A pair of seismic moves went down ahead of the NBA Draft on Monday, with both Giannis Antetokounmpo and Julius Randle being sent to new homes.
The only involvement the Phoenix Suns had in either of those deals going down was some brief links to Randle, but thankfully those evaporated long before the Brooklyn Nets decided to take him at a low, low price.
Path to playoffs no harder with Giannis and Randle playing in the East
Whatever your thoughts on Randle, and he did not have a good postseason, alongside Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid the Minnesota Timberwolves were clearly closer to contention than the Suns. In truth they still are with Randle out of the picture.
But Phoenix now has a degree of continuity and the high of having made the playoffs at all when the action resumes in 2026-27. For the Timberwolves, it would not be a shock to see more changes to their roster.
So getting Randle out the Western Conference in the context of him being on a contender gives the Suns the chance to close the gap on the Timberwolves.
It gets even better with Antetokounmpo, as he will not be heading to a different conference and will remain in the East with the Miami Heat. The Suns avoiding what would have been a massive headache if he had teamed up with another star out their way.
Continuity, culture and returning a roster from the previous season will only get you so far, but at least everybody on the Suns knows what their roles are. The franchise is also in position to make trades around Devin Booker this summer should they choose to, and not have to worry about Giannis.
This might feel like a small and hollow victory given the massive names that are on the move, but remember the Suns have been in that spot in the past and it ended badly.
Names like Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal were supposed to strike fear into opponents and lead to a championship push, but instead they won a grand total of zero playoff games as a trio. Better to let those big fish swap teams in a different conference, and instead plan for how to stop Victor Wembanyama and company instead.
Besides, the Suns are big winners this offseason because of the business they got done early anyway. Not having to worry about Giannis (and Randle) every day is just the cherry on top.
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