The Phoenix Suns are in a tough spot right now, and are doing all they can around superstar Devin Booker to halt their current five-game slide. They've dropped their first two at home as part of a six game stay at Footprint Center, but they are in the midst of five days off to regroup before going again.
The absence of Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal is a large reason for this slide down the Western Conference - that blistering 8-1 start seems a long time ago now - but the hope was that the extended time off was going to give them a chance to work their way back into the starting lineup when the games resume.
Head coach Mike Budenholzer has now given everybody an update.
Budenholzer was speaking after shootaround and the question of Durant and Beal's condition was one of the obvious talking points. The always excellent - and well worth a follow at @DuaneRankin on X if you're not doing so already - Duane Rankin was present, and Budenholzer revealed that both players were full on-court participants for the Suns at practice.
This is exactly the news the fans would have wanted to hear, with Budenholzer going on to say that they were fully involved in 3-on-3 play, but had no quite graduated to 5-on-5 level yet. Given that the next game against the Los Angeles Lakers in the Emirates NBA Cup is still days away, this is as positive an update as The Valley could hope to receive.
Bradley Beal working his way back doing full-court sprints with assistant coaches.
— DANA (@iam_DanaScott) November 22, 2024
Beal’s missed the past six Suns games from a left calf strain. pic.twitter.com/SFtqi1Hlhw
Both players are obviously incredible offensive assets - but as we broke down in the aftermath of that ugly New York Knicks loss - they are being missed on the defensive end just as much. In the last seven games that the pair of missed, in which the Suns have gone a dreadful 1-6, only the Washington Wizards have a worse defensive rating than the Suns.
With the greatest of respect to the Wizards - any time you're mentioned in the same breath as them on a list - it is usually not a good sign. Offensively it hasn't been great either, and the team really missed a chance here to prove that their hot start wasn't partly due to luck and Durant being one of the most clutch players in the league.
As this writer had already mentioned prior to Durant going down, the math suggested that it wasn't sustainable to expect him to continue digging out close games against good opponents, as he had been doing. Yet without Durant not one other player stepped up to try and fill the massive void created, with the likes of Jusuf Nurkic and Ryan Dunn actually going backwards.
To get one of these guys back as soon as the Lakers game would be massive. They are reeling from the Orlando Magic going into their building and handing them their first loss of the season. But to get both would be just the tonic needed to roll into December and get this season back on track. This latest update is a hugely positive one.