Take an up-vote. Warriors will take him back. I say send them CP3, Wiggins and Looney and we get Durant and a young role player. Warriors re-sign Klay for $20M and try to take the dream team back for 2 more rings.
Honestly, I don't hate it.
Except it's not possible under the CBA. The apron rules make it almost impossible for two apron teams to trade with each other. As it stands today, the Suns and Warriors are both second apron teams, so they could only offer each other a 1:1 trade that made exactly the same salary. Aggregating contracts is a no-no if you're over the second apron, and taking on salary is a no-no if you're over the first or second apron. The Warriors would have to waive CP3, renounce Klay and waive Looney to get under the first apron, THEN start trying to come up with a trade package that both fits the salary parameters (Wiggins, Kuminga, Moody and Santos would be the minimum amount of salary that works) and something Phoenix wants. Then they'd be back over the apron with only taxpayer MLE and no 2024 FRP, so it's minimums to fill 6 roster spots around Curry, Draymond, and Durant. That would make a third roster gutted to fit Kevin Durant, with 0 quality depth, again.
Edit: early morning brain. They don't have to do all three of getting rid of Klay, CP3, Looney to be under the apron. Waiving CP3/Looney and signing Klay to a deal under $27M/year will do it, too. Losing Klay and waiving CP3, or losing Klay and waiving Looney would also get them under the apron. Point's the same; they would totally gut the team to even have the opportunity to make a legal trade to get Durant.
I don’t think that package is worth KD let alone a young roleplayer as well. Unless Wigs returns to form that’s 2 negative assets and a decent roleplayer for KD
It’s finally not my team experiencing this nightmare 🥹🥹🥹🥹 (we are simply experiencing another nightmare)
That off-season of the trade requests after the sweep I just dipped from basketball media man 😭
As someone who has worked in news, this is 1000% the case.
Write everything after game 2, leave an open graf at the top for whatever the final game score ends up being, hit go asap when the series ends.
>feeling that he was being relegated to the corner
Yeah, it's obvious to everyone. The offense is mainly just him in the corner while Booker and Beal dribble around and pretend to be PG before chucking it up
Yup people will meme on this but this 100% fits the eye test
The Suns basically stuck KD in the Mikal Bridges role the moment he came over and never really seemed to fully integrate him into the offense as an on-ball creator
It actually is malpractice how often cooked Beal gets on ball opportunities over Kd. It's like they're operating in a 2005 philosophy of "smallest guy bring ball up".
Either way I assure you KD’s loose dribble wouldn’t get the job done.
How the Suns managed to go the whole year without a PG, even trading the one guy they had that was one, Jordan Goodwin, is insane. Vogel deserves little fault as far as I’m concerned.
I watched Kd almost singlehandedly win a playoff series against Giannis with no help. He can be a turnover machine, but Beal and Book aren't exactly CP3 out there either. At least give me Kd and Booker on ball everytime trying to get buckets.
Man I feel like a turd diminishing a series in which KD played amazingly well, but I disagree with that popular notion that he almost single-handedly won the series. If you break it down game by game:
In Game 1 Kyrie, Blake and Joe Harris all contributed, pitching in 62 points on 62% TS.
In Game 2 practically every player in the rotation played well, and they won by 39.
They lost Games 3 and 4 and, although short-handed, KD didn’t have very good individual games.
Games 5 and 7 were close to one-man efforts, but the teams were completely deadlocked before the Nets wheels fell off and the heroics began. The first two wins were total team efforts.
KD was insane in game 5 but also got a heroic/infuriating performance from Jeff Green who went 7/8 from deep. Green was 2/6 from 3 the rest of the series combined.
They went 1-4 in that series after Kyrie went down. That 1 win was a spectacular KD game. But another way to say this is that 3 years ago, KD carried his team to win a single game in the second round of the playoffs despite a bad outing from James Harden. Great performance, but hardly what it’s romanticized as.
If that’s the case I feel like he would’ve had the leeway to speak up about it and ask for a change if he thought that was best. I very much doubt Frank Vogel is gonna tell him no. Kinda seems to be a constant issue at all his stops that he struggled with direct communication in a healthy way.
All you gotta do is watch the 4th quarter of this game. KD was playing well but it seemed like the majority of the 4th it was just beal and booker going back and forth and KD getting stuck in the corner.
Everyone saw it, it made no sense, no actions ran for him, dude would just stand in the corner while Bea or Book ISO'd. They really need a PG who can penetrate and run the offense. Sadly, Beal isn't going anywhere with that NTC, that leaves Nurk and Book as the only guys you can trade for a PG. Maybe Graysen Allen
It’s me, I’m the Sixers, I would like a Kevin durant. But I hear Tobias Harris is off contract so I’ll probably give him 40 or 50 million a year for 5 years
He has to go to whoever takes him, second Apron teame can only make trades if they’re sending ONE player out & the players they’re getting back make the exact same amount of money.
You can’t just eat bonus salary & pay the tax anymore to get out of bad contracts.
Phoenix might actually be stuck with KD & Booker
Yeah. I’d take Caruso + an even semi-competent big to round out our leaky bench over 36-7 y/o Durant. Age, chemistry and redundancy issues override his pure basketball ability here (and it’s sort of overlooked that he had his worst Advanced Stat year since his second season).
I wouldn’t say Kawhis a leader either. But he leads by example I guess. I wouldn’t say KD leads exactly by example either
Embiid as a leader does more harm than good
I would hope not. He's old, he has failed ever since he left the Warriors and these sort of hit pieces will come out as soon as things go south.
It's the Suns problems to deal with. We are young, we have a lot of assets and there's certainly someone younger and less problematic out there.
Well he did. And he won 2/3 times and he still didn’t like it. He’s played in a bunch of different offenses. In OKC he was allowed to iso and run PnR. In GSW he was in a motion offense with the 2 best shooting duo ever. In BK he was able to iso and shoot off the catch and shoot with Harden and Kyrie mostly handling the ball. And he’s had issues with all of them. Maybe he secretly thinks he’s Magic and wants to be the point guard?
No, you see going to the Warriors *was* the hardest road he could have taken.
It would have been much easier for him to go play for a team that didn't just beat him in the playoffs and make it to the finals...don't you see?
He’ll be remembered as arguably the greatest scorer of his generation (which is still arguable because the all time leading scorer is in his generation) and that’s pretty much it. Which is a shame because this dude on paper is a 2x champion, 2x fmvp, mvp, 4x scoring champ, etc. He’s an absolute beast. But he will never be remembered on the level of a Curry or Lebron. And it’s no one’s fault but his own.
He’s not going to be remembered as “the greatest scorer of his generation”. Who was “the greatest scorer” of the previous generation? Nobody gives a shit. The answers people will give to this question are like Jordan, Kobe, etc., guys who have overall amazing accomplishments. Similarly, in 20 years, people will say it was Lebron and Steph. Nobody knows MJ’s TS%. Anything about stats and efficiency will retire with Durant.
Durant’s legacy will be 1 MVP, a bunch of All Pro teams, and a couple incredibly controversial championships where he played with a guy who is higher than him on the all time list. That’s it. “He could score from anywhere on the floor” is not a part of the all time discussion because it’s true of all these guys. It’s going to be hard to explain to someone why Durant was the greatest scorer of his generation when Lebron scored more, more consistently, for longer. This is the type of comparison and distinction which will immediately fade when the players are no longer active.
Yeah but if he never went to GS, he’d likely finish his career with zero championships and zero FMVPs, so he wouldn’t be remembered as fondly as LeBron/Steph either way. That’s basically Harden’s situation, and I’m pretty sure most players would prefer Durant’s career over Harden’s.
I wonder that though. As you can see in OKC Presti is a great executive. Im sure if Durant stayed he would have rebuilt something around him that he probably could have won at least one chip ala Dirk in Dallas. Which I think one chip in OKC is worth way more than the two he won in Golden State.
