Tim Legler Says Houston Rockets NEED Kevin Durant & Phoenix Suns Can Bounce Back

Tim Legler Says Houston Rockets NEED Kevin Durant & Phoenix Suns Can Bounce Back

There’s a lot going on with the Phoenix Suns off season. So, of course, we got to tap in with all NBA’s own Tim Leggler. Tim, we appreciate you joining us today. How you doing, Legs? My pleasure to be on. I’m great, man. I’m great. How are you guys? You know, the off season has been treating us well. However, it did come a little bit early and now we’re in the middle of a coaching search and we’re just trying to make sense of it all. Obviously, the Sun season has been over for a while. You’ve been focused on playoff basketball, but now that this season has been left in the dust, what were your final thoughts on the 2024 2025 campaign from this team? Well, it’s um unfortunately, I guess, another massive underachievement. I mean, I how else can you really describe it? I think that sort of typifies what’s happened here the last couple of seasons. And it’s really just a um difficult situation because they’ve had two different coaches over the last two years, both of whom had won championships in this league. So they came uh well respected. They had proven that they could win. Each guy got one year, one opportunity to coach this team. Um clearly the fit wasn’t great in either case for different reasons, but um you looked at the talent on paper. I actually really liked the acquisitions that they made going into this past season. Thought that they improved their team. Uh, and you know, injuries played a part as they do with I feel like a lot of teams in this league. I talk about injuries way more than I would like to and how it affected and derailed teams or months for teams or the entire season in some cases. So, yeah, that played a part, but we saw enough of a sample size with the group that they had to realize that it just doesn’t work. like the chemistry is just not there. The connection to the head coach has not been there the last two seasons. Uh I didn’t think there was enough fight out of this group. Um and I I called a couple of Phoenix Suns games this year, so I was able to see it courtside and you could pick up on things when you’re sitting there more so than watching a game on TV. I didn’t think there was a ton of resolve out of this group. I didn’t think they handled adversity very well. Um, and I think that it didn’t look to me like there was just a great energy and vibe and connection on this roster with each other first and then also with the head coach. And when you add all that up, you know, you get an underachievement based on the talent at the top of this roster. I don’t think there’s any other word for it. Tim, it feels like the clock has the time has ran out for this big three iteration for the Phoenix Suns. I’m curious, what are your thoughts on that subsegment of this team? And do you feel like they should go with a Booker centric roster or do you feel like some faction of that big three should still exist going into next season? I mean, if it were me, I think I would I would probably move toward the direction of the of the first part of that question, the Devin Booker centric team. I mean, that was a team uh that was able to get to an NBA final with Deon Booker as your centerpiece. you you don’t you don’t necessarily need three scoring stars in this league. Um you know, one superstar, one allstar caliber scorer, and then a roster built around defense and depth, we’ve seen it is good enough to win in this league. I basically just described the Oklahoma City Thunder. Um I think I probably just described the Minnesota Timberwolves roster as well. Those two teams are playing for the right to go to the NBA finals. They’ve got one superstar each, Anthony Edwards, Shay Gilis Alexander. They’ve got one co-star next to those guys, Jaylen Williams, and Julius Randall. And the rest of their roster is built around defense, depth, and guys that understand their role, willing to accept the role, stay in their lane, and seem pretty connected to their head coach. That’s what I just described. You’re not talking about teams that are just going out there. Um, you know, this isn’t the Warriors team with Kevin Durant on it that just overwhelmed you with talent that nobody could answer and had a great style of play as well. You know, that’s not what I’m describing here. And so, for me, taking that approach, I think, could be the way to go forward. Now, to do that, you’d have to look at moving Kevin Durant. You’d have to look at Bradley Beal waving his no trade clause and and and be willing to go somewhere else. He was unwilling to do that this past year. And look, I I still believe in Kevin Durant. Kevin’s a great player. Kevin Durant can be a tipping point for a lot of teams in this league and winning a championship if he were to go there. I don’t think it’s going to happen with this group. Um, so maybe even Kevin Durant now would be open to exploring, you know, greener pastures somewhere else. I’m not sure how Bradley Beal feels about everything now. Know how he felt about it in the moment. Didn’t want to wave the no trade. He maybe he’s maybe he’ll look at things differently over the summer. or does he want to come back to another dysfunctional situation in a team that’s going to underachieve and or does he want to go somewhere potentially where he can be a differencemaker on a team that’s playing relevant games you know later into late April and into May. So for me I think that’s a formula that is now proving that you can succeed within this league. You don’t need three guys anymore that are sort of ball dominant scoring type players. There’s other ways to go about it. You mentioned you still believe in Kevin Durant. Stephen and I also still big believers in what he can do going forward even at the later part of his career. Obviously the Suns gave up the farm