Suns' Path to Improvement is Bleak

Bleacher Report lists the Suns as a team without a clear path to improve.

Apr 12, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) controls the ball against Sacramento Kings guard Keon Ellis (23) during the second quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports / Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

The Phoenix Suns are just days away from making their first-round pick in the 2024 NBA draft.

The prospective pick, along with trades being floated around and better roster fits in free agency, has given fans of the franchise a newfound sense of optimism after a disappointing playoff exit in April.

Not everyone is convinced that the hiring of coach Mike Budenholzer along with the aforementioned possibilities move the needle, however.

Dan Favale of Bleacher Report listed the Suns as one of five teams that have the toughest paths to tangibly improving going into the 2024-25 season, which is set to begin on July 6.

Favale goes into detail as to why the Suns' current "tradable assets" really don't do much in the grand scheme of things, highlighting that the star trio aren't realistic trade candidates.

"The Phoenix Suns begin the offseason with more than $200 million on the books...without factoring in a new deal for Royce O'Neale. There is no sidestepping the limitations of the second apron.

On the bright side, team governor Mat Ishbia seems brash enough to deal the No. 22 pick and the Suns' 2031 first-rounder. On the not-so-bright side, what does that actually do?

Phoenix isn't teeming with expendable players at convenient (standalone) price points. Bradley Beal (no-trade clause), Devin Booker and Kevin Durant aren't going anywhere. The Suns will be hard-pressed to upgrade the roster while shipping out Grayson Allen. Nassir Little's salary ($6.8 million) is too small to net a needle-nudger."

- Dan Favale on Suns' assets

Jusuf Nurkic, who has been a constant in mock trades this offseason, is worth dangling in trades - but Favale once again believes the effort to be futile.

"Breaking up Jusuf Nurkić into multiple players is worth exploration. But you need to bag a starting center as part of that deal, and there isn't a single team that'll treat the two years and $37.5 million remaining on his contract as a positive asset. Any picks Phoenix includes must go towards both getting trade partners to take on his money and convince them to send out a regulator rotation player or two in return.

So many of those prospective deals will require a third team and/or the Suns to roll the dice on a distressed asset or health risk. (Think: Robert Williams III.) Pinpointing players who are worth the first-round equity they must give up and gettable is a maddening thought exercise."

- Favale on Nurkic

Could Robert Williams III be a worthy "buy-low" trade candidate that could change fortunes for Phoenix? It certainly is possible, but taking a high-risk flier on an oft-injured center may not be the most prudent use of minimal assets.

The Suns could also simply opt to pick a center with a much higher upside in this draft - that could be the most straightforward path to upping the fortunes at a position of need.

Lastly, Favale believes that two-thirds of the Suns' "big three" are due for regression - Phoenix really doesn't have a clean path to compensate for the projected dip in play from Durant and Beal according to him.

Complicated still, Beal is about to turn 31 and Durant will be 36 when next season tips off. The Suns could feasibly get worse versions of both in 2024-25. And, you know, what then? Another batch of minimum contracts isn't guaranteed to deepen or improve the best version of the current team. Hoping they can also offset any regression from two aging stars less of a pipe dream and more of a delusion.

- Favale on roster regression

The Suns' fanbase can really only take two angles here - the fact that the Durant/Booker duo is extremely difficult to count out, assuming the roster is made to better fit them, or that Phoenix truly is stuck in neutral and they don't have any tangible path forward to once again finishing on top in the Western Conference.

Regardless of ultimate outcome, the franchise should be appreciated for swinging for the fences after years of bottom-feeder finishes in the conference.