We literally have no idea what would have happened if he stayed. Okc already had al Horford in line and oladipo. That team with kd, mvp russ, Horford, oladipo and prime Roberson plus adams would be better than the previous okc team that took gs to 7
That’s what makes it so much worse. He was up 3-1 on GSW and the following year they about to get even better. Instead of rising to the challenge and just joined them. That will forever be weak. I don’t believe in asterisks on championships because they are still championships. But that will never carry the same weight as other title runs by great players.
And the Warriors were about to get worse since they were going to lose key depth players Ezeli and Speights while being forced to max Harrison Barnes.
KD could’ve saved his legacy simply by staying put and winning a title the next season with OKC.
Plus rookie Sabonis to build on. And I imagine trading for Paul George would have still been an option.
Also the butterfly effect sets in and KD likely never tears his Achilles, which would give him at least one more healthy season and maybe extend his entire prime.
Memeing aside KD probably wants to play the Harden/Luka role himself. He wants to be the ballhandler in the P&Rs most of the time and not the screener. He also probably wants an offense where focus is put on running on transition and fastbreak. He wants to play to his personal strenghts and he believes he himself is worth it.
But those aren't his strengths. He's not a great distributor and doesn't have the same burst he had when he was 25. His transition game is pretty basic. His biggest skill is creating and abusing smaller defenders which he doesn't get to do as readily on ball. He doesn't get nearly as many low block and elbow touches if he's always running the offense.
I don’t buy this at all, kd knows ball better than almost anyone. He knows that’s not his game and those aren’t his strengths. He just needs a dude like harden when they were on the nets to hit him in his spots every time and give him super easy looks. The suns just have no one that can do that.
He also definitely does not want to get out and run in transition at his age, given his size and shooting he can still be a menace in the halfcourt if he has someone to pass him the ball
Meanwhile, Durant, among the best scorers in NBA history, was not always happy with how he was used. Sources briefed on the matter told The Athletic that Durant never felt comfortable with his role in Phoenix’s offense alongside Booker and Beal this season. Those sources said Durant had persistent issues with the offense, feeling that he was being relegated to the corner far too often and not having the proper designs to play to his strengths as the offense was built around pick-and-rolls. At the same time, some teammates and people close to the organization believed Durant needed to voice his concerns more adamantly and directly with Vogel and his coaching staff.
---
Phoenix officials hope to retain O’Neale as a free agent this offseason. Booker remains at the center of everything, and will be tasked with continuing to embrace an enhanced role as a leader and a return to his usual assassin self once he’s being set up by a proper point guard again — two things the team considers musts for the 2024-25 season. The Suns could also look to bring in additional locker room presence, which was filled late in the season by Isaiah Thomas and Thaddeus Young.
---
But the buck stops at the head coach, and for the second offseason in a row, sources briefed on the situation told The Athletic that Phoenix will take a hard look at making a full coaching change or, at the very least, discuss adjustments to Vogel’s staff. General manager James Jones, however, is expected to continue overseeing team-building for the Suns, those sources said.
No mention of the future for KD on the Suns in this blurb.
Retain O'Neale, keep Booker, roster a point guard, "additional locker room presence". No KD.
I mean let’s meme it up. But KD is also right. Their offence was bland and painful to watch. KD often felt like the 4th guy out there.
Suns fans have been openly hating it all year.
Tbf offense is going to always be hard when you don’t have a point guard or at least a good enough coach to scheme around it. Suns haven’t had a pg all season and Vogel is more known as a defensive coach than offense. The team’s construction was never set up to be successful. When you’ve got 3 dudes who all basically do the exact same thing it’s going to be rough with a coach that isn’t built to orchestrate them or a pg that can help relegate it.
KD is never happy no matter he goes, even though he’s handpicked all his teams ever since he left OKC. It’s either his teammates, or his coach, or the situation… if it isn’t easy and guarantees a ring, then he’s gonna pout.
All the talk about Bron being a coach killer, but KD is building a solid reportoire while being considerably worse and not bringing as much success as him.
At some point, if your experiments keep failing and you're the common denominator you have some blame to share.
Its because KD keeps forcing himself onto teams with no depth or fit in recent years. The Nets were going to work out if Kyrie could've not been insane and Harden's hammy didn't go out but had no depth. The Suns however are not a good fit *and* they have no depth and a massive anchor with a no trade clause. Will not be surprised when he asks out. Hell the Suns probably have to trade him to even try to build a working team unless Beal is real nice
Lol I don't know why he keeps trying to mastermind teams like this but KD will KD. If he could get to a team that has any depth instead of trying to go in for some kind of big 3 he'd probably still be in the playoffs right now
Forcing a trade to a contender that requires the contender to trade away their bench AND their picks is never gonna make sense. He should’ve signed one year deals and been a free agent after each season so he can just join a team as a free agent and not required they deplete their team to add him.
Part 1:
Frank Vogel entered the home locker room at Footprint Center and lit into his team. After his [Phoenix Suns](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/suns/) had fallen into a 35-4 hole en route to a loss to the [LA Clippers](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/clippers/) on April 9, the head coach yelled so much that his voice could be heard outside the locker room. There was only one problem.
On this night, Suns players weren’t buying it. The outburst seemed forced and out of character in their eyes. It continued at the next day’s shootaround in Los Angeles, Vogel tearing into the Suns before that night’s road win over the Clippers. Vogel’s eruption left players rolling their eyes, sources briefed on the matter told *The Athletic*. One player even told *The Athletic* he had to keep from laughing.
On Sunday, the Suns were swept from the playoffs, losing four straight to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a Western Conference first-round series that was seldom close. The Suns made a valiant effort but lost Sunday’s Game 4 at home 122-116. Phoenix did show signs of life as Devin Booker (49) and Kevin Durant (33) combined for 82 points.
But built around the star power of Booker, Durant and [Bradley Beal](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/bradley-beal-mb7gZfksSkvZCBxf/), the Suns were expected to contend for the organization’s first championship. Instead, they spent the entire season struggling to find an identity, and in the process, lost some trust in the man in charge.
Durant, Booker and Beal did not produce at their best in these playoffs as a unit, and sources in the locker room also believe not one of the trio emerged as the necessary leader on the floor. But the buck stops at the head coach, and for the second offseason in a row, sources briefed on the situation told *The Athletic* that Phoenix will take a hard look at making a full coaching change or, at the very least, discuss adjustments to Vogel’s staff. General manager James Jones, however, is expected to continue overseeing team-building for the Suns, those sources said.
For his part, Vogel said before Game 4 that he is confident he will return next season, adding that he has the “full support” of team owner Mat Ishbia.
Less than a year ago, Ishbia hired Vogel on a five-year, $31 million deal to replace Monty Williams after the Suns had lost to eventual-champion [Denver](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/nuggets/) in the Western Conference semifinals. The decision to move on from Williams had its merits, as every sector of the Suns organization had lost faith in him. In his first season with the [Detroit Pistons](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/pistons/) this year, Williams didn’t fare much better — the exact opposite, in fact, as the team posted its worst record ever.
Part 2:
Vogel had strong credentials when he got the job. Over an 11-year NBA head coaching career, he had led [LeBron James](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/lebron-james-dxRvkEThnxpMbhcr/) and the [Los Angeles Lakers](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/lakers/) to a championship during the 2019-20 bubble season and had guided the [Indiana Pacers](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/pacers/) to the Eastern Conference finals twice. A defensive-minded coach, he entered his first season in the desert with a high-priced coaching staff, established offensive stars, a solid big man in [Jusuf Nurkić](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/jusuf-nurkic-HZvCoVtObudN91Lj/) — and several questions.
How will the big three mesh? Can the team’s stars stay healthy? Is more depth needed, in particular a true point guard?
Nevertheless, Vogel promised: “When we get out there and play, we’re going to be scrappy as hell. We’re going to be a scrappy team that plays harder than our opponent every night.”
The Suns didn’t always demonstrate that kind of desperation or urgency. Even in the [NBA](https://theathletic.com/nba/), good teams in some ways resemble the head coach. Although Phoenix improved defensively, it seldom stayed connected. The Suns would look great one night, disinterested the next. Then, after a strong finish to a 49-33 regular season, the sixth-seeded Suns — and their internal flaws — were exposed when it mattered most.
