Welcome to theHow to Fix the Suns series, where we break down the paths available to thePhoenix Suns as they navigate the 2025 offseason.
This season has been a letdown. No debate. No silver linings. The Suns are a team that never quite found its way. And as we stare down the offseason, one thing is certain. Sam Cooke had it right back in ’64: A change is gonna come*.*
But what kind of change? There’s no shortage of theories on how to fix this team and no lack of voices offering their solutions. Trade Durant! Fire Bud! Get draft picks! Leave Beal on the tarmac!
I originally planned to hold off, to wait until the offseason officially began before diving into what needs to be done. Six games left or not, however, this season is over. Even if by some miracle the Suns sneak into the Play-In, it won’t change the inevitable. This team is toast and it’s time to start buttering our bread.
Why wait? Let’s start fixing it now.
This season’s underwhelming finish has left frustration simmering at every level. The fanbase is mad at everybody. At the players. At the coaching. At the front office. At the ownership. And frustration, like any emotion, has a way of making smart people do stupid things. As the Suns approach the 2025 offseason, the last thing they can afford is another shortsighted move. They’ve already made enough of those to land in this mess.
Emotion — specifically excitement — pushed them into the Kevin Durant trade in February 2023. That same excitement led them to double down on Bradley Beal months later, gutting their future for a fleeting chance at dominance. Now, frustration is the driving force behind the growing belief that the best path forward is to blow it all up. Trade Durant. Trade Booker. Kindly ask Bradley Beal to waive his no-trade clause. Tear it down, restock the draft cupboard, and bring back a collection of mid-tier talent.
It’s an option. But is it the right one? It’s time to let logic enter the chat.
Throughout this How to Fix the Suns series, I — along with the Bright Side of the Sun writing team — will explore different ideas for reshaping this team. Some proposals I’ll agree with, others I won’t. But the point is to examine every possibility, to think critically about where each path might lead.
That said, there’s one idea I can shut down right now: blowing it up. I don’t just disagree with that approach. I adamantly reject it. And here’s why.
The Return on Draft Capital
Trading both Kevin Durant and Devin Booker would undoubtedly replenish the Suns’ draft capital, giving them a fresh stockpile of picks for the future. But let’s be clear. The Suns aren’t completely devoid of draft assets. They have picks in the coming years, just not with the level of control you’d ideally want.
Suns draft picks:
2025: Least favorable 1st (CLE/MIN), less favorable 2nd (DEN/PHI)
2026: None
2027: Least favorable 1st (CLE/MIN)
2028: WAS/BKN swaps 1st, ORL to PHX if 46-60 2nd
2029: Least favorable 1st (CLE/MIN)
2030: MEM swap with WAS
2031: None
— John Voita, III (@DarthVoita) April 3, 2025
Since pick swaps are part of the game, they can’t be traded until the designated draft year arrives. But the Suns do have draft picks to work with. They’ll have the opportunity to draft two new players in the upcoming NBA Draft, or they can use those picks to create new opportunities for the team. So to believe they have no future whatsoever is simply incorrect.
A common misconception is that stockpiling draft assets guarantees a bright future. In reality, the chances of landing an All-NBA player through the draft are slim. The odds of drafting a franchise cornerstone are even lower. So, if you’re trading away Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, that’s exactly what you’re sacrificing. You’re hoping that one day you’ll find that level of talent in return. It’s a risky bet, one that could take years to pay off.
Take a step back and look at the last nine NBA drafts. Rewind to 2016, when the Suns were sitting on a mountain of draft capital and somehow ended up with Dragan Bender, Marquese Chriss, and Tyler Ulis. Yikes. You need more proof that simply having draft picks does not equate to drafting All-NBA level talent?
Out of 126 lottery picks since 2016, how many have gone on to become All-NBA players? Just 11. Let that sink in. And since 2021, not a single player from those drafts has made an All-NBA team.
The standouts? Ben Simmons (2020), Jaylen Brown (2023), Domantas Sabonis (2023, 2024), Jayson Tatum (2020, 2022, 2023, 2024), De’Aaron Fox (2023), Donovan Mitchell (2023), Luka Doncic (2020-2024), Trae Young (2022), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2023, 2024), Ja Morant (2022), Anthony Edwards (2024), and Tyrese Haliburton (2024). Over half of these guys — 8 to be exact — are top five picks.
Out of the 126 players drafted as lottery picks since 2016, only 11 have made an All-NBA team. Of those 11, 6 are top three picks.
Ben Simmons
Jaylen Brown
Jayson Tatum
Luka Doncic
Ja Morant
Anthony Edwards
No player drafted since 2021 has made an All-NBA team.
— John Voita, III (@DarthVoita) April 3, 2025
These are the few who’ve transcended. The rest? The track record is a cruel reminder that hitting on top-tier talent in the draft is more elusive than many care to admit.
