What the Phoenix Suns Can LEARN From the NBA Playoffs Plus Could KD Go To the Clips?

What the Phoenix Suns Can LEARN From the NBA Playoffs Plus Could KD Go To the Clips?

Today on Locked on Phoenix Suns, a Kevin Durant trade we forgot yesterday that’s pretty darn spicy. But first, what should the Suns be learning from the NBA playoffs? Let’s go. You are Locked On Suns, your daily Phoenix Suns podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. your team every day. Welcome back in to Locked on Phoenix Suns. I’m Brendan Clean, a staff writer at Offlin Announcing and a credentialed Suns media member. Thank you for making Locked on Suns first listen here on this Thursday. Don’t forget Locked On Suns free and available on all platforms including YouTube. So click that follow or subscribe button. Do what thousands of other Suns fans have already done. Become an everydayer and get locked on to the Phoenix Suns right here each and every day. We’ve got a little bit of a grab bag, the Durant trade addendum. We’ve got a pickup on Ben’s sad point from yesterday and lessons from the playoffs. Joining me to break it all down as always from the Wild West Valley, my fellow Suns credential media member. How are we feeling, Ben Garcia? I’m good. I’m good. I will be uh even better once I find out the Suns are just going to get a haul for Kevin Durant. But for now, I’m okay. I’m stable. I’ve recovered from the draft lottery. That kind of annoyed me, but I’m over it now. Kind of. Yeah. Well, it’s gonna have ripple effects. The Mavs are looking for a point guard all of a sudden, according to the latest news. Tus Jones, come on down. I found it funny to see all the Suns fans saying that. I mean, I know that they’re just trying to like wish bad things on Dallas, which I’m all for, but I part of me I’m like, do you guys think they’re going to trade him? Like I I almost I think some fans are like we’re not getting anything back here in the valley for that. That’s just that’s just their issue. I think the meme of it is just like last year the Suns needed a point guard. Titus Jones took less. He came here it was a disaster and it’s like Tus Jones come on down to the Dallas Mavericks and just blow that up too while you’re at it. I don’t think anyone actually thinks you can get anything from because obviously he’s expiring but still funny. All right, let’s get to the playoffs, which the Mavericks are not a part of. Neither are the Suns, of course. But you and I have been, as I think a lot of our listeners probably Ben, are are just gorging on this stuff right now. It’s been one amazing game after the next, upsets galore. But big picture, I think it’s always interesting to take a step back and just think what’s working in the NBA right now. I mean, I don’t know how many people think the Suns are going to be necessarily a title contender next year, but I think we would like to believe they could potentially push for a playin and before long, they’d like to be at least looking at a deep postseason run. And so, they should be building a roster that and a and a whole organization that can do that and and can compete with what’s winning on our screens every night right now. So, I’ll let you go first. What do you feel like is the biggest thing you want the Suns to take away and learn from the postseason right now? That it doesn’t have to be all just over. It doesn’t have to go into a straight rebuild. The Suns have a clear path or maybe not so clear. It’s obviously pretty mercury, but there’s a path that might be a little covered up to follow what the Indiana Pacers have done and even to an extent the New York Knicks as well. It’s different because they’re in the Eastern Conference and a it’s a little bit less of a gauntlet, but it’s less about one or two guys and it’s more about the collective. Sure, Allebertton will hit a gamewinner or Jaylen Brunson will take over in the fourth quarter, but those teams as well weren’t even built through the draft. A lot of the Knicks have one guy in Mitchell Robinson who plays consistent minutes for them that was drafted and and uh uh molded by the New York Knicks. You look at the Indiana Pacers too. A lot of it is bringing in players Tyrese Hallebertton uh Seakum Nemhart outside of like a Benedict Mtherin. It’s a lot of guys who were kind of brought into the fold. Now, it’s going to be tougher for the Suns to do this, but if you nail a Kevin Durant trade, and then you turn that into potentially you get your picks back, whatever that looks like, and then the very next year you turn that into a solid p piece that you can get in the draft, your team could be built with, yes, the core of Devin Booker, but I don’t know, an OG, a Jabari