It's another year the Phoenix Suns get annihilated at home with the series on the line. The overachieving Dallas Mavericks last season and the #1 seeded Denver Nuggets this season. I start to wonder if Suns fans want their money back, especially since the Suns went 28-13 at home in the regular season.
Well, now that we've addressed the debacle of the Suns, it's time to ask some questions about the team. Now James Jones is the GM of the team, correct? He's an NBA champion, right? So when he made the decision along with his other coworkers to trade for Kevin Durant, he knew he was giving up his defensive players in Mikal Bridges (who you just gave a contract extension to) and Cam Johnson (who was due for an extension).
So he pulled the trigger and brought in one of the most efficient scorers the game has ever seen in Kevin Durant, okay fine. Most people would've went with the trade. But you had to move on from another defender in Jae Crowder.
The next question I have to truthfully ask is, why did you match the Indiana Pacers offer sheet for Deandre Ayton this past summer? He was already at odds with Head Coach Monty Williams toward the end of last season leading to Ayton being benched in the playoffs and once again it happened in the series against the Nuggets.
When Jock Landale is playing more than Ayton at certain points of games, you have to ask yourself, how and why did you bring Ayton back? Did you think paying him more money was going to change his effort and energy on the court? Money makes some players comfortable, not play harder.
There were possessions in some games where Nikola Jokic just put more effort and outplayed Ayton. Yes, Jokic is a two-time NBA MVP and he's a tough cover but there were times where Jokic wanted it more on the rebounding end and it clearly showed. There were times where Ayton played spectator on the defensive rebounding end as Jokic just muscled everyone else and got an extra bucket.
We now have a lackadaisical center that will be hard to trade now with a big contract, two efficient offensive juggernauts but can't play a lick of defense. Maybe it's time to remind James Jones that "defense" wins championships and it will always be the case. That's the staple of basketball at all levels, not just the pros.
Denver showed they can slow down Devin Booker in a close out game on his home court. So bad that Cam Payne ended up scoring 31 points (which is a fluke) so don't get too excited at his contribution in a win or go home situation.
Chris Paul and his injury woes, it's time to reset at the point guard position. Paul's contract is too big and he's too old to be traded so y'all will have to eat the $30 million a year until he retires. But it's time to get a backup point guard that can get Booker and Durant their shots. It's not an easy task and Cam Payne isn't that guy. He's a scoring point guard and that will never change.
Defenders are what's needed at this point, every team has them except you guys. The Denver Nuggets averaged 118 points per game in the six game series. There's no way you're winning with that formula.
When Bruce Brown is averaging double figures in the series as a cleanup/play off of others and he's scoring over 20 points, that's concerning. Aaron Gordon is showing flashes of what he was when he played for the Orlando Magic, that spells bad news for any team.
It's going to be a long off-season and you can tell the locker room isn't what it's cracked up to be. The tension is there and decisions have to be made if the Suns intend on contending in the Western Conference next season.
Until then, Phoenix will now fade into the sun(set) of the Arizona desert....