So, let’s say you blow it all up. In return, you haul in a wheelbarrow full of draft picks. You once again have potential, promise, and the whispers of a brighter future. But potential takes time to bloom. Developing young talent means enduring the growing pains, the setbacks, and the uncertainty of whether the promise will ever translate into production. Blowing it up doesn’t just reset your roster; it stretches your timeline.
Ah, that dreaded word. “Timeline”. I’m having flashbacks of grey sleeves and too many point guards...
But it serves as a sobering reminder of how grueling the path of team-building through the draft truly is. People point to the Oklahoma City Thunder as proof that it works, but they are the exception, not the rule. Our own history, just a decade ago, is littered with lottery picks that never turn into one franchise cornerstone. The road is long, and the outcome is never guaranteed.
Blowing it up means accepting that this team won’t be relevant for at least the next eight years. Just look at the Philadelphia 76ers. They went all in on “The Process,” tanking season after season to stockpile lottery picks. That started in 2013, and 12 years later, they still haven’t reached the Eastern Conference Finals.
You could argue that the real goal isn’t just stockpiling draft picks for the sake of development. It’s amassing the kind of trade capital that lets you go after elite talent. Sounds a lot like the path the Suns took, doesn’t it? In this equation, draft picks aren’t the meal; they’re the seasoning. The salt and pepper that elevate a transaction. You don’t hoard them; you use them to acquire proven stars, the kind that shift a franchise’s fortunes.
You know, players like Devin Booker and Kevin Durant...
Four Quarters Don’t Equal a Dollar
NBA math operates differently. More often than not, when you trade the most talented player in a deal for a collection of assets, you’re the team that loses the trade. It feels like you have more money simply because you have four quarters in your hand instead of a dollar bill.
But that philosophy starts a chain reaction of taking one of those quarters and trading it for two dimes and a nickel. Then that nickel for five pennies. Next thing you know you're stuck with a pocket full of change. Just give me the dollar.
And I know what some of you are thinking. “Look at Kevin Durant. Look at Bradley Beal,” you say under your breath as you think of how the Suns constructed this sub-.500 team. The Suns went all-in on big names, yet success hasn’t followed.
Flip the perspective for a moment. Look at the other side of those transactions. What did those teams actually gain? A handful of picks, a few solid role players, and hope. Nothing close to a guaranteed star. The reality is, in the NBA, talent wins, and true superstars are the rarest currency.
The Brooklyn Nets turned Kevin Durant into Mikal Bridges (who they later flipped for seven draft picks and additional players), Jae Crowder (who became five second-round picks), Cameron Johnson, and five first-rounders. That was in February 2023. Fast forward two seasons, and despite stockpiling more draft capital than the basketball gods themselves, the Nets sit at 25-51.
Sure, they received a massive haul for Durant, and let’s not forget what they got for Kyrie Irving (two players, three picks), yet they are no closer to contention today than they were when they had him.
Look at the Washington Wizards. In exchange for Bradley Beal, they received Chris Paul (who they flipped for Jordan Poole, Patrick Baldwin Jr., Ryan Rollins, two picks, and cash) along with Landry Shamet and a pile of draft capital (the Suns’ second-round picks in 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027, and 2030, plus first-round pick swaps in 2024, 2026, 2028, and 2030).
I’m not here to defend the Suns’ side of that deal — it was a reckless overpay — but let’s focus on the Wizards. Two years later, they sit at 17-59, no closer to relevance than they were with Beal. Both teams have a ton of draft capital, and it’ll take years to see who they ultimately become. And that’s part of my argument. It’ll. Take. Years.
Asset accumulation only matters if it translates into winning basketball, and so far, Brooklyn and Washington are just another cautionary tale that “blowing it up” doesn’t guarantee progress. Stockpiling picks and young players sounds great in theory, but without a clear pathway to turning those assets into elite talent, it becomes an endless cycle of waiting, hoping, and praying that one of those lottery tickets cashes in. The harsh reality? Most don’t.
Is it unfortunate how things have unfolded in Phoenix? Absolutely. No one could have predicted this. But if the takeaway is that the Suns should trade away star talent in exchange for mid-level players and draft capital, history has made one thing clear: that strategy rarely works*.* Time and again, teams that choose the teardown route find themselves stuck in an endless rebuild, hoping their assets eventually turn into something meaningful. More often than not, they don’t.
And I know many will point to the Oklahoma City Thunder, who traded away Paul George and Russell Westbrook for a treasure trove of draft capital and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander back in 2019. To their credit, Sam Presti has been an exceptional general manager with a unique vision. But who could have predicted that SGA would evolve into an MVP candidate? A solid player, sure, but not at the level he’s reached. This is, once again, the exception, not the rule. The Thunder’s success story is rare, and it shouldn’t be mistaken as the blueprint for every team looking to rebuild.
We don’t have to look far to see the consequences of sending out the best player in a deal. Just look at the last time the Suns traded Deandre Ayton.
