SUMMARY
- Frank Vogel claims he has full support from the Suns' front office and Matt Ishbia.
- The Suns rejected the idea of acquiring a point guard over Bradley Beal despite Vogel's request.
It will be long before the world stops talking about the Phoenix Suns’ first-round exit and Frank Vogel’s failure of a first stint. All season long, Vogel excused his underwhelming run claiming it was his first season with the team. It always takes a while to adjust but Vogel has great experience working with playoff and championship-caliber teams. The Suns set up a ton of expectations they couldn’t meet especially with the apparent voids they had in terms of talent.
With the Suns officially out of the playoffs, Joe Johnson and Matt Ishbia have a lot of things to reconsider over the off-season, starting with Vogel himself. However, after Game 4 versus the Minnesota Timberwolves, the 2020 NBA Championship coach claimed that he has full support from the higher-ups to return next season.
Phoenix endured multiple injuries over the course of 82 games with only one superstar leading the way consistently, Kevin Durant. Getting pushed out of the playoffs in a sweep has left the Big 3 disgruntled. Multiple rumors about these stars possibly moving to different teams have already surfaced. Stephen A. Smith recently claimed that Devin Booker has shown interest in joining the New York Knicks. KD is being tied to trade rumors involving the Miami Heat.
Frank Vogel’s mistakes with the Lakers bled into his Suns stint
After winning the 2020 NBA Championship, Frank Vogel’s A-tier coaching took a massive dip. In 2021, they competed in the Play-In Tournament while missing the playoffs in 2022. Vogel was immediately fired after the final game of the 2021-22n regular season, a move that seemed very controversial on the Lakers’ part. During the 2021-22 season, Vogel failed to properly utilize the talent he had, rather he pushed LeBron James and Anthony Davis to play through injuries.
Bradley Beal looked to brush Frank Vogel’s hand away while heading to the bench 👀pic.twitter.com/EpFJomRKu9
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 29, 2024
This season, the Suns witnessed a similar pattern with the Big 3 being relied on more, rather than incorporating role players into their game plan. During the first-round series, Phoenix was already outgunned by the Wolves’ height. They had two seven-footers in their starting lineup and Vogel made Durant play center at times. Unfortunately, despite KD’s defensive emergence, he wasn’t good enough to defend Rudy Gobert within the paint.
The Suns could have given Bol Bol more minutes as he only averaged 4.3 per game during the series. Vogel also resorted to small ball lineups which yielded good offense but still couldn’t hold the Wolves defensively. Another issue that came into play was their lack of a true point guard. Sources revealed that the front office rejected the idea of acquiring a point guard during the off-season when Vogel claimed he needed one.
The Suns’ front office declined to add a point guard to the roster, despite Frank Vogel’s preference for one, per @ChrisBHaynes
“Frank Vogel wanted a point guard on that roster, and the front office believed that bringing a point guard over would take the ball out of the hands… pic.twitter.com/wQ204fHlZK
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 29, 2024
Unfortunately, neither Booker nor Bradley Beal have the greatest playmaking abilities. Both individuals are primary scorers. At this point, the Suns would have been better off with Chris Paul rather than Beal. Versatility has been a major reason why teams like the Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets, and Boston Celtics have been thriving this season. The front office needs to be blamed equally as Vogel in this case.
The Suns might have to let go of an All-Star to rewire their roster
So, maybe Vogel isn’t entirely responsible for the Suns’ downfall after all. But in terms of making roster changes this off-season, Phoenix might be in a rut. In order to acquire Durant, the Suns traded four first-round picks and multiple pick swaps. Beal was acquired in exchange for six second-round picks and pick swaps as well. All in all, the Phoenix have no control over their draft assets nor will they be able to include any in possibly acquiring a reliable point guard this off-season.
The Suns mortgaged away their entire future, and it resulted in a first round sweep.
Phoenix not only has zero control over their first-round picks from 2025-2030, but Bradley Beal also refused to waive his no-trade clause when he arrived in June.
Beal, who is owed $160 million… pic.twitter.com/Gg5IWghLg4
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) April 29, 2024
If you look into their lineup, their bench barely has any attractive players to potentially use in a trade to get a high-value player. The Suns also recently signed Grayson Allen to a four-year $70 million deal. Allen led the league in three-point percentage and letting go of him wouldn’t make much sense unless they find a proper replacement for a consistent shooter like him. Not to forget that Allen is a considerably good defender and can take physicality well.
So this boils it down to the Suns’ Big 3 and Jusuf Nurkic. Putting aside KD and Booker who may potentially remain in Phoenix in the long run, Beal and Nurkic are the only options they could use to acquire a highly skilled and impactful player. It wouldn’t make sense for them to move away from Nurkic as height played a huge factor in their loss to the Timberwolves.
“The Phoenix Suns can’t blow it up..
They went all in with this roster & they lost..
They functionally can only trade three players on their team..
They can only trade Durant, Booker & Nurkic & that’s it” ~ @WindhorstESPN #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/HwbckEHQAO
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) April 29, 2024
Beal has two more seasons left on his contract including a 2026-27 season player option. The 3x All-Star barely made contributions on the floor during the playoffs averaging 16.5 points per game with only 2.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists. Additionally, he was injured for a good chunk of the regular season as well. Maybe it is time to move on from Beal, not on a bad note, but to do what’s best for the team. He could also thrive elsewhere rather than being treated as a third option on the Suns.