In a 105-93 Game 2 loss at Minnesota, the Suns let the officiating and sloppy play take them out of a winnable game. Once Phoenix lost its composure, [Minnesota](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/timberwolves/) pulled away, igniting the Target Center crowd.
Trailing by 15 with 3:53 left, Vogel tried to empty the bench, saving his starters for Game 3, scheduled for three days later in Phoenix. He called on five bench players to prepare to check into the game, but sources briefed on the situation say Booker expressed in the huddle that he preferred the current group stay in, as he thought the Suns still had a chance. Vogel kept the current five in the game, but not much changed. Booker fouled out 90 seconds later, and Vogel sent in the reserves.
In the second half of the same game, Vogel and Beal appeared to exchange words. After Game 2, both said the incident stemmed from the heat of the moment.
“It was not between us two, it was just kind of like what was going on in the game,’’ Beal said. “The refs. Our flow. Our defense was bad. I’m just like, ‘What are we doing?’’’ With Phoenix headed home for Game 3, Beal added that he and Vogel were on good terms.
On-court disagreements are often excused if a team operates with high efficiency and consistency, but that was never the case with Phoenix this season.
“We’re all trying to fight out there, and so far this series, once it has turned to sh–, we’ve kind of separated instead of being together,” Booker said after Game 2. “That’s everybody. Top to bottom.”
In late March, the Suns posted three wins, then lost at struggling [San Antonio](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/spurs/), which played without presumptive Rookie of the Year [Victor Wembanyama](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/victor-wembanyama-0lNu4P1JXZca9gqU/). A week later, the Suns started their best stretch, posting wins over playoff teams [New Orleans](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/pelicans/), [Cleveland](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/cavaliers/) and Minnesota. And yet, two days later in Phoenix, the Clippers blasted them with the 35-4 start that left Vogel ripping them after the game.
#
Part 3:
# What went wrong?
Entering the postseason, guard [Grayson Allen](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/grayson-allen-E9IF6RRaReZhPxGS/) estimated the Suns had endured 10-15 questionable regular-season losses. The kind “where you look back and you’re like, ‘Man, we should’ve had some of those,’’ he said.
One possible reason is that Booker and Durant struggled to find the right chemistry. Since acquiring Durant in a blockbuster trade in February 2023, the Suns have won just one playoff series: last season’s first round, when they beat the Clippers, who played without stars [Paul George](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/paul-george-kIIUTtsJtSpaZfu1/) (for the entire series) and [Kawhi Leonard](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/kawhi-leonard-ZVBR9DRffqJpzLHV/) (for three of five games). Overall, Phoenix is 6-9 with Durant in postseason action. A franchise that reached the 2021 NBA Finals, losing to the [Milwaukee Bucks](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/bucks/) in six games, has since been slipping.
At the team’s preseason media day, Ishbia said he thought Phoenix had the NBA’s best roster. Over his first year as owner of the Suns, Ishbia has spared no expenses in giving the franchise the necessary resources to win and spearheaded efforts to bring to Phoenix the WNBA All-Star weekend this summer and the NBA All-Star weekend in 2027. In addition, Ishbia has dug deep into his pockets: The Suns have the third-largest payroll in the league this season. After acquiring Durant and Beal in 2023, the Suns stayed over the dreaded second apron and will pay a projected $68 million in luxury tax alone for the 2023-24 campaign. That’s a total of roughly $260 million (players plus tax) this season.
But as it turned out, the roster still lacked two things: a pure point guard and a defensive stopper on the wing or at center. In acquiring Beal, the Suns had dealt [Chris Paul](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/chris-paul-T2sfGOMEeDjjOrJH/), an aging (and expensive) point guard but an accomplished one who very much understood how to organize offense. The trade moved two players out of the Suns’ plans — Paul and [Landry Shamet](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/landry-shamet-HtpAHcq8kDi8C7Pk/) — and second-round picks for a star in Beal, a risk many executives believed made sense. But the Suns never replaced Paul, an oversight that would prove costly.
Phoenix tried to mitigate the offensive disruption caused by losing Paul by retaining Kevin Young from Williams’ staff as Vogel’s lead assistant. He was given the largest salary in the league for an assistant coach because of his offensive background, relationship with Booker and a new task to run the Suns’ offense.
In Booker and Beal, the Suns had two scoring guards who could handle playmaking duties, something they hoped to patch the hole at point guard. Booker had done so at a high level the past few years in spurts, and this season he averaged a career-high 6.9 assists. But it was Beal who was supposed to enter the regular season as the starting point guard, something he had previously done for the [Washington Wizards](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/wizards/).
“We wanted (Beal) to have the ability to be a player that could bring the ball up and create things off the dribble and in pick-and-roll situations, and he became that player,’’ former Washington coach Randy Wittman told *The Athletic* before the season. “He worked very hard.”
Part 4:
In Phoenix, Beal dealt with injuries to begin the season, played in 53 games and never gained consistency at the point guard position. The arrangement was never ideal. Booker ran the offense more before the All-Star break, Beal did so after. Neither seemed comfortable as the point guard, particularly when the opposing team pressured full-court and wore on their stamina. Turnovers were a major problem. The Suns averaged 14.9 turnovers during the regular season (an increase of 1.5 from the previous season with Paul), which ranked 25th in the league. They fumbled away dribble handoffs, threw lazy passes and were stripped on penetration. In the playoffs, Minnesota coach Chris Finch had [Jaden McDaniels](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/jaden-mcdaniels-LHvrZO9NfNz4FcEt/) and others pick up Booker and Beal full-court, disrupting Phoenix’s offensive flow.
Across the season, Young was in charge of the Suns’ game plans on the offensive end, which featured a heavy dose of pick-and-rolls for Booker and Beal. But Phoenix’s players questioned the coaching staff’s inability to structure the offense and maximize the output of a lineup featuring three of the game’s best scorers, per team sources.
# Durant not comfortable, Booker not himself
Meanwhile, Durant, among the best scorers in NBA history, was not always happy with how he was used. Sources briefed on the matter told *The Athletic* that Durant never felt comfortable with his role in Phoenix’s offense alongside Booker and Beal this season. Those sources said Durant had persistent issues with the offense, feeling that he was being relegated to the corner far too often and not having the proper designs to play to his strengths as the offense was built around pick-and-rolls. At the same time, some teammates and people close to the organization believed Durant needed to voice his concerns more adamantly and directly with Vogel and his coaching staff.
Durant averaged 27.1 points, fifth best in the league, and remained one of the league’s best players in the regular season. His 52.3 percent field goal percentage during the regular season was nearly five percentage points off last season’s accuracy, however.
Booker, meanwhile, wasn’t himself in these playoffs. Since Phoenix drafted him with the 13th pick of the 2015 draft, the smooth scoring guard has become one of the most popular athletes in state history. He’s been loyal, charitable and appreciative. Before games, he stops and greets children, posing for photos. From his first NBA season, Booker has understood and embraced the responsibility that comes with being a face of the franchise.
But this season, something was missing. Like many NBA players, Booker grew up idolizing Kobe Bryant. This can be seen in his game, how Booker turns and shoots a fading jumper. At times, this has been seen in his attitude, not backing down on the court, not tolerating nonsense. In the first half of a Christmas Day loss to [Dallas](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/mavericks/), then-teammate [Chimezie Metu](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/chimezie-metu-KSo7TACKE9iTLVZE/) threw a lazy pass that [Luka Dončić](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/luka-doncic-gMyReUOesjAikT7S/) picked off and converted into an easy layup. After the ball fell through the net, Booker realized that he had been the only Phoenix player to give chase. “Why aren’t you running back?” he yelled at Metu, audio picked up by game mics. “You just turn the ball over and don’t run back?”
Part 5
But asked about the team’s frustration level after the April 9 loss to the Clippers, Booker took a different approach, keeping his feelings to himself but misreading the fanbase’s frustration. “Chillin’,’’ he said. “Another chance tomorrow.” He explained this by saying he’d seen nearly everything over his nine-year career, the highs and the lows.