to get him. Muel Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jay Crowder, all the first round picks you could possibly imagine. Where do you see Kevin Durant’s value going into this summer for maybe a team like a Houston or another one of these contenders that is desperate to make a win now move? There’s no question that Kevin Durant is the is the guy that some of these teams need. Like you look at Houston, you know, it’s amazing. I and it actually was a to me the strongest case for Eay Udoka for coach of the year. The fact that this team was second in the Western Conference in a loaded West, difficult conference, finished second, and we were like wondering like is anybody on this roster going to make an all league team? I mean, think about that. You can’t even identify necessarily who their best offensive player is on any given night. You got Alprin Shangun, you got Jaylen Green. Like I don’t think either one of those guys are shoeing to make it all league team. So they’re again a team built around their defense. Uh they’re younger guys particularly in the way that they defend. And then offensively they’ve got a couple of guys that they build it around with the two I just mentioned. And then and then you know role players that on a given night, man, you don’t know who it’s going to be. They need a guy that’s more of a alpha offensive player that’s capable of going and getting you difficult buckets against great defenders and great defenses. Kevin Durant kind of describes that. You look at a team like the Orlando Magic. Yeah, they got two they got two big-time offensive forwards on that team, but and they’re great defensively. I mean, they’re as good as anybody in this league defensively outside of Oklahoma City. It’s not enough offensively. you know, you get into the playoffs, you’re having a difficult time getting to 100 points. That’s just not going to get it done in in in, you know, the modern era of the NBA. And I’m not saying that Orlando could make a move to get Kevin Durant, but there are teams out there that are young. Detroit’s another one, young. They’ve got some talent, enough because of their defense to keep them in the mix every night, but certainly not good enough to contend. Kevin Durant could be the difference maker on some of the some of those teams because he still is a guy that has an answer for any defense in front of him and that’s what those teams lack. Tim, kind of tying the playoffs and the teams that are actually in it with looking at the lens through the Suns. Uh you look at Carl Anthony Towns, you look at Miles Turner, you look at Rudy Goar, you look at Isaiah Hardenstein. These are versatile centers that give value on both ends of the court. For the Suns, that was probably their weakest point this season. How important is it to have a center that can kind of punch up in respect to the types of the centers that we just got done speaking to going forward? I mean, the versatility on that end of the floor is is really important. I mean, and it doesn’t mean that they’ve got to be necessarily a three-point shooter like a like a Miles Turner or a Carl Anthony Towns, the two guys that you mentioned. Um it but what it does mean is that they’ve got to have versatility defensively that laterally they can even Mitchell Robinson you’re seeing you saw it in the Boston series like he’s a guy that you know I mean he struggles at the free throw line can’t make a shot outside of really a layup or dunk and yet he had massive impact in that series because laterally he can jump out onto a smaller player do a reasonable job containing containing them and if he is beat he’s athletic enough to track them to the rim and make a play and and his presence in there changes the way you you penetration against those teams offensively, you process it differently. So, he has an impact far outside the box score and what he’s generating. You need that. You definitely need that kind of versatility. Now, if you can also get in the case of Miles Turner, you can get, you know, great rim protection and additional guy that can step out on a given night, give you 20 points because of his perimeter shooting. Great. I mean, those guys don’t grow on trees, and if you have one, you’re typically not getting rid of those guys, but I do think it it’s an area of upgrade for Phoenix. I mean, Nerkach is a guy that, you know, he can get you some defensive rebounds and get you on the offensive glass. He really struggles defensively. Plumbley is a guy that I like the addition of, but again, super limited offensively. It’s going to give you better energy to Nerkage. He can do a little bit more defensively, but just doesn’t give you the pop or punch on a given night. Um, and I think Phoenix viewed it as, well, we don’t need that because we got these other three guys that are going to get you, you know, on a bad night 70 and on a good night those guys might go for, you know, 90 to 100 points combined. Didn’t work out that way for them and uh because I don’t think the chemistry amongst them was great. So now those other spots on your roster become weak glaring weaknesses. So I do think it is important. I think it’s something that they’re going to have to address. I just think for me looking at Phoenix more than anything else, they need to get some some tougher guys that want to build their identity on what they do to you physically and defensively and a lot of want to. They need more of that. There’s not a tough edge to the team. And I think that to me is is something that they need to look at going forward. OKC has it. M Minnesota has it. um Indiana and New York to a certain extent, but they’re so good offensively at times with their top guys. Even being, you know, mediocre or a little bit above average defensively is good enough because of how good they are offensively. So, you have to upgrade that. You’ve got to add some toughness to your