Suns' player's career all but over in Phoenix after coach Budenholzer's comments

There hasn't been much for Phoenix Suns fans to get excited about this season, but the use of some of their role players has provided some small respite from all of the losing and negativity. Whatever ends up happening to the likes of Kevin Durant once this season finally does end, the franchise know they have some guys for the future in rookies Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro.

Of those two, it is Dunn who looks like he could be a mainstay in Phoenix as they head towards a likely re-tooling around Devin Booker. Then there are the other guys who have shown up in The Valley in pursuit of a championship, such as Tyus Jones and even Monte Morris. It is Bol Bol however - in his second season with the team - who has actually stepped up when asked this season.

That glimmer of hope he could stick longer with the Suns looks done.

With all of the inconsistencies on these roster this season, Bol managed to start 10 games for head coach Mike Budenholzer throughout February and March. During that period - and with the team looking for any spark at all to save their season - he played just over 20 minutes per night and was the offensive anomaly that it was hoped he could be when they brought him back last summer.

Yes the defensive numbers were horrible when Bol was out there, but guess what? They've been terrible all season no matter who the Suns have turned to, and at this point are allowing 117.6 points per game. Numbers that make the departed Jusuf Nurkic look like he was actually a solution for this roster.

Bol has since fallen out of the rotation again - despite Kevin Durant being injured and Bradley Beal only just back himself and looking rusty - and coach Budenholzer has finally addressed why that is. Speaking to the always excellent Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic, Budenholzer had the following to say on Bol;

"I think Cody (Martin) has gotten healthy, we’ve played Cody. Ryan (Dunn) has been playing more. Just always trying to give different guys opportunities, different mix, different combinations. So Bol's kind of fallen out... I think he actually did pretty well with his opportunity".

It is that last sentence that is the most revealing, because it both indicates that Bol won't be getting another chance this season no matter what, and that there's not much point in bringing him back again next season either. Coach Budenholzer literally said it himself, he did well when given the opportunity.

It just wasn't close to enough to secure a regular starting spot on the team, despite stretching the court and playing with about as much confidence as we've ever seen Bol play. The 112.3 points the team manage when he's on the court might lag behind their total for the season (115.2), but it is a career high for Bol personally.

Looking at this another way - and one that is hard to believe - and the Suns are actually conceding less point when he is on the court as well (115.9, compared to the aforementioned 117.6). Those numbers feel misleading - opponents regularly pick on Bol and switch onto him when he's on the court - but it is at least worth pointing out.

He remains a solid 3-point shooter (34.4 percent on a career high 2.7 attempts per game this season), and really his skill set next to Booker and Durant makes sense. When paired with a more imposing center and Cody Martin for example, the case for Bol is even stronger. Not according to the coaching staff though, which is why this will be his last season in Phoenix.

The silver-lining for the 25-year-old here is that he has done more than enough to earn another shot elsewhere in the league. Bol was always viewed as a luxury player who a contending team like the Suns could throw at opponents to confuse them for short spells. Instead they needed him to be more, and he actually was there for part of the season. It still wasn't enough to earn more run.