Highlights
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The Olympic success of Kevin Durant and Devin Booker gives the Suns hope this season.
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Bradley Beal needs to stay healthy and mesh well with these stars for the team to improve.
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The release of Nassir Little and EJ Liddell opens up roster flexibility for potentially impactful moves.
THE
Phoenix Sunswere one of the NBA’s biggest disappointments last season. The Big Three
,
And
failed to find their balance and were swept away by
and the
Minnesota Timberwolvesin the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.
Durant and Booker return to the desert fresh out win a gold medal with Team USADurant was one of the stars of the tournament, and Booker was the group’s “unsung hero” in Paris, which gives Phoenix some hope heading into the 2024-25 season.
Beal played just 53 games last year and averaged 18.2 points per game, his lowest scoring output since his age-22 season in 2015-16. If he can stay healthy and get more time on the court with the Suns’ two other stars, that should give him a boost.
General manager James Jones also locked up the sharpshooter
Grayson Allen
on a new long-term contract and made one of the best under-the-radar free agent signings of the summer, Addition of point guard Tyus JonesLast year, Phoenix sorely lacked a true floor general, relying instead on Booker and Beal to carry that load.
Perhaps the most significant move of the offseason came on the bench when Jones fired Frank Vogel and replaced him with Mike Budenholzerwho has long been considered one of the best offensive strategists in history
and has a title to his name after leading the
Milwaukee Buckstowards the promised land in 2021.
Phoenix has made solid progress for improve on last seasonbut based on Jones’ recent roster decisions, there may be more to come.
Phoenix Suns release Nassir Little and EJ Liddell
The team frees up a roster spot and some money
By Shams Charania from The AthleticJones made a pair of list moves by releasing the wing
Nassir Petit
and forward EJ Liddell. As Charania points out, that gives Phoenix at least some flexibility in its roster.
Liddell played eight games for the
The New Orleans Pelicanslast year as a rookie, but he would have only served as end-of-bench depth for the Suns.
Little, the 25th overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft by the
Portland Trail Blazersfailed to live up to expectations. A potential 3-and-D wing out of North Carolina, he averaged less than 20 minutes per game, averaging 5.5 points and shooting 33.0 percent from three over his first five seasons.
The Suns won’t miss any of them.
Phoenix could be a major player in the NBA trade market
Suns could potentially be buyers this season
Versatile big man Oso Ighodaro and forward Ryan Dunn, the Suns’ two picks in the 2024 NBA draft, will have larger roles with the departures of Little and Liddell, according to Charania. The two rookies have complementary skill sets that should add value to Phoenix’s rotation.
But more importantly, it allows the Suns to add an impact player, whether via trade or free agency. Tyus Jones will help balance out Budenholzer’s roster, with Allen at guard, Booker and Beal interchangeable on the wing, Durant at the other forward spot and Jusuf Nurkic at center.
That gives the Suns a top-tier six-man rotation, assuming everyone stays healthy.
How things play out over the first few months of the season will determine what Phoenix does with that flexibility, but at least the team now has options to upgrade.
