The Phoenix Suns continue to march toward a disappointing end to their 2024-25 season. One that promised them so much, but which is likely to end with the team failing to win 40 games. Playing below .500 basketball is bad enough when you're expected to compete for a championship, but it only gets more bleak when you look at the big picture.
Bradley Beal is going nowhere, even if one team made a play for him at the trade deadline. It is unclear if head coach Mike Budenholzer is either - as even though many fans would like him gone - he still hasn't completed the first year of a five-year contract he signed last summer. Frank Vogel was let go after the same amount of time, but paying these guys off like that twice in a row would be ridiculous.
Devin Booker's future should be the most worrying development of all.
The 28-year-old superstar has endured a subpar season by his standards in The Valley, and one in which he failed to make the All-Star game. With his own head coach seemingly telling him to keep it down - and with there being a strong chance coach Budenholzer is going nowhere - it is understandable to wonder about Booker's future in Phoenix.
Even if he left at the end of this season, you could still make a case he is the best player in franchise history. Steve Nash and his MVP awards might disagree with that, but it is at least a conversation. One that grows stronger if he stays in Phoenix, but even that may be out of his control now after the organization seemingly revealed their asking priced for Kevin Durant.
"The Timberwolves were a team that pursued [Kevin] Durant this week."@ShamsCharania on the other teams that made offers for KD before the trade deadline. pic.twitter.com/C6mUtaxDkP
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 7, 2025
The package itself - three first rounders and a young player of value ideally - certainly makes sense, and it would also allow the Suns to get back under the second apron. It would also allow them both to start to build out their roster with younger and cheaper guys with upside - much like they've already achieved in drafting Ryan Dunn last season - or else use the picks to dump Beal.
That is assuming he waives that no-trade clause, and to this point there has been zero indication that he is willing to do that. Which leaves the organization in a tough spot with their franchise cornerstone. Booker is now looking at one of two possibilities, and neither include competing for a championship in the near future.
The first is that Durant goes, Beal stays, and the Suns use the draft picks and fact they're under the second apron to add more depth to this roster. Which sounds great, but it is hard to see how a group headlined by Booker and Beal is any better than what they have currently, although the front office should be willing to try.
Kevin Durant going to leave in the offseason and I have to watch a Devin Booker and Bradley Beal backcourt duo next season pic.twitter.com/5rJzK9z7Is
— David⁶𓅓 (@HoodiDrizzy) March 5, 2025
Option two sees Durant again leave, followed by Beal and all the picks acquired in that Durant deal. That would likely net the Suns a player of value back, although just how valuable remains to be seen. It is time for change in The Valley, but it is hard to get straight up value for a guy like Durant when you're still trying to be competitive.
In that scenario the best case for Booker - if he does stick around - is that he continues to build his case as the best in franchise history, while hoping that the Suns are ready to contend again by the time he's in his early 30s. That's a lot of ifs and buts for somebody who has been to the NBA Finals before, and is itching to get back there again.
Which is where the fear factor lies here. Booker could take one look at what he is going to be left with for 2025-26, and decide the time is now to get out and go and win elsewhere. Fans couldn't blame him if he decided to do that, but it also wouldn't make that outcome any easier to swallow. The organization needs to be very careful here, or risk going back to where they were a decade ago.