Smith, a player like that to help bolster this team to where it doesn’t have to be so star centric, but mostly revolve around Devin Booker and the collection of a group. I think what you’ve seen now too, man, is the super teams are dead, which kind of benefits the Phoenix Suns because they can’t get those guys anyways. But I think there is a a place that if you nail a Durant trade, nail one or two signings, if you get under the apron, maybe a mid-level exception, like all that stuff is down there. Like, it doesn’t have to be over. And I know you’ll probably go the schematics way of things. That’s kind of why I went a different approach, but that’s what I see. And I think those paths are in the Eastern Conference, which are a little bit different. Yeah, I I think it’s super valid. I mean, I was just looking at the teams while you were talking and kind of trying to trace a little bit in my head of how each of them was built. And what’s weird is two of the teams that I mean, for all we know, might face off in the finals were built by getting rid of Paul George. That’s a weird thing where the Thunder end up with Shay and the Pacers ended up with Sabonis and then Sabonis became Hallebertton. So I I don’t know if PG can, you know, I’m sure the $200 million he’s going to take home in the next little while is going to make up for it, but that’s also some weird solace he can take. But yeah, it’s even the Wolves with, you know, basically punting on towns for financial reasons and then they’re right back where they just were in the conference finals, you know, like I think that that is a good lesson to to to remember. Obviously, the Warriors had to rebuild themselves after losing the same guy the Suns are likely about to lose, KD, and and they made a series of trades and everything to to return. It helps to have Steph Curry, of course, but like it’s it’s true the the league is a trades league more than it’s ever been. Uh you have to draft that get to get your depth, I would say, but you can make some smart moves to to fill in around that. And the Suns already drafted their guy a long time ago. He’s still here. His name’s Deon Booker. So, very, very true. Uh mine would be on the note of book. Um, and I don’t mean this as a negative, but uh, my lesson is to protect Booker, right? And you kind of look at some of these guys like maybe protect’s not the right word. Maybe insulate or I don’t know it, but like Hallebertton is a good example, right? Like he’s not a great defender and has limitations. He’s not really a, you know, mid-range scorer. He’s really a kind of wonky, unorthodox type of scorer in the first place, but he has things that he does well and they’ve built the team around that where he doesn’t have to defend the best players offensively. He can be a table setter, you know. Um, I would say that the same thing is true about Steph Curry. The same thing is to a lesser extent true about Anthony Edwards. The other thing a lot of those guys have is they have additional playmakers around them so they don’t have to do it all themselves. I feel like you’re kind of seeing where in the past we we’ve obviously talked about how the Suns were just building a an old-fashioned version of a team, right? Like the big three mold basically was dead and the Suns tried to reincarnated and it didn’t work. I think we’re really starting to see like what it how you build a team with one or two superstar maxtype players and the way you do it is to get the best possible role players to accentuate what they do well and make up for what they do worst. And I I think that if you think about it that way, it’s not so crazy to imagine how this team could be pretty competitive with Book because if there’s anything we know about this Suns team with all the uncertainty we know what Devin Booker is and what he isn’t, you know what I mean? And if you start at that point, I think you can get pretty far with the roster around him. I would agree with you in a lot of things that you had said because it’s been hard over the past couple of days to try to find a way back which is why when you had uh lofted up this idea for a segment I was kind of like okay so let’s let’s signal it around keeping book and I think a lot of what you and I say goes hand inand where Booker can be your one like he’s the one on this team but is a two in the NBA standards and if you surround him around the players that fit the mold of him then yeah this team can figure it out. Brendan, I I know I’ve said this before, but the Suns are one nailed Kevin Durant trade away, which is a massive if from being way more entertaining next year and absolutely a playoff team. I think this team can do that. I think they could