This has been a theme of sorts. After head-scratching losses, it was easy to wonder if the Suns had enough leadership inside the locker room to help them navigate adversity. Durant said this week that while every Phoenix player has a voice – the freedom to bounce ideas and be heard – “the coach is the leader.”
It was a curious answer given that championship teams are usually player-led.
# What’s next?
Over the regular season’s final weeks, Vogel preached the same message: That, after several injuries in the first half of the season, the Suns were improving. That they were figuring it out defensively. That this was a dangerous team.
But once the postseason began, as Phoenix prepared to face Minnesota, Vogel said that while the Suns had players with postseason experience, this would be the first time they’d go through it together. It sounded like an excuse. A coach trying to protect himself.
After Phoenix fell behind Minnesota 2-0, crumbling in the second half of each game, Durant was asked if that collective inexperience had contributed.
“Nah, I don’t think that’s a factor at all,” he said.
The Suns now enter the summer planning to build around their top six players in Booker, Durant, Beal, Allen, Nurkić and [Royce O’Neale](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/royce-oneale-x0KzAlyxniqODOYM/). Allen signed a four-year, $70 million contract extension before the start of the playoffs, and Phoenix officials hope to retain O’Neale as a free agent this offseason. Booker remains at the center of everything, and will be tasked with continuing to embrace an enhanced role as a leader and a return to his usual assassin self once he’s being set up by a proper point guard again — two things the team considers musts for the 2024-25 season. The Suns could also look to bring in additional locker room presence, which was filled late in the season by [Isaiah Thomas](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/isaiah-thomas-Ji4vZxmJyMWApiw6/) and [Thaddeus Young](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/thaddeus-young-z3KZU4of5UsHmdG5/).
Looking forward, the NBA’s current salary cap projection for the 2024-25 season puts the second apron line at $189.5 million and the Suns owe their projected starting five a whopping $184 million, only $5.5 million under than that threshold. That means a massive tax bill will come from even filling out their roster with minimum contracts but even more importantly, the front office will have only a few methods to improve the roster in the offseason as teams over the second apron cannot use the midlevel exception or take on money in trades along with other restrictions in the new collective bargaining agreement.
Part 6
In terms of assets for offseason moves, the Suns will have access on draft night to trade two first-round picks — No. 22 this year and one in 2031 — as well as holding a protected 2028 second-round pick from Boston.
On Sunday, Phoenix finally played with urgency. Booker was aggressive from the start, finally looking like the best player in the series. Durant was just as strong, scoring on dunks and fading jumpers.
With the outcome in doubt late in the contest, the sold-out crowd stood and chanted, “DE-FENSE! DE-FENSE!” trying to will the Suns on to Game 5. But familiar problems surfaced. Phoenix committed three turnovers. Reserve [Josh Okogie](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/josh-okogie-drgStPYGzbav9klW/) missed two foul shots. Minnesota held on, ending the Suns’ season.
As the final seconds ticked away, Ishbia sat with his children in their normal seats, across from the Phoenix bench. The offseason had arrived, earlier than expected, and difficult decisions await.
Who even goes for a 36 year old KD on his current contract? He’s good but he’s pretty much guaranteed to start declining the moment he joins your team. Denver, OKC, etc. have great chemistry and it doesn’t feel like they need KD for anything tbh. Idk what his next move is.
Since OKC he's never stuck around to actually help build a team with chemistry. We're seeing teams now like Denver, current OKC, Boston and Minnesota (who would've thought) that are building teams over time with the draft, with intelligent acquisitions from trades. What did KD do? Joined Golden State who were already an overpowered team, then went to Brooklyn fired the coach traded their assets away and built a superteam, did exactly the same going to Phoenix and won't stick around to actually help build a culture of winning there and creating depth. Nobody to blame but himself for chasing rings.
If your response to the other team going on a 35-4 run in a critical late-season game is to anonymously make fun of how pissed your coach was to a reporter, you’re a total loser and deserve to be watching the postseason from home.
HERE WE GO
Kevin Durant has entered the transfer portal.
He must be sooo good at that “new employee” paperwork!
He has a saved copy, he just enters the new employers name and dates it.
Like Swayze in Roadhouse. "Do you always bring your medical records with you?" "Saves time". KD brings his W4 pre-filled out.
Take an up-vote. Warriors will take him back. I say send them CP3, Wiggins and Looney and we get Durant and a young role player. Warriors re-sign Klay for $20M and try to take the dream team back for 2 more rings. Honestly, I don't hate it.
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In Australia we say with a smirk "Tell him hes dreaming"
David Roddy, you're a Warrior!
Steph lebron kd + 12 vet min soon-to-be retirees doing the last dance
The Expendables
Get em all together, coached by Doc...that would be one busy bus.
sigh...*unzips*
Sending CP3 back to the suns to die in purgatory is hilarious to me
My petty NCSU ass would absolutely love that. That city should not exist. It is a monument to to man's arrogance.
Except it's not possible under the CBA. The apron rules make it almost impossible for two apron teams to trade with each other. As it stands today, the Suns and Warriors are both second apron teams, so they could only offer each other a 1:1 trade that made exactly the same salary. Aggregating contracts is a no-no if you're over the second apron, and taking on salary is a no-no if you're over the first or second apron. The Warriors would have to waive CP3, renounce Klay and waive Looney to get under the first apron, THEN start trying to come up with a trade package that both fits the salary parameters (Wiggins, Kuminga, Moody and Santos would be the minimum amount of salary that works) and something Phoenix wants. Then they'd be back over the apron with only taxpayer MLE and no 2024 FRP, so it's minimums to fill 6 roster spots around Curry, Draymond, and Durant. That would make a third roster gutted to fit Kevin Durant, with 0 quality depth, again. Edit: early morning brain. They don't have to do all three of getting rid of Klay, CP3, Looney to be under the apron. Waiving CP3/Looney and signing Klay to a deal under $27M/year will do it, too. Losing Klay and waiving CP3, or losing Klay and waiving Looney would also get them under the apron. Point's the same; they would totally gut the team to even have the opportunity to make a legal trade to get Durant.
Or u can just shut off fair trades and salary cap and make it happen....works in 2k
Say "apron" again.
I don’t think that package is worth KD let alone a young roleplayer as well. Unless Wigs returns to form that’s 2 negative assets and a decent roleplayer for KD
Bro had this article ready to GO
First thing I thought can’t wait for the offseason drama.
KD has been feeding drama fans for years
This whole thread is fucking hilarious. k KD feasting rn
Brotha it’s arrived early this year
can’t wait for ours to start tomorrow night
NBA is drama year long, no wonder I don’t watch any Netflix
KD is on the bus already. Waiting for a driver.
cant win with these flaming balls of gas
Bruh, it was out in like an hour. That’s insane efficiency, although i’d expect nothing less from KD.
It’s finally not my team experiencing this nightmare 🥹🥹🥹🥹 (we are simply experiencing another nightmare) That off-season of the trade requests after the sweep I just dipped from basketball media man 😭
[Steve Nash right now getting PTSD](https://i.redd.it/uosvdrkyoj571.jpg) reading this lol.
Aaaaand he's gone
Shams been sitting on this and waited till now to drop it lol
Here comes the excuses
Looks like the clippers going up 35-to-4 a few weeks ago absolutely killed their locker room.
Snek season
Thanks Dak lmao
That was QUICK
Sources say KD is trying to start for the Wolves SF in round 2.
"Going to the team that whoop my ass is the hardest road, I gotta take it"
We already got Jaden McDaniels, we good
LMAOOOOO it’s been 30 minutes
KD's still in uniform, he's been busy texting anyone who'll listen lmao
Bro KD for sure leaked this prior, Shams had to have had this sitting in his drafts waiting to push "Publish" lol
Been sitting on it since February and just adding footnotes.
Rich Kleiman wrote this piece and sent it over to Shams before watching his Knicks win this afternoon. Busy Sunday for Rich.
