The Phoenix Suns’ disheartening loss to the Portland Trail Blazers earlier this week saw them fall to 14-13. A rebuilding opponent that had Deandre Ayton, a former first-round pick of the Suns, and a second-round pick this summer that Suns head coach Frank Vogel extolled later.
Regardless of your opinion on this team’s ability to win a championship, which currently seems more elusive than ever, the fact remains that they need to start winning some of the games they have lost recently. They had lost three of their last four games, with their lone victory coming against the terrible Washington Wizards by just four points.
It is obvious that things must change—and quickly—but before they can, this team must figure out why they are dropping so many games.
Any team that includes Devin Booker and Kevin Durant on its roster has a chance to win every game they play. For Durant, 35, this is his best season to date since he left the Golden State Warriors. The same might also apply to Booker, albeit he has already missed nine games due to a variety of minor ailments.
Bradley Beal, whose six games played thus far were not intended to be part of a rotation heavy on the elite players, has emerged as the elephant in the room. However, Durant was a member of the Brooklyn Nets’ “superteam” for three seasons, but he only played 129 games and saw the project fall apart from the inside out.
When attempting to dissect why the Suns are languishing in 10th place in the Western Conference, it is appropriate to start here and speculate that perhaps the approach to building a champion has changed. Worse yet, the Golden State Warriors (13–14) are breathing down their necks to eliminate them from postseason contention after they have won three in a row.
