Analyst: Suns Made Big Mistake Assembling Star Trio

The Phoenix Suns don't have the depth to truly compete, says Bill Simmons.

Dec 28, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal (3) reacts on the court after the game against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images / Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

PHOENIX -- Hindsight is 20/20, and that can be true for the current construction of the Phoenix Suns.

On paper, the trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal was a strong enough collection of stars to warrant NBA title talk in Phoenix.

Basketball isn't played on paper, however.

The Suns have fallen massively short of expectations, sitting with a 15-17 record at the beginning of January.

BIll Simmons is ready to official label this thing a bust.

“We were going nuts for it - I don’t know if Phoenix gets to 45 wins," Simmons said on the latest episode of his podcast (h/t Burn City Sports).

“You know, the big-picture front office mistake they made was they tried to put together this Big Three model, which had been so successful in the late 2000s and 2010s because the league wasn’t as deep,” Simmons said. “Now the league is deep, and you need depth. You need the ability to weather an injury for 10 games. You need random guys stepping up night to night. And, I just don’t know if that Big Three model works.

“Great. Cool. You have three really good players. It doesn’t matter. You’re competing against other teams that have seven, eight, nine players that have real depth.”

There was some hope that Phoenix had improved its depth behind their star trio, and for what it's worth, role players such as Tyus Jones, Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale among others have stepped up through the season.

Unfortunately injuries have plagued Phoenix (yet again), as Jones is the lone Suns player to have played in each game this season.

According to NBA.com's advanced stats, the Durant-Booker-Beal trio has played just 12 games and 197 minutes together this season.

That's not exactly a recipe for success, and if that doesn't change, talking heads such as Simmons will only be proven further correct.