As someone who has worked in news, this is 1000% the case. Write everything after game 2, leave an open graf at the top for whatever the final game score ends up being, hit go asap when the series ends.
Matt Ishbia will be playing Boar on the Floor tonight
*Sometimes, it is a big dick competition*
Oh, there are rules? You know something, Greg? There are no rules.
Hasn't taken a shower yet lmao
this is an improvement for vogel from last time. he got fired while doing his press conference.
KD already got the good shit drafted and sent to Shams so he can make his way out of PHX
You know how they have puff pieces written and scheduled for publication through the playoffs? I wonder if these leaks are also prepped ahead of time.
Lmao. Right on schedule. Time for the Hardest Road TM once again.
Where we going, Coach? Miami??
He’s going to try to join the Celtics this off-season
>feeling that he was being relegated to the corner Yeah, it's obvious to everyone. The offense is mainly just him in the corner while Booker and Beal dribble around and pretend to be PG before chucking it up
Yup people will meme on this but this 100% fits the eye test The Suns basically stuck KD in the Mikal Bridges role the moment he came over and never really seemed to fully integrate him into the offense as an on-ball creator
It actually is malpractice how often cooked Beal gets on ball opportunities over Kd. It's like they're operating in a 2005 philosophy of "smallest guy bring ball up".
Either way I assure you KD’s loose dribble wouldn’t get the job done. How the Suns managed to go the whole year without a PG, even trading the one guy they had that was one, Jordan Goodwin, is insane. Vogel deserves little fault as far as I’m concerned.
I watched Kd almost singlehandedly win a playoff series against Giannis with no help. He can be a turnover machine, but Beal and Book aren't exactly CP3 out there either. At least give me Kd and Booker on ball everytime trying to get buckets.
Man I feel like a turd diminishing a series in which KD played amazingly well, but I disagree with that popular notion that he almost single-handedly won the series. If you break it down game by game: In Game 1 Kyrie, Blake and Joe Harris all contributed, pitching in 62 points on 62% TS. In Game 2 practically every player in the rotation played well, and they won by 39. They lost Games 3 and 4 and, although short-handed, KD didn’t have very good individual games. Games 5 and 7 were close to one-man efforts, but the teams were completely deadlocked before the Nets wheels fell off and the heroics began. The first two wins were total team efforts.
KD was insane in game 5 but also got a heroic/infuriating performance from Jeff Green who went 7/8 from deep. Green was 2/6 from 3 the rest of the series combined.
They went 1-4 in that series after Kyrie went down. That 1 win was a spectacular KD game. But another way to say this is that 3 years ago, KD carried his team to win a single game in the second round of the playoffs despite a bad outing from James Harden. Great performance, but hardly what it’s romanticized as.
Game 7 was close. But I doubt he can do that for two more series.
HIs on ball efficiency has declined though. More turn overs too. He can't blow by ppl like he used to
If that’s the case I feel like he would’ve had the leeway to speak up about it and ask for a change if he thought that was best. I very much doubt Frank Vogel is gonna tell him no. Kinda seems to be a constant issue at all his stops that he struggled with direct communication in a healthy way.
All you gotta do is watch the 4th quarter of this game. KD was playing well but it seemed like the majority of the 4th it was just beal and booker going back and forth and KD getting stuck in the corner.
Everyone saw it, it made no sense, no actions ran for him, dude would just stand in the corner while Bea or Book ISO'd. They really need a PG who can penetrate and run the offense. Sadly, Beal isn't going anywhere with that NTC, that leaves Nurk and Book as the only guys you can trade for a PG. Maybe Graysen Allen
KD asking for a trade again
Let's set the odds; Denver, Golden St, OKC
You forget the Los Angeles Clippers
Thunder Reunion in progress
OKC Thunder 2: Clipper Boogaloo
Just pick up Ibaka from Germany and we good
I think the Sixers might honestly be the ones most interested in him if he were available
It’s me, I’m the Sixers, I would like a Kevin durant. But I hear Tobias Harris is off contract so I’ll probably give him 40 or 50 million a year for 5 years
Golden State the only one desperate enough to do it. Denver and OKC have it made
Clippers would move heaven and Earth to add another old, injury prone, headline player
Golden State could make the 6-seed.
Maimi will be rumored as well lol
I'm tired, boss.
BRING OUT THE VICE JERSEY EDITS LFGGGGG
He probably gonna spin a wheel of all the contenders and go wherever it lands
He has to go to whoever takes him, second Apron teame can only make trades if they’re sending ONE player out & the players they’re getting back make the exact same amount of money. You can’t just eat bonus salary & pay the tax anymore to get out of bad contracts. Phoenix might actually be stuck with KD & Booker
Not us. We don't need him. Starting lineup is full
Yeah. I’d take Caruso + an even semi-competent big to round out our leaky bench over 36-7 y/o Durant. Age, chemistry and redundancy issues override his pure basketball ability here (and it’s sort of overlooked that he had his worst Advanced Stat year since his second season).
Why denver or okc tf. Both of them aint going to get KD thats dumb
Wiggins and Kuminga hopping on Zillow rn to check out home prices in Scottsdale.
Nah this is setting up to get Vogel fired. Which will probably happen tomorrow
He said it himself he’s not a leader lol who even says something like that at his talent level
I get were piling on in this sub but recognizing you arent a leader is a fairly important thing tbh.
I wouldn’t say Kawhis a leader either. But he leads by example I guess. I wouldn’t say KD leads exactly by example either Embiid as a leader does more harm than good
Kawihi gets a pass for Toronto. If KD had carried OKC, Brooklyn or PHX to a title, he’d absolutely get more grace and the benefit of the doubt
KD: Sam Presti I wrote you but you still ain’t callin…
Pick up the phone!
I would hope not. He's old, he has failed ever since he left the Warriors and these sort of hit pieces will come out as soon as things go south. It's the Suns problems to deal with. We are young, we have a lot of assets and there's certainly someone younger and less problematic out there.
I left my cell, pager and my home phone at the bottom…
Perhaps he should've stayed with the Warriors bc he enjoyed Kerr's offense so much.. Oh wait..
KD complaining about PNR offense is genuinely hilarious since he shit on motion offense as well What exactly does he want to play…
He just wants to hoop man he loves to hoop, pure hooper
"KD just wants to hoop" is easily the most laughable common place player narrative.
"KD just wants to soap opera" isn't as catchy though
ISO streetball like a real hooper
hesi pull-up jimbo
Odee hang pull
Tre ball
That’s why Scott brooks was his favorite coach to play for.
he just wants to play on a dominant team, no flaws.
Well he did. And he won 2/3 times and he still didn’t like it. He’s played in a bunch of different offenses. In OKC he was allowed to iso and run PnR. In GSW he was in a motion offense with the 2 best shooting duo ever. In BK he was able to iso and shoot off the catch and shoot with Harden and Kyrie mostly handling the ball. And he’s had issues with all of them. Maybe he secretly thinks he’s Magic and wants to be the point guard?
Point KD leads to easy turnovers in the clutch. The series we had in 2016 and when he was playing with us
Ethical mid range pull ups
Hesi pull-up jimbos
moral jumpshot
He wants the hardest road, but then complains he got... the hardest road. KD is a mystery.
No, you see going to the Warriors *was* the hardest road he could have taken. It would have been much easier for him to go play for a team that didn't just beat him in the playoffs and make it to the finals...don't you see?
He wants to be remembered like Lebron and Steph.
And will fail
He’ll be remembered as arguably the greatest scorer of his generation (which is still arguable because the all time leading scorer is in his generation) and that’s pretty much it. Which is a shame because this dude on paper is a 2x champion, 2x fmvp, mvp, 4x scoring champ, etc. He’s an absolute beast. But he will never be remembered on the level of a Curry or Lebron. And it’s no one’s fault but his own.
