The Phoenix Suns may examine precisely where things went wrong after a turbulent 2023–24 season, now that the dust has finally settled. Unfortunately for the organization, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact moment that this pricey wagon’s wheels came off.
Even more concerning is the difficulty in predicting how much will change between opening night of the following season and being swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs. Mike Budenholzer is the new head coach, which should assist, and many of the current players should do well under his tutelage.
It will, however, remain mostly unchanged in many areas in 2024–25 due to a core trio of superstars on max contracts and a lack of flexibility to make moves.
Not that it’s a total catastrophe. After all, this team did win 49 games despite having a head coach in Frank Vogel who never appeared to fit in well and a top-heavy squad that performed admirably on certain nights but was unable to put up the effort necessary to win at the highest level on others. It is now necessary to look back at the past to prevent as many of these issues from derailing the Suns’ upcoming season.
5. Neglecting to look after the ball
The Suns coughed up the ball 14.9 times per game during the regular season. That’s awful enough on its own, but the way they went about doing it was really annoying. There seemed to be a total lack of motivation to avoid making irresponsible turnovers, many of which were needless and dumb.
The Suns ultimately finished 25th in turnovers each night, and it is telling that the five teams below them all didn’t make the playoffs, and have six of the top 10 picks in this year’s NBA Draft (the San Antonio Spurs have two selections). If you’re trying to win a championship, that is simply not the company you want to be in.
It is hard to even blame one player in particular for this awful statistic as well. On any given night one of Devin Booker, Bradley Beal or Kevin Durant could be off the pace, while the likes of Grayson Allen and even Bol Bol were guilty of giving the ball away. It sound simple but in order to see improvement next season, actually holding onto the ball to make more plays would be a good place to start.
4. Exaggerating the market for takeovers
Certainly, one of the worst decisions the Suns ever made was to believe that, when the buyout market opened up, they could acquire a real game-changer. This is less often than supporters would like to acknowledge, but it also says something important about the state of affairs in The Valley.
A squad that includes Booker, Durant, and Beal shouldn’t even consider considering a buyout as a means of improving significantly in time for the postseason. In case of emergency, fill up the end of the bench. Indeed. However, after Thaddeus Young was added, there was suddenly speculation that he might be their eighth player in the postseason rotation.
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