roster. sacrifice some of the scoring potential and prowess and the names on the back of the jersey and go with more of an identity and a culture built around a couple of top guys that can score and other guys that stay in their lane and complete your team a little bit more. I mean, that to me is the blueprint. It feels like you are laying out a blueprint for what the Sun should do going forward. I know a lot of the fans perspective on what’s going on is very bleak, very dire, long-term views of it might take us a couple of years to get ourselves out of this hole. How long do you think it might take this team to turn it around and get back to just being fun contending for maybe a bottom end playoff spot? I don’t think it’s as hard as people think. I really don’t. And one of the things you you’ve got to realize in this league, so take a look at for instance this blueprint though that I just laid out. Let’s go with Devin Booker as your as your top guy, your alpha. If you decide to move on from Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, somehow you’re able to get out from under that. Deon Booker’s 28 years old. Your your prime in this league is like 26 to 32. I mean, he’s he’s in the early stages of his prime. So, you’re talking about a guy at that age that’s going to be able to do things. And look, if you turn him into the alpha again, I mean, Devin Booker is going to be probably top five in the league in scoring. Um, if if that’s, you know, where where you want to, you know, unleash him offensively. So now you look at how you build doing the things that I just said. One of the things you’ve got to remember now in the NBA, the seedings are really kind of thrown up in the air because of all of the injuries and the mis time. All of these teams have missed time and injuries. So, if you can stay healthy with a team that is tough and competes built around a couple of top offensive players because of the time missed that everybody seems to go through. If you can keep your team healthy, which Houston was able to do all year, look what it can do for you in the regular season. Sacramento went through this a few years ago. They were the third seed in the Western Conference primarily because their top eight guys didn’t miss any time. They didn’t have the most talented team in the Western Conference. They finished third though. Now they lost in the first round to a Stephen Curry le Warriors team where he had to drop 50 in a game seven on their court to get it done. So you but you’re in the mix. You’re relevant. Like you’ve got vibrancy, your pulse is beating. I don’t think it’s nearly as bleak as people make it out to be because of the age of Devin Booker, how good he still is. And if you move on and figure out a way to trade Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal can wave that no trade and you get back the kind of guys I’m describing, I think you have a chance to get relevant pretty quickly. Love that from you, Tim. Uh, any other questions, Stephen? He said it all. He said it all. Unless he wants to talk playoff hoop, but I know we only got up for so long. And and we will ask you one question at the end about playoff hoop. I’m I’m not gonna ask you specifically to break down the list of nine assistant coaches that have been reported to be the finalist for the Sun. Thank you. Thank you. This is doing me a solid. I appreciate that. But as somebody who has been in the league and been around the league and seen a ton of assistant coaches come through and some of those assistant coaches get elevated to the head coaching spot, some of them have success and not. What is it that you would look for in an assistant coach that would tell Tim Leggler this guy’s ready to be the guy leading a roster in the main spot? Um, you know, se several things and I think first of all, let’s be clear here. If they don’t if they stand pat, um, I don’t know that going with an assistant coach that’s unproven as a head coach is the way to go with this roster. So, let’s assume that they don’t stand pat. They follow the plan that I just laid out. If that’s what they decide to do, I think maybe it can work. It’s a lot of it’s going to be the buyin of Devin Booker to that particular guy. But what you’re looking for several things I think offensive ingenuity and creativity first of all, okay? It can’t just be high ball screen and then we’re going to, you know, spread it out, make decisions and play out of that. Not everybody’s got the talent to be Boston. So you you’ve got to you’ve got to have some offensive ingenuity and creativity with with your motion, your player movement, your ball movement so that guys can get a buy in right away. Man, this guy’s sharp. Knows what he’s talking about. Day one, day two of camp, it’s obvious that this guy knows how to maximize a team offensively. Great communicator. I think communication is key. A guy that’s relatable to to the roster. So, not a guy that comes off that he’s just giving you something where he’s trying too hard to connect to the players. It’s got to come natural charisma and communication skills really important. And then I think he’s got to have guys that he’s going to surround himself with his staff that understand defensive preparation because for me that’s the quickest way to turn this around and become relevant is change your identity into a team that can get physical and defend. Um and and I don’t know that may maybe hey maybe this guy you hire that’s his specialty and then he’s got to go hire offensive coaches to handle what I just said offensively. Um, either way, as long as the staff is able to supplement what the weaknesses are of of the guy that you hire, because very few guys are going to be great on both ends. They’re probably either a guy that’s been known as an offensive mind or a guy that’s great defensively, this preparation. Then the staff has to supplement what he doesn’t