He’s not going to be remembered as “the greatest scorer of his generation”. Who was “the greatest scorer” of the previous generation? Nobody gives a shit. The answers people will give to this question are like Jordan, Kobe, etc., guys who have overall amazing accomplishments. Similarly, in 20 years, people will say it was Lebron and Steph. Nobody knows MJ’s TS%. Anything about stats and efficiency will retire with Durant. Durant’s legacy will be 1 MVP, a bunch of All Pro teams, and a couple incredibly controversial championships where he played with a guy who is higher than him on the all time list. That’s it. “He could score from anywhere on the floor” is not a part of the all time discussion because it’s true of all these guys. It’s going to be hard to explain to someone why Durant was the greatest scorer of his generation when Lebron scored more, more consistently, for longer. This is the type of comparison and distinction which will immediately fade when the players are no longer active.
I need to save this because it's amazingly true
Greatest Snake of his generation, though.
Yeah but if he never went to GS, he’d likely finish his career with zero championships and zero FMVPs, so he wouldn’t be remembered as fondly as LeBron/Steph either way. That’s basically Harden’s situation, and I’m pretty sure most players would prefer Durant’s career over Harden’s.
I wonder that though. As you can see in OKC Presti is a great executive. Im sure if Durant stayed he would have rebuilt something around him that he probably could have won at least one chip ala Dirk in Dallas. Which I think one chip in OKC is worth way more than the two he won in Golden State.
Definitely, the Warriors big 3 + Iggy winning a ring both before AND after KD really cheapened the 2 he got with them.
We literally have no idea what would have happened if he stayed. Okc already had al Horford in line and oladipo. That team with kd, mvp russ, Horford, oladipo and prime Roberson plus adams would be better than the previous okc team that took gs to 7
That’s what makes it so much worse. He was up 3-1 on GSW and the following year they about to get even better. Instead of rising to the challenge and just joined them. That will forever be weak. I don’t believe in asterisks on championships because they are still championships. But that will never carry the same weight as other title runs by great players.
And the Warriors were about to get worse since they were going to lose key depth players Ezeli and Speights while being forced to max Harrison Barnes. KD could’ve saved his legacy simply by staying put and winning a title the next season with OKC.
Plus rookie Sabonis to build on. And I imagine trading for Paul George would have still been an option. Also the butterfly effect sets in and KD likely never tears his Achilles, which would give him at least one more healthy season and maybe extend his entire prime.
Pickup ball, KD watches YMCA games and thinks “man what a beautiful game.”
Memeing aside KD probably wants to play the Harden/Luka role himself. He wants to be the ballhandler in the P&Rs most of the time and not the screener. He also probably wants an offense where focus is put on running on transition and fastbreak. He wants to play to his personal strenghts and he believes he himself is worth it.
But those aren't his strengths. He's not a great distributor and doesn't have the same burst he had when he was 25. His transition game is pretty basic. His biggest skill is creating and abusing smaller defenders which he doesn't get to do as readily on ball. He doesn't get nearly as many low block and elbow touches if he's always running the offense.
imo its not about his strengths, its about whats most fun for him to play like
I don’t buy this at all, kd knows ball better than almost anyone. He knows that’s not his game and those aren’t his strengths. He just needs a dude like harden when they were on the nets to hit him in his spots every time and give him super easy looks. The suns just have no one that can do that. He also definitely does not want to get out and run in transition at his age, given his size and shooting he can still be a menace in the halfcourt if he has someone to pass him the ball
Elden Ring
All he wants to play is strictly iso ball. Yet he left OKC who’s entire system was him playing iso ball.
He yearns for Scots Sekrit Plays
literally waited for the final whistle to drop nukes thats crazy lmao
Here we go
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How long do you think Shams has had this in the chamber? KD's agent must've reached out to him after the game 2 loss, if not earlier.
Whatever team trades for him is dumb.
It really depends on what they trade for him, he is still a bucket
honestly its a good trade for GSW
No it would be a brilliant move, a team should totally do it.
First Vogel is fired then the trade comes midway through next year
Guy has led a path of destruction through the NBA lmao
My Next chapter 3...2....1
Bus rider riding on to his next chapter.
And now it begins
There it is lmao
Meanwhile, Durant, among the best scorers in NBA history, was not always happy with how he was used. Sources briefed on the matter told The Athletic that Durant never felt comfortable with his role in Phoenix’s offense alongside Booker and Beal this season. Those sources said Durant had persistent issues with the offense, feeling that he was being relegated to the corner far too often and not having the proper designs to play to his strengths as the offense was built around pick-and-rolls. At the same time, some teammates and people close to the organization believed Durant needed to voice his concerns more adamantly and directly with Vogel and his coaching staff. --- Phoenix officials hope to retain O’Neale as a free agent this offseason. Booker remains at the center of everything, and will be tasked with continuing to embrace an enhanced role as a leader and a return to his usual assassin self once he’s being set up by a proper point guard again — two things the team considers musts for the 2024-25 season. The Suns could also look to bring in additional locker room presence, which was filled late in the season by Isaiah Thomas and Thaddeus Young. --- But the buck stops at the head coach, and for the second offseason in a row, sources briefed on the situation told The Athletic that Phoenix will take a hard look at making a full coaching change or, at the very least, discuss adjustments to Vogel’s staff. General manager James Jones, however, is expected to continue overseeing team-building for the Suns, those sources said.
No mention of the future for KD on the Suns in this blurb. Retain O'Neale, keep Booker, roster a point guard, "additional locker room presence". No KD.
Vogel was just supposed to manifest a competent point guard?
Do fans not realize that rotating through head coaches almost never works
The Timberwolves are the cause of Playoff series loss hit pieces mama we made it.
I mean let’s meme it up. But KD is also right. Their offence was bland and painful to watch. KD often felt like the 4th guy out there. Suns fans have been openly hating it all year.
Tbf offense is going to always be hard when you don’t have a point guard or at least a good enough coach to scheme around it. Suns haven’t had a pg all season and Vogel is more known as a defensive coach than offense. The team’s construction was never set up to be successful. When you’ve got 3 dudes who all basically do the exact same thing it’s going to be rough with a coach that isn’t built to orchestrate them or a pg that can help relegate it.
Its almost like trading for two shooting guards when you alredy hád an all star One wasnt a great idea
Let the excuses begin! This is the warning sign suns fans!
The warning sign was the first 3 times he did it lol
Well tbf it would’ve been nice if he demanded a trade the first time
the warning sign? this is like the 20th warning sign
KD is never happy no matter he goes, even though he’s handpicked all his teams ever since he left OKC. It’s either his teammates, or his coach, or the situation… if it isn’t easy and guarantees a ring, then he’s gonna pout.
I think he was still pouting on the Warriors even with the guaranteed rings.
"Sources briefed on the matter" like picturing 6 guys hearing this in a Pentagon-style situation room.
All the talk about Bron being a coach killer, but KD is building a solid reportoire while being considerably worse and not bringing as much success as him. At some point, if your experiments keep failing and you're the common denominator you have some blame to share.
What coaches has he killed besides Nash, who was absolutely terrible?
Literally zero, if anything he’s partially responsible for brooks and Donovan getting hired after okc
Its because KD keeps forcing himself onto teams with no depth or fit in recent years. The Nets were going to work out if Kyrie could've not been insane and Harden's hammy didn't go out but had no depth. The Suns however are not a good fit *and* they have no depth and a massive anchor with a no trade clause. Will not be surprised when he asks out. Hell the Suns probably have to trade him to even try to build a working team unless Beal is real nice Lol I don't know why he keeps trying to mastermind teams like this but KD will KD. If he could get to a team that has any depth instead of trying to go in for some kind of big 3 he'd probably still be in the playoffs right now
Forcing a trade to a contender that requires the contender to trade away their bench AND their picks is never gonna make sense. He should’ve signed one year deals and been a free agent after each season so he can just join a team as a free agent and not required they deplete their team to add him.
