Constantly stuck between deciding to start the rebuild or add a few pieces to try and form a contender, the Suns front office continues to set the team back. The biggest and most important move they made was trading future hall of fame point guard Steve Nash to the Lakers getting back a huge asset, a future 1st round pick from a Lakers team that would crash and burn.
They looked all but hopeless after the 2012-2013 season where they finished with the worst record in the west and netting themselves the 5th pick in the draft who they used to draft center Alex Len. For most teams this would signal the start of a major rebuild. With two young and very talented guards in Eric Beldsoe and Goran Dragic running the show they were already better off than most teams. Many wrote them off however, preseason polls had them picking top 3 in the draft which actually excited some of the fan base who began to picture Andrew Wiggins coming to The Grand Canyon State. It seemed as though just about everyone was anticipating a rough season that would result in drafting a potential franchise altering player. Newly appointed coach Jeff Hornacek drew a lot of skepticism being a good player in his heyday but never having any coaching experience. The Suns and their up-tempo style shocked the league winning 48 games, a mark they had not reached in 4 years and although they did not make the playoffs there was hope.
And then, it all went downhill.
During the next offseason they signed lightning quick point guard Isaiah Thomas coming off his best season with the Kings in hopes to have the most dynamic backcourt in the league. They soon realized their experiment had failed which resulted in trades of both Dragic and Thomas. In return for Thomas the Suns received guard Brandon Knight who at the time was posting all-star level numbers. The key to wild deadline though, was the Suns foolishly gave away the top 3 protected pick from the Lakers who had become a Western Conference bottom feeder. They finished the season with a 39-43 record.
Trying to rejuvenate their playoff hopes the Suns made a hard run at LaMarcus Aldridge ultimately falling short to the Spurs. Their consolation prize was Tyson Chandler who would have been a good signing for a contender but throwing $54 million to a guy that won’t make a major impact on this team was a mistake.
The season has been a disaster to say the least, rumors that head coach Jeff Hornacek would be fired began to swirl but instead his head assistants were let go of. Meanwhile, forward Markieff Morris began demanding for a trade after being clearly upset about the trade that shipped off his brother. Team owner called out Morris and basically the entire millennial generation for what he called an inability to recover from setbacks. If all of this wasn’t bad enough the Suns, losers of 7 out of their last 8, lost star point guard Eric Bledsoe for the season after surgery on his meniscus.
With so much money guaranteed to players like Chandler and with players like Morris who has had his trade value plummet it is not a good time to be the Suns. Looking back it is clear that the completely unexpected 48 win season did nothing but confuse the front office and set the team back.
Still, there is hope for the lowly suns, Brandon Knight and Eric Bledsoe should form a very formidable backcourt next year. The one huge asset that the Suns do have at the moment is their own first round pick for the upcoming draft in June. If their losing ways continue combined with a little luck from the ping pong balls this team could come into next year with a solidified backcourt as well as a franchise centerpiece in the form of Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram. Keep your head up Phoenix, the Sun will one day rise again.
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