The future of numerous Phoenix Suns stars has been the talk around the team in recent weeks and results have certainly been impacted.
Sat with a 17-19 record in the Western Conference the side has won just two of their last seven games including their most recent 123-115 win over the Atlanta Hawks.
Josef Nurkic was missing from the team entirely for the win, he has been out of favor since his bust-up with Dallas Mavericks Naji Marshall.
Bradley Beal has also had a taste of the sideline in recent weeks with the star having to get used to a new rotation role. It is believed this is a move to force the star out of the franchise.
While Beal has found himself resigned to a bench role of late he has not let that dampen his spirit, he scored a game-leading 25 points in the win over the Hawks.
There have been numerous rumors that the Suns are looking to bring Jimmy Butler into the side, this would mean Beal would most likely need to be used in a trade.
Butler is currently dealing with a seven-game suspension by the Miami Heat for ‘conduct issues’, and it appears his future will be away from the side.
The issue the Suns have is that Beal has a no-trade clause in his contract, meaning he can reject any move to force him out. Devin Booker recently spoke about the impact the trade talk is having on the team’s displays.
It doesn’t seem that the benching has impacted Beal, and Kevin Durant believes his teammate is now more confident.
Durant said: “To be honest I think he’s now coming into the game and having the ability to have the ball in his hand.
“You’re still playing a lot of minutes, getting his shots up. Last 3 games, I just feel like he’s more comfortable and understands where his shots are going to come from.”
You can’t accuse Suns owner Mat Ishbia of lacking the drive to get the team to succeed. He certainly hasn’t been afraid to pay the money to bring in some star names.
However, the Suns’ super team attempt is yet to pay off. They seem a long way off the levels they were at with Chris Paul in 2021 where they lost in the NBA Finals to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Ishbia’s pursuit of Butler has raised more questions about his approach but Durant has defended his roster construction explaining how “you need to try things.”
Speaking to the media Durant said: “Sometimes you’ve got to try and see to try to figure out where you want to go. Sometimes it might not always work out the way you set it up or how you envision it. Trying is better than not doing nothing at all.”
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