New Season, New Dynamics: Each of the 30 teams in the league has its own challenges. Taking the East as an example, Jimmy Butler failed to renew his contract with the Heat, and he is unhappy and not performing well, even requesting a trade. Pat Riley has suspended him for seven games. Regardless of where Butler ends up, the Heat should act decisively to resolve the situation. On the other hand, in the West, the Suns have three superstars - Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal - but they are plagued by injuries, making it difficult for their unbalanced lineup to compete in the competitive Western Conference. It's time for a major reshuffle of the roster. Notably, Butler is interested in joining the Suns to team up with KD, and KD also needs a tough forward like Butler!
Since the new owner, Mat Ishbia, took over the Suns, the team has set championship contention as its top goal. To achieve this, Ishbia made three significant moves: first, bringing in KD to raise the team's ceiling; second, trading Chris Paul for the prolific scorer Beal; and third, trading Deandre Ayton for the European heavyweight center, Jusuf Nurkic! Thus, the Suns built an unusual lineup: three top-paid scorers (KD, Booker, Beal) + a super heavyweight blue-collar center (Nurkic) + several low-salary role players! Unfortunately, the Suns have been ravaged by injuries, leaving them far from championship contention!
In the new season, the Suns started anew but fell behind again in the fiercely competitive West! So far, the Suns have only managed a record of 15 wins and 18 losses, ranking 12th in the West, half a game behind the 11th-placed Kings (17-19), 1.5 games behind the 10th-placed Timberwolves (17-17), and four games behind the 6th-placed Mavericks (20-15). In other words, it's incredibly challenging for the Suns to directly qualify for the playoffs. If they fail to catch the last train to the play-in tournament, we shouldn't be too surprised. Even if we move the Suns to the East, they wouldn't make it into the top 10 (Bulls, 16-19)!
Losing isn't scary; what's terrifying is the Suns' recent slump! In the past eight games, the Suns have lost seven, not just to Western powerhouses like the Mavericks, Grizzlies, and Warriors, but even to young Eastern teams like the Pacers and Pistons. It's hard to maintain any hope for this team! Throughout this period, KD has maintained a stable output of 25+, but his ability to control the game is at the lowest point of his career; Booker and Beal have been more disappointing, frequently injured and inconsistent, not living up to their potential! In such dire straits, where should the Suns go?
Today, NBA insider Chris Haynes revealed a major scoop: the Suns have announced a new decision to bench Beal and Nurkic starting from the next game, promoting Dunn and Plumlee to the starting lineup! Beal has three years and 161millionleftonhiscontract,withasalaryof50.2 million this season; Nurkic has two years and 37.5millionleft,earning18.1 million this season! The Suns are demoting players with nearly 70millionincombinedsalariestothebench,whiletheplayersreplacingtheminthestartinglineup,Dunn(a2024rookie)andPlumlee(aveteranonaminimumsalary),earnonly253,000 and $3.3 million, respectively. This is a huge irony! As fans say, the Suns will have the most expensive bench in the league!
According to Chris Haynes, the locker room atmosphere in the Suns isn't harmonious, with some players confused about their roles! In my opinion, Dunn and Plumlee shouldn't be confused; just do your job. Nurkic is just a blue-collar worker; confusion won't help. The only truly confused one is Beal, who is earning $50 million but playing off the bench, which sounds bad! If we trace back to the root cause, it's the three-guard lineup of Beal, Booker, and Jones that everyone takes advantage of! More importantly, Beal has a low cost-benefit ratio and a trade veto, so perhaps the Suns are trying to anger Beal to force him to give up his veto power, paving the way for a big mid-season trade!
Based on previous reports from American media, the Suns are one of Butler's preferred destinations, and if the Suns want Butler, the only player who can match his value is Beal! Beal is only 31, and his current situation doesn't mean he's not good; it's just that the Suns' lineup doesn't suit him! As we all know, Beal had the idea of playing for the Heat two years ago, and now he's undervalued. If Beal is willing to give up his veto power, Riley could accept him with a bargain-hunting mentality, robbing the Suns! At the same time, Heat reporter Anthony reported that if the Heat fail to complete a trade during the suspension, they plan to bring Butler back to the team! However, the problem is that Butler has completely broken with Riley, and returning would do more harm than good, which might just be Riley's tactic to raise the price in trade negotiations! In summary, the more unhappy Butler is, the more dissatisfied Beal is, the more likely a big trade between Butler and Beal will happen, and the more hopeful it is for KD and Butler to join forces to contend for the championship! What do you think, basketball fans? Leave a comment and discuss it with me.