The Phoenix Suns are stuck in the 11th spot in the Western Conference right now, and to make matters worse they have the hardest remaining schedule to play in the entire league. This is a campaign that never truly got going in The Valley, and questions are going to be asked of head coach Mike Budenholzer this summer.
Injuries didn't help the cause earlier in the season - both Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal having calf strains at the same time - but there are a ton more issues than that for Phoenix to solve right now. Durant suddenly looks like their most viable trade option - there's a reason there was smoke ahead of the trade deadline - and that may just be revisited in the offseason.
It hurts to think where their potential lottery pick could go this summer.
For all of the talk of the Suns' having no real draft capital for the rest of the decade - because they don't - a lot less gets made about where those picks are going and why. The organization did have a valuable 2031 first round pick to dangle in trades, but they sent that to the Utah Jazz and effectively broke it down into three less desireable firsts in order to move center Jusuf Nurkic.
One of those picks was packaged with the Bosnian and sent to the Charlotte Hornets, with the remaining two having protections of some kind attached to them from no less than three teams (the Jazz, Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves). As for their own 2025 pick that was sent away long ago? Look away Suns fans, because that is likely going to the Houston Rockets.
That isn’t true. The Suns traded 5 second-round picks for Beal, and they didn’t trade any picks in the Ayton trade.
— colt (@TheOGcolt) February 5, 2025
5 second rounders, a 38 year old CP3 and Ayton who they HAD to get rid of… There was no market for Ayton, Portland was the only bidder.
There's a somewhat convoluted trail that has led to this being the case - that you can check out here - but it ends with the Rockets being the ones who can ultimately take the pick if they want to. Making this even more unbearable is the fact that - and there's no way the Rockets or anybody else could have seen this coming - at the rate the Suns are going that could be in the lottery.
The Rockets are already stocked with young talent, and the prospect of just handing another player with upside to them while struggling through more Booker, Beal, maybe Durant and whatever else they can cobble together while currently operating in the second apron next season doesn't even bear thinking about.
There is one potential way out of this mess, but it is also a tough bridge to cross. The Rockets were rumored to be interested in trading for Durant last year, and they made a move with the Brooklyn Nets that effectively netted them some of the draft capital the Suns gave up in order to acquire Durant in the first place. It is the reason they could be about to profit in 2025 with a possible lottery pick.
Rockets watching the Suns crumble while holding their draft picks: pic.twitter.com/7T1AWxfJzD
— The Stroud Of Turin (@kp8912) February 6, 2025
The most appealing way out of this mess for the Suns at this moment - and it would involve them swallowing their pride - would be to send Durant to Houston in order to get back some control over their own future. Hardly what owner Mat Ishbia envisioned when he made his seismic deal, but here we are.
If that doesn't happen and the franchise holds true with what they've got, it is going to be a sickening sight seeing that pick convey to the Rockets. Even more so if they don't make the play-in tournament - which at this moment in time and with so many tough games ahead - does not appear likely. It is going from bad to worse in Phoenix.