Suns' Playoff Woes Bode well for Brooklyn Nets

Phoenix’s quick four-game series versus the Timberwolves could bode well for the Nets’ future.

Suns owner Mat Ishbia speaks with the press during a news conference at Footprint Center in Phoenix / Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY

Despite being armed with the likes of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, the Phoenix Suns suffered a quick, four-game sweep to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Round 1 this year.

It's been one of the more talked-about outs so far, with Phoenix never standing a chance against the Wolves onslaught that featured Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert and more.

Coincidentally, the Nets acquired most of the Suns’ future first in shipping them Kevin Durant, a move that’s now looking better by the day.

The Suns’ brass — owner Matt Ishbia and General Manager James Jones — had plenty of interesting things to say at their exit interview today.

“I feel like the narrative around ‘the house is burning’ — it’s incorrect. The Phoenix Suns are doing great. Excellent.” Ishbia said. “Not as good as we want to be and not as good as we’re gonna do next year, and that’s what we’re gonna figure out.”

"I'm not thinking about the 7th-grader in 2031,” Jones said of the team’s lack of draft picks. “We're talking about elite players who want to win saying how can we win today? How can we win tomorrow? How can we win the next 12 months? Devin's not thinking about 2031. Kevin's not thinking about 2031.”

Despite the deflection, things are not in fact great in Phoenix. Beal offers one of the worst contracts in the league in terms of impact, 35-year-old Durant is a known flier and there’s no real pathway towards improving and contending.

If the trio asked out tomorrow, the team would be forced to run it back to no avail, retool around one or blow it up, almost all of which bode well for Brooklyn.

While the Nets found themselves in a similar predicament not long ago, they can now rest easy knowing they’re clawed their way out of it, and are now on the other side.