be every year is not the same. Doesn’t mean the West is going to get better. The NBA is weird. I think the best thing you can do is keep put your best foot forward. Put a competent team around Booker and this team can be a playoff team next year. Not second round, not finals, but a playoff maybe. I mean, it’s hard. I look I look at uphill climb who made the playoffs this year. That feels like a little bit of a higher expectation that I’m going to try to hold on to. But I think um a better identity and a more promising future. Those are obviously things we hope that they can achieve, right? But I I mean like to be more specific on mine, I I would say getting bigger. Like Booker is Yeah. for a two. He’s not even that big and he gets hurt uh from time to time and and some of those soft tissue things like just being huge would help be a more of a Devin Booker complimentary type of team. I’ve I’ve used the Olympic book comp. Like I would be trying to get as close to that high IQ big players like that. That really might be the most simplistic way to put it, right? Like once upon a time when I didn’t know how good Book was going to get, I compared him to Kyrie Irving. Like I wrote an article saying he could be the Kyrie to a LeBron. Maybe that’s still his ultimate destiny for all we know is is being that more of that type of guy. But I think you would look at in that case probably like a Jamal Murray, right? Like the the type of team that’s around him. You got a 610 three, you got a Aaron Gordon at the four, a beast at the five with Joic. And you know, Brown’s a a physical dude like that that protects and maximizes Jamal Murray and books better than him. So those are some of the things that I’ve that I’ve definitely been thinking about and it’s kind of a cool opportunity to start from scratch a little bit and really just say what’s the what is a book team look like? Not a Chris Paul team, not a Kevin Durant team. How what does a Devin Booker team look like? We’ve never really seen it because the last time that was true, they sucked. I mean, I guess Ricky Rubio and some like that team was probably But that team that team also wasn’t great. They were just really good in the bubble. Like they were they were probably about as good as the Suns are going to be this year if we’re being honest. I mean they were fun. Like they were fun. That’s the That’s the I think that’s the best way that I would put it is that they were a fun team to watch and and that’s what we’re looking for next year. Like the standard for me because you had just mentioned this is like it’s not playoffs. It’s like just be more fun to watch and have some sort of purpose and goals in mind and try to achieve those. If you make the playoffs, awesome. But I’m not holding my breath either. I just don’t think it’s impossible. But it’s not impossible. No, I mean, we got a long way to go before we can say anything with certainty. We know like two of the players who are for sure going to be on this roster next season. But let’s get to one of the things that will have a lot to do with who is on this roster. Another Kevin Durant trade. adding on to our conversation from yesterday. Coming up next, first today’s show brought to you by Wayfair. The days are getting longer, the weather’s warming up, and people are spending more time outside, which means it’s the perfect time to refresh your outdoor space. Whether you’re working with a big backyard or a small balcony, Wayfair has everything you need to make it feel more like you. Wayfair’s massive selection of outdoor essentials makes it easy to transform any space into your ideal summer setup. From comfy conversation sets to sleek dining tables and outdoor decor, they’ve got it all at prices that fit your budget. If you’re in Arizona, the whole, “Oh, it’s so sweet and nice to say it out in the summertime.” Not quite true, but what it is is it’s pool time. And that means maybe a little Sha’s lounge, maybe a little umbrella easy up type thing. Um, what else? Maybe some uh like a hammock. I don’t know. What do you guys have? I don’t have a a backyard that’s big enough to have a pool. I have an apartment. Shop a huge selection of outdoor furniture online. Find the perfect thing for you this summer. Get outside with Wayfair. Head to wayfair.com right now. That’s wy fir.com. Wayfair. Every style, every home. All right, Ben, let’s keep it rolling here. So, I threw this trade idea at you almost immediately after we logged off yesterday because I honestly was planning to map it out and do it in the show and I forgot. But it’s perfect cuz we can do it now and spend more time on it alone. This is similar to I would say the Durant trades where I’ve seen