With Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, the Phoenix Suns should have all the pieces they need to compete for a title. But at just 14-15 on the season, they have fallen well short of expectations and Paul Pierce says they are in serious trouble as contenders in the West. Speaking on ‘KG Certified,’ the Celtics legend gave his true thoughts on the franchise and denied their status as one of the elites.
“I’m worried about them because they taking some bad losses and they don’t have no depth,” said Pierce. “They dealing with injuries, we don’t even know what they gonna look like, we don’t even know what their potential gonna be. They ain’t even figured out who they are yet. I don’t know who Phoenix is gonna be because they haven’t been healthy. They’ve been inconsistent, having some bad losses.”
The Suns got off to a fine start this season but it’s been rough going for the past few weeks now. Due in part to injuries and a lack of cohesion between the players, the Suns have not looked like a championship team. Their worst loss yet came last Tuesday, when they lost to the nearly last-place Portland Trail Blazers.
What’s The Problem In Phoenix?
Suns owner Mat Ishbia pulled all the stops to build a superteam in Phoenix. He gave up all his assets to acquire Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, who were supposed to form a new big three in the desert. Instead, we’ve barely seen the three together almost halfway into the season. Beal, 30, has only played in six games all season due to various and seemingly neverending injuries and his stats are down across the board with averages of 14.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game on 44.9% shooting.
Arguably the biggest problem for the Suns is their depth. In the process of chasing star power, Phoenix sacrificed much of the supporting cast that helped them make a Finals run and the guys they brought in to replace them have not stepped up to the plate. The result has been a top-heavy roster that collapses when Durant or Booker isn’t at the top of their game. Unless Beal can return to his Wizards form,
Durant Losing Patience?
The focus of this story is Suns star Kevin Durant. As the leader and best player of this group, the Suns will only go as far as he takes them. This season, he’s been doing everything he can to elevate his team to a favorable position in the West with averages of 30.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game on 51.8% shooting.
Still, it hasn’t been enough to rack up wins this season and now there are rumors that Kevin is growing impatient with his situation. While it’s unlikely that Kevin will ask for a trade for the third time in his career (he has denied any interest in the possibility), it’s clear that the Suns are not happy with where they stand right now given their sky-high expectations and the financial cost of keeping all of these guys together.
