SUMMARY
- Recent injuries to key Phoenix Suns' players like Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, and Kevin Durant are causing concern.
- The Suns are apparently not actively seeking a point guard through trade.
The Phoenix Suns are seeded at No. 6 in the Western Conference, with 28 wins and 21 losses. Although the team is sustaining a performance above the .500 mark of late, the fans are hoping to see the team rank among the top teams in the West. However, the recent injuries sustained by Devin Booker, Bradly Beal, and Kevin Durant seem a bit worrisome to the team.
Evan Sidery, an NBA reporter for Forbes Sports, made a tweet claiming that the Suns are not looking to trade a point guard. The tweet read, “The Suns are not looking for point guard help on the trade market.” It’s worth noting that the Arizona team has trailed behind in the fourth quarter lately. The presence of a point guard would curb this limitation, and the team might put up better scores.
The Suns are not looking for point guard help on the trade market, per @Gambo987 (https://t.co/iXTZzDZKGk).
Phoenix is comfortable with Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant being their primary playmakers. pic.twitter.com/RWXJ5pEXrF
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) February 2, 2024
However, according to John Gambadoro, the team hasn’t placed this concern as a priority. There is a popular narrative that is running in the league that the team needs a true 3-D wing instead of a point guard. Since the starting unit of the team has an offensive rating of around 130, the need to have a PG for the fourth quarter can wait. However, the underlying condition for the team to post further wins is that the Big 3 need to be healthy.
With the recent injuries faced by the roster, this decision to step back on the PG can prove to be a bad one at any time.
Major injury scares faced by the Phoenix Suns’ Big 3 in the 2023–24 season
The Big Three have dealt with a plethora of injury scares this season. While the league was expecting the trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal to be the most dreadful, the three were dealing with a range of injuries. On January 1, 2024, ‘The Slim Reaper’ sustained a hamstring injury and missed four games thereafter. On December 7, 2023, he succumbed to an ankle injury, and before that, he was dealing with a foot injury.
On top of that, Bradley Beal was M.I.A. from most of the initial games due to back spasms and then again succumbed to an ankle injury on December 16, 2023. Well, that was not all when he broke his nose on January 27, 2024, while playing against the Indiana Pacers. Furthermore, Devin Booker has also missed a significant number of games owing to various lower-leg injuries. Although the ‘unbothered 36’ are doing their best to sustain the ranking in the Western Conference, the team does need a player to handle the fourth quarter.
After all, relying entirely on the fact that the roster will remain healthy for the rest of the season seems like a massive bet.
How many games have Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, and Devin Booker played this season?
The Phoenix Suns have played a total of 49 games this season. Among those 49 games, Kevin Durant has clocked minutes in 41 of these games, while Devin Booker has played 39 games. Furthermore, Bradley Beal could only register minutes in 24 of these games. The Suns’s fans could witness the Big 3 together in just 17 (approx.) games this season as of now. Given this tally, taking the risk of not trading another point guard seems a bit worrisome.
While Durant has recovered from his hamstring injury and scored 35 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists in the recent game against the Hawks, the other two still need time to rise above the 30-point mark.