like after the Cavs got eliminated yesterday uh on Tuesday people were saying the oh Darius Garland you know you and I had talked a while ago about like could we see more of a star for star swap. You brought one up with Paul George yesterday. People have talked about Trey Young or John Moran or Zion. unlikely. I would say all of those, but this one is with the Los Angeles Clippers. And I personally don’t find it to be quite as unlikely as some of these other ones. And I’ll let you tell me if you agree or disagree. Here it is on the YouTube screen for people. Kevin Durant to the Clippers for James Harden, Derrick Jones, and Amir Coffee. Now, think of this really as Harden, and I would say include a pick. The Clippers don’t have a ton of those. Um, they have their 2027 pick and then really far out in the future, 2031 and 2032. One of those picks and then you really can just fill in anything else. Like they have a ton of different types of salaries. It doesn’t have to be what I have up here, which is Derrick Jones and Amir Coffee. You could really fill in with just about anybody. But think of the trade as Harden, some role players, and a first round pick for Kevin Durant. What are your thoughts? Um, I like it because if you Now, the one thing that needs to happen is like there needs to be some draft compensation involved. If we’re giving you Kevin Durant, the the Suns need to get back some draft compensation. I don’t know what that looks like. Things can change. Three, four team trades, but I like it because it’s a mix of like again, my standard is no longer playoffs, uh, like deep runs in the playoffs or championships. But if you’re talking about a team that needs a point guard, James Harden check, who has, if I’m not mistaken, led the league in assists before, at least came close to it in James Harden. And then you add Derek, you add Derrick Jones Jr. and Amir Coffee. Derrick Jones Jr. who is a long big man and can defend really well and sometimes spotty with his three-pointers if I’m not mistaken. I have that up right here. So he’s 35%. He’s like the exact mold of a guy who could shoot a little bit better from three that you would put around Devin Booker. And then you’re talking about a lineup of a uh uh Nick Richards, Derrick Jones Jr., Ryan Dunn, James Harden, Devin Booker. Like, it does scratch the itch a little bit when it comes to competitive standpoint. And you bring you bring James Harden home to Arizona where he went to college. Listen, we know his playoff failures, but we are not talking about this like winning a championship. We’re talking about this about keeping the team afloat and getting something for the future and Dererick Jones Jr. and Amir Coffee mostly Derrick Jones Jr. do fit that mold. I think Derrick Jones Jr. like I think Jabari Smith I think his peak is like what Dererick Jones Jr. was to the maps last year. Like I don’t think it’s an insane peak. And so if he’s 27 and who knows you could use that contract to trade later on or maybe the next year. What if James Harden is awesome and someone wants to trade for him? You could move him. He’s got another year on that. That’s the thing. That’s the thing. I I it really So this is more of a treading water trade, right? Like uh if you get the 2027 pick from the Clippers, for instance, like you know, you’re giving them Kevin Durant. I would imagine he’ll be pretty good even for two years from now. And that pick’s going to be mediocre at best. You would assume Kawawaii, he got through the season. Like he’ll at least be playing some games for them. That’s not an awesome asset to get you some sort of young blue chip piece. And Dererick Jones is already 27. Like he’s not really getting better. He’s in his prime. He’s a good He is what he is. He’s a super, you know, reasonable player to have around. And they don’t really have like an awesome draft recent draft pick of their own. So to me, the whole thing is treading water more than a lot of the other deals we’ve talked about because Harden is the single best player far and away that we’ve ever talked about potentially getting. But it’s also what do you do with Harden after that, right? Because he has a player option for this upcoming season. You would ass basically to make this trade happen, he would have to opt into that. Uh, I believe you could extend him or or you could, you know, wink wink, we’ll we’ll sign you next summer, but like what is what does it really accomplish to have James Harden around for a little while? Would you maybe try to flip him at at some point in the future? You really want to take that risk? Like that’s where things get a little hairy with this one is Harden’s a great asset because he’s good, but he’s