Don't give up on this group just yet.