The Phoenix Suns surprised a lot of people by sneaking into the end of the first round of the NBA Draft and selecting Koa Peat, but it makes sense when you look at their roster construction.
This is a franchise that is determined to get younger (and cheaper), with Peat the latest high upside player who it is hoped can help get the Suns back to contention by the end of this decade.
Golden State Warriors stumbled badly with two timeline approach
But running alongside the desire for Phoenix to get younger is the fact they are still trying to win around Devin Booker. The 29-year-old having recently said himself that if he is lucky, then he is at only the halfway point in his career.
Time is not something that is on his side to try and win a ring in The Valley, particularly with the likes of the Utah Jazz looking like they will be overtaking them in the race for the playoffs next season. The last team to truly attempt to win now while also building for the future were the Golden State Warriors, and it did not go well.
Their desire to have Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody to step into bigger roles as Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and company regressed not playing out that way. Moody is a fine role player there to this day, and at 24-years-old is somehow the same age as Jalen Green.
We all know what happened with Kuminga, and these days he is with the Atlanta Hawks. It was only when the front office in San Francisco decided to once again lean on the veterans that they ended up winning a championship in 2022, sacrificing the development of their younger players to make that happen.
Which is all the proof needed that winning in the postseason and developing Peat, Khaman Maluach (19), Rasheer Fleming (21) and Oso Ighodaro (23) is not going to happen.
Not that the Suns should want to get rid of Booker either, and perhaps the plan here is to trade Green and package together these youngsters in a seperate deal to create another contender. Only we know from what owner Mat Ishbia has said that this isn't going to happen, and a long-term approach is being taken.
You can understand the logic after being burned so badly by the Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal trades, but really the Suns are afraid to make the biggest decision of all and move on from Booker to really reset the franchise. Until that happens, this two timeline approach will only lead to eventual heartbreak.
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