not getting you closer to the next great Devin Booker team that we’ve been talking about for months at this point. Him alone is not. But that’s another aspect that I kind of hovered over is you could get James Harden and just immediately flip him. He makes $30 million a year. Someone might be so inclined to take that from you, give you a pick. Maybe, you know, obviously you have to add salaries have to match in in I guess in some at that point it’s it’s less so like just just so we’re being as specific as possible. It’s probably less of flip him again and more this becomes a three-team trade. Yes. I mean, and the Suns get more and the Suns get more draft capital. But if you could get Derrick Jones Jr. air coffee and you end up with four, three, probably three first round picks. And it depends what they are. It depends how far away they are. Like I might be in on that, but also they’re at that point though, it’s like I don’t think teams are really giving up a heck of a lot for James Harden. Like he just had like the Suns are one of the unique teams that No, he just crapped the bed and he’s 35 about to hit free agency. I think that’s a really tough spot to be in unless you’re a very select amount of teams. What’s your idea? Well, exactly. What’s your idea of what you think can get back? Like I’m not I’m not saying they’re going to get back Javari Smith, Cam Whitmore, and two first round picks, but like Well, exactly. So then the trade be Yeah. Well, then if the trade becomes Derrick Jones, salary filler, and two bad first round picks from some team that’s desperate to get Harden, I’d rather just do a different trade, right? Like Mhm. So that that’s sort of the thing is like with Harden being the most valuable part of it probably to the Suns because of that treading water and you know whatever that just makes it a little bit tricky like it’s he’s more valuable to them than probably a lot of other teams because the Suns do seem a little desperate to be competitive next season. But then you’re probably just back to having the same conversation next summer where you go, “Well, how like how are we gonna how do we turn the page and reset around book?” Like he you know that that it’s just that’s where I get hung up on this one. Also, if we’re talking about if we’re believing Gregory and Ibia about what the next great Suns the next Suns team looks like, that is just competitive. I don’t know if James Harden fits that mold. Like I don’t I the only reason why I think they’d do it is because bigname Arizona State connection. That’s it. And I do think Harden would want to be here. Yeah. Yeah. He would want to be here. It’s not like it’s not my favorite trade. Like let me just throw that out there. It’s not my favorite, but it’s not my least favorite. I I’ve seen some other ones that I dislike. Um there’s also a way to get Harden, sorry, to get KD to the Clippers without including Harden. Uh but again like they just have a lot of role players and so there’s not the type of hey this is a young depth piece that can get better which is just mostly my priority with a lot of these trades. So like Bogdanovich and Powell and Zubots and things like that it’s like maybe Zubots but the rest of it I I don’t care. you know, the uh you want to talk about leadership issues, that conversation getting brought up, imagine Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard on the same team. Oh man, whether it’s fair or not, people would be talking about that every single day. Two of the problem is people don’t talk about the superstars. If you throw Kevin Durant there, they do probably. Probably. Who’s better at that point, the Clippers or the Lakers? Uh, it’s a good question. I would probably go Lakers just because of the Kawawaii question mark, you know, but Well, that’s a good point. It’s a good point. We’re not locked on Lakers or Clippers, but it’s just an interesting exercise and it’s one of the few teams that I would root for if Kevin Rant went there because I I don’t mind them. I do think I I mean, I would be I would be hoping for the best for him if he ended up anywhere in the East, too, you know, because at that point, what do I care? Um, yeah, I think the Clippers are just they feel like a team who could be they’re just in such a a weird spot as a team. So, I could see them being desperate enough to try something, but it’s hard for me to find one that I think the Suns would say yes to, I guess, is the way I would put it. But, let’s get to our final topic of the day, which is a little bit of a downer, but it’s going to be a good conversation, and I promise you I will be plenty optimistic within it as well. Ben brought up yesterday as we were talking about