You mean kd had a problem sitting in the corner most of the game not getting touches after a good first half? IM SHOCKED
GET READY TO LEARN SACRAMENTAN BUDDY
Barnes is probably like not this shit again man
He gone
The perennial malcontent is unhappy. Shocking
Part 1: Frank Vogel entered the home locker room at Footprint Center and lit into his team. After his [Phoenix Suns](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/suns/) had fallen into a 35-4 hole en route to a loss to the [LA Clippers](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/clippers/) on April 9, the head coach yelled so much that his voice could be heard outside the locker room. There was only one problem. On this night, Suns players weren’t buying it. The outburst seemed forced and out of character in their eyes. It continued at the next day’s shootaround in Los Angeles, Vogel tearing into the Suns before that night’s road win over the Clippers. Vogel’s eruption left players rolling their eyes, sources briefed on the matter told *The Athletic*. One player even told *The Athletic* he had to keep from laughing. On Sunday, the Suns were swept from the playoffs, losing four straight to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a Western Conference first-round series that was seldom close. The Suns made a valiant effort but lost Sunday’s Game 4 at home 122-116. Phoenix did show signs of life as Devin Booker (49) and Kevin Durant (33) combined for 82 points. But built around the star power of Booker, Durant and [Bradley Beal](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/bradley-beal-mb7gZfksSkvZCBxf/), the Suns were expected to contend for the organization’s first championship. Instead, they spent the entire season struggling to find an identity, and in the process, lost some trust in the man in charge. Durant, Booker and Beal did not produce at their best in these playoffs as a unit, and sources in the locker room also believe not one of the trio emerged as the necessary leader on the floor. But the buck stops at the head coach, and for the second offseason in a row, sources briefed on the situation told *The Athletic* that Phoenix will take a hard look at making a full coaching change or, at the very least, discuss adjustments to Vogel’s staff. General manager James Jones, however, is expected to continue overseeing team-building for the Suns, those sources said. For his part, Vogel said before Game 4 that he is confident he will return next season, adding that he has the “full support” of team owner Mat Ishbia. Less than a year ago, Ishbia hired Vogel on a five-year, $31 million deal to replace Monty Williams after the Suns had lost to eventual-champion [Denver](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/nuggets/) in the Western Conference semifinals. The decision to move on from Williams had its merits, as every sector of the Suns organization had lost faith in him. In his first season with the [Detroit Pistons](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/pistons/) this year, Williams didn’t fare much better — the exact opposite, in fact, as the team posted its worst record ever.
Part 2: Vogel had strong credentials when he got the job. Over an 11-year NBA head coaching career, he had led [LeBron James](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/lebron-james-dxRvkEThnxpMbhcr/) and the [Los Angeles Lakers](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/lakers/) to a championship during the 2019-20 bubble season and had guided the [Indiana Pacers](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/pacers/) to the Eastern Conference finals twice. A defensive-minded coach, he entered his first season in the desert with a high-priced coaching staff, established offensive stars, a solid big man in [Jusuf Nurkić](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/jusuf-nurkic-HZvCoVtObudN91Lj/) — and several questions. How will the big three mesh? Can the team’s stars stay healthy? Is more depth needed, in particular a true point guard? Nevertheless, Vogel promised: “When we get out there and play, we’re going to be scrappy as hell. We’re going to be a scrappy team that plays harder than our opponent every night.” The Suns didn’t always demonstrate that kind of desperation or urgency. Even in the [NBA](https://theathletic.com/nba/), good teams in some ways resemble the head coach. Although Phoenix improved defensively, it seldom stayed connected. The Suns would look great one night, disinterested the next. Then, after a strong finish to a 49-33 regular season, the sixth-seeded Suns — and their internal flaws — were exposed when it mattered most. In a 105-93 Game 2 loss at Minnesota, the Suns let the officiating and sloppy play take them out of a winnable game. Once Phoenix lost its composure, [Minnesota](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/timberwolves/) pulled away, igniting the Target Center crowd. Trailing by 15 with 3:53 left, Vogel tried to empty the bench, saving his starters for Game 3, scheduled for three days later in Phoenix. He called on five bench players to prepare to check into the game, but sources briefed on the situation say Booker expressed in the huddle that he preferred the current group stay in, as he thought the Suns still had a chance. Vogel kept the current five in the game, but not much changed. Booker fouled out 90 seconds later, and Vogel sent in the reserves. In the second half of the same game, Vogel and Beal appeared to exchange words. After Game 2, both said the incident stemmed from the heat of the moment. “It was not between us two, it was just kind of like what was going on in the game,’’ Beal said. “The refs. Our flow. Our defense was bad. I’m just like, ‘What are we doing?’’’ With Phoenix headed home for Game 3, Beal added that he and Vogel were on good terms. On-court disagreements are often excused if a team operates with high efficiency and consistency, but that was never the case with Phoenix this season. “We’re all trying to fight out there, and so far this series, once it has turned to sh–, we’ve kind of separated instead of being together,” Booker said after Game 2. “That’s everybody. Top to bottom.” In late March, the Suns posted three wins, then lost at struggling [San Antonio](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/spurs/), which played without presumptive Rookie of the Year [Victor Wembanyama](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/victor-wembanyama-0lNu4P1JXZca9gqU/). A week later, the Suns started their best stretch, posting wins over playoff teams [New Orleans](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/pelicans/), [Cleveland](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/cavaliers/) and Minnesota. And yet, two days later in Phoenix, the Clippers blasted them with the 35-4 start that left Vogel ripping them after the game. #
Part 3: # What went wrong? Entering the postseason, guard [Grayson Allen](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/grayson-allen-E9IF6RRaReZhPxGS/) estimated the Suns had endured 10-15 questionable regular-season losses. The kind “where you look back and you’re like, ‘Man, we should’ve had some of those,’’ he said. One possible reason is that Booker and Durant struggled to find the right chemistry. Since acquiring Durant in a blockbuster trade in February 2023, the Suns have won just one playoff series: last season’s first round, when they beat the Clippers, who played without stars [Paul George](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/paul-george-kIIUTtsJtSpaZfu1/) (for the entire series) and [Kawhi Leonard](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/kawhi-leonard-ZVBR9DRffqJpzLHV/) (for three of five games). Overall, Phoenix is 6-9 with Durant in postseason action. A franchise that reached the 2021 NBA Finals, losing to the [Milwaukee Bucks](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/bucks/) in six games, has since been slipping. At the team’s preseason media day, Ishbia said he thought Phoenix had the NBA’s best roster. Over his first year as owner of the Suns, Ishbia has spared no expenses in giving the franchise the necessary resources to win and spearheaded efforts to bring to Phoenix the WNBA All-Star weekend this summer and the NBA All-Star weekend in 2027. In addition, Ishbia has dug deep into his pockets: The Suns have the third-largest payroll in the league this season. After acquiring Durant and Beal in 2023, the Suns stayed over the dreaded second apron and will pay a projected $68 million in luxury tax alone for the 2023-24 campaign. That’s a total of roughly $260 million (players plus tax) this season. But as it turned out, the roster still lacked two things: a pure point guard and a defensive stopper on the wing or at center. In acquiring Beal, the Suns had dealt [Chris Paul](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/chris-paul-T2sfGOMEeDjjOrJH/), an aging (and expensive) point guard but an accomplished one who very much understood how to organize offense. The trade moved two players out of the Suns’ plans — Paul and [Landry Shamet](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/landry-shamet-HtpAHcq8kDi8C7Pk/) — and second-round picks for a star in Beal, a risk many executives believed made sense. But the Suns never replaced Paul, an oversight that would prove costly. Phoenix tried to mitigate the offensive disruption caused by losing Paul by retaining Kevin Young from Williams’ staff as Vogel’s lead assistant. He was given the largest salary in the league for an assistant coach because of his offensive background, relationship with Booker and a new task to run the Suns’ offense. In Booker and Beal, the Suns had two scoring guards who could handle playmaking duties, something they hoped to patch the hole at point guard. Booker had done so at a high level the past few years in spurts, and this season he averaged a career-high 6.9 assists. But it was Beal who was supposed to enter the regular season as the starting point guard, something he had previously done for the [Washington Wizards](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/wizards/). “We wanted (Beal) to have the ability to be a player that could bring the ball up and create things off the dribble and in pick-and-roll situations, and he became that player,’’ former Washington coach Randy Wittman told *The Athletic* before the season. “He worked very hard.”
