Phoenix Suns Implosion! Isaiah Thomas Reveals Missed Opportunity That Tore Team Apart
Isaiah Thomas thinks the Phoenix Suns can still save themselves, but everyone else has counted the team out.
This season, the Phoenix Suns and the Philadelphia 76ers have been by far the most disappointing teams in the league, although the Sixers at least can blame injuries. The Suns, on the other hand, have largely been healthy but simply not very good.
As the Suns grapple with a lost season and virtually no future draft capital to rebuild, their inability (or unwillingness) to trade away any combination of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal has been a massive blunder.
Most fans, experts, and players have written the team off, but one former All-Star who spent parts of two seasons in the desert thinks the franchise can re-boot this summer, provided they make the right moves.
Isaiah Thomas thinks the Suns can bounce back
Isaiah Thomas, who made two All-Star Games and was briefly a hero for the Boston Celtics, has been attempting an NBA comeback since his last full season in 2016-17. Injuries, defensive limitations, and a simple lack of size have kept him out of the league, although he has been dominating the G League, averaging 31.9 points in 17 games across three seasons.
He often takes to social media, insisting that he is ready for an NBA call-up, but in two recent posts, he outlined how the Suns can fix their future.
“Suns are so disconnected…,” he posted on March 3. “They needed to make a move at the deadline to bring in new energy.”
He then blamed the failed trades involving Beal and Durant for killing any energy the Suns had.
“All that trade talk killed any good energy they had smh,” he added in a different post.
In the ten games leading up to the trade deadline, the Suns were 5-5. Since then, they are 3-8, so any “good energy” they had seems to be dead and buried.
Not everyone is as optimistic as Thomas about the Suns
While Thomas seems to think it’s a lack of energy or they are just one piece away from competing–or at least living up to their potential–not everyone is convinced.
As the Suns prepare to trade away Durant this summer, the face of the franchise, Devin Booker, might be next.
“We’ve got to look at the Phoenix Suns’ situation, they went all-in to get Kevin Durant, it’s kind of inexplicable,” outlined Stephen A. Smith on ESPN, disagreeing with Thomas.
“When you think about Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, they’re the only tandem in the league averaging 26 a game.
“And somehow, someway, they can’t win. They’ve lost 11 of their last 13, and they’re five games under .500, if the Play-In was to begin today, they wouldn’t even be in that. That is just pathetic.”
Smith pointed out that if Durant is traded, the Suns will mostly get draft picks and salary filler, not exactly win-now pieces, and Booker might not want to stick around for a rebuild.
“If I’m Devin Booker, here’s what you’re going to have to do if you’re the Phoenix Suns: you have to move Kevin Durant or Devin Booker,” Smith continued.
If the Suns do commit to moving both Booker and Durant, they should be able to amass a massive haul and finally reset the franchise, hoping for the best in future draft classes.