uh trades and everything like in the aftermath of the lottery with Dallas and Philly jumping up like wow those were the other two teams we said the Suns were in this like doom spiral with and they just got a bright ray of hope with the lottery going their way. Does that mean the Suns are at rock bottom? So we’ll talk it out next. All right, Ben, let’s close it out. You brought this up, so I’ll let you explain and set us up a little bit, but the Suns were part of a pretty disastrous trio in the NBA this year. And then the other two pieces of that trio suddenly might have escaped the bottom of the NBA because they’re about to get two awesome young prospects on their team. So, does that leave the Suns just fully at the rock bottom of rock bottoms in the league? A player that I didn’t think we were going to talk well obviously that no I don’t think a lot of people have talked about but obviously we don’t talk about here that I thought for sure was going to be a dark horse trade candidate and I thought I would have guessed I would have put my money on him getting traded was Joel Embiid but now that you’re the 76ers like who cares if Paul George is is a terrible contract. You already had one of those with Tobias Harris for years, but you got Tyrese Maxi and it made it all feel a little bit better. And now with Paul George, you could potentially move him to the bench. I don’t know how that would work. Or he becomes your fourth asset now. Or you can the the options became endless for the 76ers now. Now you could package Paul George and the third overall pick and send him elsewhere. Get a player in. Maybe it’s Kevin Durant. Like just nonsense, right? and and so now the the options have just been open whereas before they were crippled uh literally and literally and figuratively when it comes to Cap or injury concerns with Joel Embiid and now you’re like if they hit on this pick or if they move it for someone else they’re right back in a disgustingly bad east next year and maybe Joel Embiid finally makes the conference finals. The Dallas Mavericks went from being the laughingstock, just the pit of all. When you make fun of management, you make fun of that team, and they got Cooper Flag, and they are now easily a top five f like team for the future and right now. And then there’s the Suns. Those are the only two teams that had it worse because at least you could trade Kevin Ran. No one’s trading for Paul George unless you add that pick to it. The the Mavs just lost Luca. you’re not recovering from that. The Suns are easily the darkest team right now. It doesn’t mean it can’t get flipped around. Sports is weird. But I would ask you this obviously like one, do you agree with me? And two, it’s okay if we’re in this bottomless pit and it’s okay if we’re the laughingstock of the NBA right now. The question is not are the Suns there. The question is, how do we how do we never get back in this spot again? What is the number one thing to not get back into this horrific laughing stock spot again that the Suns are in? It’s okay to be here as long as you learn from it. That would be my question to you. Well, I’ll answer your first main question first, which is that I don’t think the Sun laughing stock’s a different thing. Yes, the Suns are the laughingstock. Whatever. That that’s temporary. Who cares? I think that they aren’t in the worst spot in the league. Yes, their picks are, you know, gone for years and yes, uh, we don’t even know what the GM is up to and what’s going on with that situation and they’re about to have to get rid of two of the big three that they were touting just two years ago and all the stuff we know is bad. But Matt Ishbia has not ruined the goodwill that I gave him two years ago when he bought the team in this one way, which is that when he bought the team, we all said he is going to, not just us, everybody, everybody in national NBA media was saying Phoenix has been this quiet juggernaut, wasted juggernaut of a market forever because Robert Sarver was so As long as that’s still true and Matt Ishpia doesn’t ruin that, which he hasn’t because he’s still spending money and still being aggressive. The Wizards, the Hornets, uh the Jazz, like these teams, I mean, we’ll see on the Jazz. They were very good not too long ago, but there’s a lot of teams that have just never been able to get out of the bottom of the bottom of the league. I’m not putting the Suns beneath those teams just because of how the past two years have gone. And so that that’s my silver lining. People are going to want to come here. Jimmy Butler actively wanted to join a situation that we were all like dreading turning the TV on for. So that’s what I would say. Yes, Dallas