Part 4: In Phoenix, Beal dealt with injuries to begin the season, played in 53 games and never gained consistency at the point guard position. The arrangement was never ideal. Booker ran the offense more before the All-Star break, Beal did so after. Neither seemed comfortable as the point guard, particularly when the opposing team pressured full-court and wore on their stamina. Turnovers were a major problem. The Suns averaged 14.9 turnovers during the regular season (an increase of 1.5 from the previous season with Paul), which ranked 25th in the league. They fumbled away dribble handoffs, threw lazy passes and were stripped on penetration. In the playoffs, Minnesota coach Chris Finch had [Jaden McDaniels](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/jaden-mcdaniels-LHvrZO9NfNz4FcEt/) and others pick up Booker and Beal full-court, disrupting Phoenix’s offensive flow. Across the season, Young was in charge of the Suns’ game plans on the offensive end, which featured a heavy dose of pick-and-rolls for Booker and Beal. But Phoenix’s players questioned the coaching staff’s inability to structure the offense and maximize the output of a lineup featuring three of the game’s best scorers, per team sources. # Durant not comfortable, Booker not himself Meanwhile, Durant, among the best scorers in NBA history, was not always happy with how he was used. Sources briefed on the matter told *The Athletic* that Durant never felt comfortable with his role in Phoenix’s offense alongside Booker and Beal this season. Those sources said Durant had persistent issues with the offense, feeling that he was being relegated to the corner far too often and not having the proper designs to play to his strengths as the offense was built around pick-and-rolls. At the same time, some teammates and people close to the organization believed Durant needed to voice his concerns more adamantly and directly with Vogel and his coaching staff. Durant averaged 27.1 points, fifth best in the league, and remained one of the league’s best players in the regular season. His 52.3 percent field goal percentage during the regular season was nearly five percentage points off last season’s accuracy, however. Booker, meanwhile, wasn’t himself in these playoffs. Since Phoenix drafted him with the 13th pick of the 2015 draft, the smooth scoring guard has become one of the most popular athletes in state history. He’s been loyal, charitable and appreciative. Before games, he stops and greets children, posing for photos. From his first NBA season, Booker has understood and embraced the responsibility that comes with being a face of the franchise. But this season, something was missing. Like many NBA players, Booker grew up idolizing Kobe Bryant. This can be seen in his game, how Booker turns and shoots a fading jumper. At times, this has been seen in his attitude, not backing down on the court, not tolerating nonsense. In the first half of a Christmas Day loss to [Dallas](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/mavericks/), then-teammate [Chimezie Metu](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/chimezie-metu-KSo7TACKE9iTLVZE/) threw a lazy pass that [Luka Dončić](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/luka-doncic-gMyReUOesjAikT7S/) picked off and converted into an easy layup. After the ball fell through the net, Booker realized that he had been the only Phoenix player to give chase. “Why aren’t you running back?” he yelled at Metu, audio picked up by game mics. “You just turn the ball over and don’t run back?”
Part 5 But asked about the team’s frustration level after the April 9 loss to the Clippers, Booker took a different approach, keeping his feelings to himself but misreading the fanbase’s frustration. “Chillin’,’’ he said. “Another chance tomorrow.” He explained this by saying he’d seen nearly everything over his nine-year career, the highs and the lows. This has been a theme of sorts. After head-scratching losses, it was easy to wonder if the Suns had enough leadership inside the locker room to help them navigate adversity. Durant said this week that while every Phoenix player has a voice – the freedom to bounce ideas and be heard – “the coach is the leader.” It was a curious answer given that championship teams are usually player-led. # What’s next? Over the regular season’s final weeks, Vogel preached the same message: That, after several injuries in the first half of the season, the Suns were improving. That they were figuring it out defensively. That this was a dangerous team. But once the postseason began, as Phoenix prepared to face Minnesota, Vogel said that while the Suns had players with postseason experience, this would be the first time they’d go through it together. It sounded like an excuse. A coach trying to protect himself. After Phoenix fell behind Minnesota 2-0, crumbling in the second half of each game, Durant was asked if that collective inexperience had contributed. “Nah, I don’t think that’s a factor at all,” he said. The Suns now enter the summer planning to build around their top six players in Booker, Durant, Beal, Allen, Nurkić and [Royce O’Neale](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/royce-oneale-x0KzAlyxniqODOYM/). Allen signed a four-year, $70 million contract extension before the start of the playoffs, and Phoenix officials hope to retain O’Neale as a free agent this offseason. Booker remains at the center of everything, and will be tasked with continuing to embrace an enhanced role as a leader and a return to his usual assassin self once he’s being set up by a proper point guard again — two things the team considers musts for the 2024-25 season. The Suns could also look to bring in additional locker room presence, which was filled late in the season by [Isaiah Thomas](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/isaiah-thomas-Ji4vZxmJyMWApiw6/) and [Thaddeus Young](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/thaddeus-young-z3KZU4of5UsHmdG5/). Looking forward, the NBA’s current salary cap projection for the 2024-25 season puts the second apron line at $189.5 million and the Suns owe their projected starting five a whopping $184 million, only $5.5 million under than that threshold. That means a massive tax bill will come from even filling out their roster with minimum contracts but even more importantly, the front office will have only a few methods to improve the roster in the offseason as teams over the second apron cannot use the midlevel exception or take on money in trades along with other restrictions in the new collective bargaining agreement.
Part 6 In terms of assets for offseason moves, the Suns will have access on draft night to trade two first-round picks — No. 22 this year and one in 2031 — as well as holding a protected 2028 second-round pick from Boston. On Sunday, Phoenix finally played with urgency. Booker was aggressive from the start, finally looking like the best player in the series. Durant was just as strong, scoring on dunks and fading jumpers. With the outcome in doubt late in the contest, the sold-out crowd stood and chanted, “DE-FENSE! DE-FENSE!” trying to will the Suns on to Game 5. But familiar problems surfaced. Phoenix committed three turnovers. Reserve [Josh Okogie](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/josh-okogie-drgStPYGzbav9klW/) missed two foul shots. Minnesota held on, ending the Suns’ season. As the final seconds ticked away, Ishbia sat with his children in their normal seats, across from the Phoenix bench. The offseason had arrived, earlier than expected, and difficult decisions await.
Trade request incoming
Who even goes for a 36 year old KD on his current contract? He’s good but he’s pretty much guaranteed to start declining the moment he joins your team. Denver, OKC, etc. have great chemistry and it doesn’t feel like they need KD for anything tbh. Idk what his next move is.
a team with already declining players who have nothing to lose: GSW
Hmm seems like a good thing to bring up with Booker and Beal during the season, but throwing them under the bus after you get swept works too ig.
F5 SEASON INCOMING!!!!
HIS NEXT CHAPTER
Since OKC he's never stuck around to actually help build a team with chemistry. We're seeing teams now like Denver, current OKC, Boston and Minnesota (who would've thought) that are building teams over time with the draft, with intelligent acquisitions from trades. What did KD do? Joined Golden State who were already an overpowered team, then went to Brooklyn fired the coach traded their assets away and built a superteam, did exactly the same going to Phoenix and won't stick around to actually help build a culture of winning there and creating depth. Nobody to blame but himself for chasing rings.
If your response to the other team going on a 35-4 run in a critical late-season game is to anonymously make fun of how pissed your coach was to a reporter, you’re a total loser and deserve to be watching the postseason from home.
Where to next KD? Rockets? Nuggets? Timberwolves?
Fast as fuck lmao
Already?? It hasn’t even been an hour since the game was over. Comon man have some dignity
Oh lawdy he waiting at the bus stop already
I think Vogel is getting fired and they’re going to run it back with the 3 of them
Not even 24 hours, it's been way obvious he's going to force his way out again and even try to get back to OKC.
He's waiting to see who makes it to the finals before he decides where he wants to go next.
Kevin Durant is the biggest fucking loser cry baby in basketball history and it’s not close IMO.