The Phoenix Suns have abandoned the path of using salary to build depth around Kevin Durant and Devin Booker by acquiring Bradley Beal on one of the largest contracts in NBA history.
Along with Deandre Ayton’s max salary, the Suns have four max contract players on the roster. Despite the top-heavy nature of their team, Michael Wilbon believes they will fall short of Nikola Jokic and his Denver Nuggets.
“I don’t know if they’re better than Denver. I was hearing JJ Redick talk about this and he loves the move. I just don’t know where it leads, I don’t think they’re finished. They may still trade Ayton and they may need to get two bigs or a big and a wing for Ayton, they may. I don’t know and maybe they don’t know.”
Wilbon was critical of the move to build a superteam to topple the Nuggets, even though the new CBA regulations could be deadly for them.
“The days of slapping together superteams are pretty over, but the Suns went in that direction anyway. You can’t sustain it financially with the new model that has been collectively bargained by management and players. That’s not gonna work for very long, it’s a year or two window. Let me say this, no one can stop the Joker. Nobody in this era who plays big man basketball can touch him.”
The Suns will have one of the most offensively potent lineups in the league, but unless they can trade Deandre Ayton away for at least two useful rotational players, this team may be a disaster waiting to happen.
One Injury Away From A Collapse
The modern NBA has shown that its top stars can’t stay healthy for a whole season. Devin Booker played 53 games last season, while Kevin Durant had even fewer with 47. Even Beal played just 50 games. If these players miss time like this, there’s simply not enough depth on the roster to cover up the cracks.
Moving Ayton for quality players should be their No. 1 priority this summer. But Frank Vogel has spoken about Ayton’s importance to the Suns, so maybe they start the season with their big four construction and see during the season what moves they can make to compete with the Denver Nuggets.
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