do well. But the communication and the charisma are key, I think, right off the bat in connecting to the roster. Um, because you’re coming in unproven. you’ve never been in the in the hot seat and it’s a totally different feel, different level of communication with your team. So, it’s not an easy choice and and there’s got to be a buyin on the part of your top guy and if you decide to stay with Booker and build around him, then Deon Booker probably has to have some buy in. Tim, kind of to close things out for you here. Um, not going to ask for predictions per se for these conference final series, but maybe what’s one thing in each series that you’re kind of looking forward to watching develop as these series get rolling in today? I will tell you this going into the final four here. I think it’s the first time that I can remember 24 years of of getting to this point in the season at ESPN that I can honestly tell you I will not be very surprised at all by any combination of these four teams ending up in the finals. If I had to lean one way or another, it’d be Oklahoma City and Indiana. And the reason I would say that is because I think Indiana right now when you look at the the playoff body of work for all of these teams. Indiana’s had what I would call the cleanest sheet, meaning they’ve played the closest to their best that I saw during the regular season, the most consistently in their playoff run. They’re eight and two in the playoffs. And of those 10 games, they have been as more consistently close to their best level of play. So they’re clicking right now. and their offense is incredibly difficult to defend. This is a totally different animal than what the Knicks saw in the last two series, particularly in the Boston series. Boston is going to be high ball screen or ISO, break you down with individual talent, and then spread you out and shoot 40 to 50 or in case of game one, 60 three-point shots. Um, that’s not what Indiana’s going to do. They’re going to play fast up the floor. You got to have a state of readiness much earlier in the clock against Indiana. There’s got to be a level of physicality on cutters and on Tyresese Hallebertton that has to be there at an even higher level than Boston because of the way they move the ball, how quick and smart they are with their decision-m the number of guys that can shoot it and mainly the engine. Tyres Hallebertton if you’re not physical with Tyres Hallebertton up the floor jamming up where he catches the outlet passes because he catches those things 30 35 feet up the floor sometimes even after makes he’s a master at catching the ball on the move going toward half court so that he’s in the scoring area I think he does it better than any player I’ve seen since Steve Nash at catching outlets up the floor with movement it’s really an art form most point guards run back to get the ball slows everything down he’s always moving forward So now you’re you’re the pressure put on you in the first six seconds of the clock is totally different than any team in this league. So therefore that requires a higher level of state of readiness. Cross matches they’ll they’ll just torch you if you get into a cross match situation against them defensively. So the key for the Knicks, jam him up in the back court, jam him up as he comes over half court, tries to get that first brush screen 40 feet out. That’s where he wants to start going. You’ve got to be up in him. Bump him. Hit him. the guy guarding him, the guy helping on the screen. Tyresese Hallebertton is the key to the whole series. If Tyrese Hallebertton has freedom of movement in this series and he gets into a rhythm, Indiana has got a great chance of playing in the NBA finals. If the Knicks can get physical with him and limit him and attack him on the other end, maybe get him in foul trouble, make him work really hard to guard to guard Brunson or guard ball screens if they can get switches. I think the Knicks have have the upper hand. But so for me, it’s Hallebertton, man. That’s the key to the whole thing. It’s impossible to not get smarter when listening to you legs. We do really appreciate you taking some time out of your busy schedule to talk about the lowly Phoenix Suns with us. Of course, you can catch Legs on the AllNBA podcast on ESPN breaking down all the games, just everywhere talking basketball legs. We appreciate you so much. Thank you. Appreciate you guys having me. Remember, I was a son for a very brief time, but I was a Sun. So, I all I got to say to Suns fans is just like Annie said, the sun will come out tomorrow. You know what I mean? It’s not the end of the world. You got a lot of talent on that team and you could do either keep it and figure it out with a new coach or and surround change a supporting cast or you move on go forward with Booker and I think there’s a blueprint forward around him and in a different culture and identity and also Oscar League actually could be the best thing to happen to Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal as well. Maybe they get opportunities to go somewhere and be relevant and contend if they end up in a healthy situation. So I I think it could be a win-win for everybody associated with the Suns. No, I’m wishing there was another name added to that. A potential head coaching list and I’m talking to him right now. We appreciate it, Legs. Take care of yourself. We’ll speak to you again soon. You got it. Good talking to you.

Tim Legler, from ESPN & the ALL NBA Podcast, joins PHNX Suns to break down where the season went wrong around Kevin Durant, Devin Booker & Bradley Beal, discuss how the Phoenix Suns fix their problems, why the Rockets need a player like KD & why it makes sense to build a team around Book.

#PhoenixSuns #HoustonRockets #KevinDurant #NBA #ESPN #TimLegler #JalenGreen #DevinBooker #Trade #NBATrade

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