and Philly probably leapt up over the top of the Suns with what happened on Monday night, but the Suns are far away from being these tiny market poorly managed teams that have been in the bottom for so long. So, uh, and then my answer of how you get how you avoid it is, um, probably the stuff we were talking about in the first segment about the playoffs, right? like mimic what’s working in the rest of the league and probably if you’re Matt Ishpia don’t operate like you know better than everybody. Um couldn’t agree more about the the Suns will always be a destination in a warm weather city with Scottsdale and a lot of great things going on here in Phoenix. Uh, I’d push back on I maybe the Suns aren’t worse than those teams, but I I would think right now they’re on par. Right now is right now that could change, but like Hornets, you know, still got Melo and Brandon Miller and still have all their picks and you know, make a serious case to me why the Hornets are in a better position than the Suns. Oh, no. A serious case? Well, you got now injury concerns, but Melo can be an all-star. Brandon Miller has shown the Suns. Yeah, but both those guys are significantly younger than Deon Booker and we’re and I don’t know you think they’re going to be better. They could be. I don’t know. Brandon Miller showed some sparks. Probably not. But I think that there’s a serious case to be made, especially for a team that um has all their picks, too. And that’s it. Yeah, they’re counting on lottery balls just like they were on Monday. How’d that work out? Which was tough. Which was tough. I agree with you. But at least they have lottery balls. Suns didn’t have any. Well, the Suns could get some if they did. They just make some moves, right? Like the Suns still haven’t traded Deon Booker. Like you could say the Bucks are pretty close, right? But they have Giannis. So it’s hard to really make the case of like why they’re why it’s so bleak because either they have Giannis and that raises your floor. Or you get rid of Giannis, you get a whole bunch of stuff back for him and suddenly the future doesn’t look so bleak. So, that’s kind of where I think the Suns are at where it’s like they’re not quite at the bottom and then it’d be pretty easy to raise themselves up past these these seller tweet teams because they’ll just hit the panic button and eventually trade Book and then we won’t be saying, “Oh, there’s no future. It’ll just be all the crap they get back for book.” So, the one thing again I would say just to not be doom and gloom also is, hey man, Rockets had a 1.8% chance. I’m sorry, the Mavericks had a 1.8% 8% chance completely turned their franchise around. The Suns just get ping pong balls. Next year, back-to-back years, Hawks and the Mavericks had super low chances of won the lottery. If the Suns are talking about the number one overall pick next year, and I don’t I I can I can barely tell you the players that are in this draft. I’ve done very early research on like five players and four of them are everyone already knows about. If the Suns become that team, like they could be. And then you’re talking about pairing up Devin Booker with some guy next year. And that can happen. That can happen. It’s not impossible. Yeah. They have to get those picks back. Uh the Wizards have their pick next year and the Rockets have it after that and then the Wizards again and then the Rockets again. But uh yeah, it’s just one move like that away. It always is in the NBA. But again, the Suns have the the added benefit of being a place that a Chris Paul, a Kevin Durant, a Bradley Beal, a Jimmy Butler would choose to go even when things aren’t amazing. And so until that goes away, I’m probably never going to say they’re worse off than most of these teams. Now, I could eat my words. We have a lot of moves to go this off season. They could hire Doc Rivers to be their coach in like two weeks and I’ll just melt down. But oh my god, it’s not it’s not as ugly as it could be. I could not imagine. I could not imagine. That’ll wrap us up. Hit follow or subscribe if you have not already. Become an everydayer. One more episode to round out the week as again I keep saying it. We got to hear some coaching search news. We got to hear some real names we can parse through. Hopefully that happens before long. We’ll catch you tomorrow.

The Phoenix Suns have a lot to learn from the NBA playoffs to build a better team around Devin Booker going forward.

Brendon Kleen and Ben Garcia discuss what lessons the Suns can learn from the postseason before diving into another Kevin Durant trade and whether the Suns are truly at rock bottom in the NBA.

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