Pricey Suns complete season flop
PHOENIX—The NBA’s highest-paid team is officially among its lowest performers this season.
The Suns—with a roster that includes an All-Star trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal—were eliminated from postseason contention on Wednesday night when they fell, 125-112, to the short-handed Oklahoma City Thunder for their eighth straight loss.
In a sign at just how bad the season has become, all eight of those losses were by double figures.
The Dallas Mavericks wrapped up the final spot in the Western Conference play-in tournament and the Suns will go home after their regular-season finale against Sacramento on Sunday.
“There’s not one thing or one person or one player or one coach that’s the problem,” Booker said. “When you’ve had a season this bad, it’s a bunch of things. I think the most frustrating part is being that close a few years ago, and now being back to where we are.”
Booker was referencing 2021, when the Suns reached the NBA Finals before losing to the Milwaukee Bucks in six games. The franchise has endured an agonizing backward slide after adding Durant and Beal in a pair of blockbuster trades.
The group never reached its perceived potential in two full seasons together.
Not even close.
The Suns finished with a 49-33 record last season before getting swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs. This season was even worse—Phoenix is 35-45 and became less competitive as the season progressed.
Durant and Booker have been fairly healthy and productive this year, but Beal has been hurt for big chunks of the schedule and first-year coach Mike Budenholzer could never figure out a consistent playing rotation. At 36 years old, Durant was still one of the best scorers in the NBA, averaging 26.6 points per game and making his 15th All-Star team.
Phoenix actually started the season with an 8-1 record, but Durant went down with a calf strain and the tailspin started. Even when he returned, the Suns could never regain their early form.