Final tally on Lillard trade: Portland gets Deandre Ayton, Robert Williams, Malcolm Brogdon, Toumani Camara, three first-round picks 2024 (Golden State, Top-4 protected), 2029 (Bucks and Celtics unprotected) and 2028 and 2030 Milwaukee pick swaps.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 1, 2023
What did they get in return? Grayson Allen, Nassir Little (who we ended up stretching and waiving), Keon Johnson (who was waived), and Jusuf Nurkic (whom we had to attach a first-round pick just to move off of, ending up with Cody Martin and Vasa Micic).
Four quarters don’t equal a dollar.
Sending out a superstar like Devin Booker or Kevin Durant doesn’t mean we’re going to get eight quarters for two dollars. Sure, the assets might look like more “value” on paper, but I’d rather hold onto the actual dollar bills than get flooded with a handful of shiny silver quarters.
The Long and Winding Road
As both of the examples above show, blowing it up isn’t just a move, it’s a long-term commitment. It requires time, patience, and a perfect execution of countless subsequent moves.
Sure, you’ll bring in some solid players to help. You might even get lucky and find someone with the potential to become an All-NBA talent. Maybe you hit on a draft pick, although history says you need a top three pick for this to happen. But there’s so much more that needs to happen after trading away stars like Durant and Booker. There are countless transactions to be made, each one pivotal in rebuilding the team into something elite.
Yes, the team could become competitive again. They might even land back in the playoff picture, maybe even as a sixth seed in the Western Conference one day. But unless the recipe is executed flawlessly, unless every ingredient is measured to perfection, the result will be nothing more than a messy cake. Plenty of pieces, but nothing that comes together the way it should.
Watching the Phoenix Suns lose to the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday took me back to where we used to be. Devin Booker and a group of guys who fought tooth and nail every game, playing their asses off. It was entertaining because we saw heart, and it was promising because they played with relentless hustle.
I know there are no moral victories, especially this late in the season, but I tip my hat for the effort of the Suns in the fourth quarter
— John Voita, III (@DarthVoita) April 2, 2025
But in the end, they still lost.
Why? Because Devin Booker had no consistent offensive help. He was the one carrying the scoring burden, and while he could take on a lot, he couldn’t do it alone. Over and over, we saw him shoulder the load, only for the team to fall short. Season after season, it wore him down, and we watched that exhaustion set in. It’s a tough reminder that heart and hustle aren’t enough without the right support around you.
This team started finding success when help was finally provided to Booker, but the organization has since fumbled the opportunity. There’s been a tendency to let excitement and emotion cloud the vision for how to build effectively around Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.
Who knows what’ll happen this offseason? Maybe trading Durant becomes the right move, or maybe there’s a chance to convince Beal to move on. But no matter which way they go, blowing it all up again isn’t the answer. A soft rebuild? Sure. But starting from scratch and re-entering that never-ending “timeline” just to hope for another star like Booker or Durant? That’s a dead end. The focus should be on finding the right pieces to complement your existing stars, not chasing the same cycle.
Two elite scorers are essential to compete at the highest level. That’s why teams are interested in Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. Look at the Houston Rockets, for example. They’ve got one great scorer in Jalen Green, but the rest of their roster is filled with inconsistent scoring options. Consistency is key, and the Suns have that with Booker and Durant.
The real issue? They went too far trying to stack the deck. The Beal acquisition was an overreach. They spent $50+ million on a player who doesn’t stay healthy and, when he does play, doesn’t bring a unique skill set to the table. He’s just duplicating what Booker and Durant already do. That money could’ve been better spent on players who complement Booker and Durant, not replicate them.
As we navigate this long and winding road, we must remember that acquiring Kevin Durant was the first domino to fall. It required sacrificing things we once valued deeply: youth, chemistry, and connectivity. But it was the acquisition of Beal that truly sealed the Suns’ fate. With Beal, you could have explored acquiring players with youth — guys who brought chemistry and connectivity to the table — but instead, they went with Beal. In doing so, they took a shortcut that, in the end, didn’t bring the necessary pieces to build something sustainable and cohesive around Booker and Durant. It’s that misstep that’s now holding them back.
Don’t blow it up. Don’t press reset. Patience may be a virtue, but I don’t have the time or the desire to embark on a decade-long, self-exploratory exercise where we endlessly search for unique ways to acquire elite talent. The clock is ticking, and the window for a competitive team is short.
We will explore the other side of the coin, though. In fact, I might even write the piece. It’s a quality thought exercise, one that forces us to take a step back and objectively assess every option before the Suns. We need to examine these paths through the lens of logic, not emotion. Because, as we’ve seen too many times before, when emotions take the wheel, even the smartest people can end up looking foolish. And frankly, I’m done watching the Suns look foolish.
11th in the Western Conference, with this roster and payroll? That’s not just disappointing. That’s irresponsible. It’s time for a shift in approach, and we can only hope the front office is ready to step out of the emotional whirlwind and make the decisions that are necessary for real, lasting success, using logic as a beacon.
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