Six months later, the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Suns 122-116 in Game 4 at Footprint Center on Sunday, eliminating them from the first round of the playoffs. Phoenix not only fell short of championship contention and regressed from last season, but they were booed by the home crowd when they lost Game 3, making them the first team to be eliminated from the postseason. To make matters worse, Beal had vowed the Suns would win Game 4 — “I've never been swept in my life, so it would suck if it happened,” he said — in the final game. He just played badly. If this were the closing argument, it would mean the Suns' Beal trade was a mistake beyond a reasonable doubt.
“Everyone talks about firepower when it comes to rosters, but when you look across the league, it comes down to the details,” Booker said. “You can’t just go out there and think you’re going to win over talent.”
Beal, 30, looked nothing like the three-time All-Star who twice averaged over 30 points per game during his 11-year tenure with the Wizards. His injury-plagued season ended in disaster, as he missed 29 games. With the end of Phoenix's season looming, Beal scored just nine points on 4-of-13 shooting, committed six turnovers and was fouled out after playing 31 minutes. Anthony Edwards led the Timberwolves with 40 points.
This is certainly true for Ishbia, the mortgage company executive who bought the Suns in December 2022, parted ways with Chris Paul, traded four future first-round picks and acquired six second-round picks. That wasn't what they had in mind when they changed the direction of their roster to acquire Beal. In a contract with the Wizards.
“Every time we get into foul trouble, it throws off the rhythm of the whole game,” Suns coach Frank Vogel said. “[Beal] There they were racing their tails and playing super hard. I missed some of the facial expressions he usually shows. We're asking him to guard Anthony Edwards and play point guard against full-court pressure, and he didn't do a good enough job of mitigating that. It's up to me and my staff to just make sure they can handle the pressure well. [The Timberwolves’] The pressure would have messed up the entire series and probably hurt Brad too. ”
Of course, Beal's inconsistent season and nightmarish Game 4 are only part of Phoenix's woes. Beal is the sixth-highest paid player in the NBA this season and is owed $161 million, fully guaranteed over the next three years. To create salary room on top of the cap value in Durant and Booker's contracts, the Suns parted ways with longtime starting point guard Paul and traded starting center Deandre Ayton to the Portland Trail Blazers. He has acquired a young player, Jusuf Nurkic, to replace him. Phoenix also sacrificed depth and was forced to fill the bench with minimum salary contracts.
The Suns had no margin for error in this summer's gamble. If the beer wasn't great, the whole house would fall apart.
The whole house collapsed. Phoenix never replaced Paul, and he shot himself in the foot with devastating turnovers all season. Nurkic wasn't as effective a defender as Ayton, and the Suns couldn't hold up the middle or rebound against the scratchy Timberwolves. The revolving door of role players centered around the “Big 3” was constantly being overwhelmed and losing. Consider this: In Game 4, Booker (49 points) and Durant (33 points) scored 82 points on 38 shots — an incredible feat — and yet the Suns didn't have a regular. They couldn't keep up with the Timberwolves' offense, which ranked 17th in offensive efficiency on the season.
“It's disappointing,” Vogel said. “There's no other way to put it. There's no worse professional feeling than getting swept in the playoffs. I've never been a part of it. I'm pretty depressed right now.”
Facing rumors that his job was in jeopardy, Vogel opted for a small-ball lineup Sunday in hopes of neutralizing Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert. Beal was an awkward fit as a makeshift point guard, and with his outside shooting and foul trouble, Phoenix was unable to create any real flow. Instead, the Suns held on with Durant and Booker hitting tough shots and marching to the free throw line, while the Timberwolves took their time making a late comeback.
In a chaotic final period, Edwards scored 16 of his 40 points in the final period to lead Minnesota to its first playoff series win since 2004. Meanwhile, Timberwolves coach Chris Finch suffered a serious knee injury in a collision with the Wolves and had to be helped off the court. Guard Mike Conley was fouled by Booker near the sideline.
As the night begins, Vogel said he wants his team to protect the ball, take more 3-pointers and rebound more effectively. Booker then lamented Phoenix's struggles spacing the court and competing on the glass, while Durant pointed to sloppy execution, the offense's inconsistent rhythm and lack of continuity compared to the NBA's top prospects. In one way or another, all of these persistent issues stemmed from the Beal trade and the roster compromises it required.
There's no easy pivot for the Suns. Phoenix's owner fired former coach Monty Williams shortly after last year's playoff loss, but Vogel insisted Sunday that he had the “full support of Matt Ishbia.” Beal has a huge contract that few, if any, teams will swallow, and he also has a no-trade clause that limits his value. Durant, 35, and Booker, 27, both suggested the Suns would go back with the same core.
“Communication is the most important thing, and that didn't work this year,” Booker said. “I hope everyone feels the same kind of hurt. It's got to be fixed. It's got to be better. Kevin's got to be better. Brad's got to be better. No. Coaches have to be better.”
In addition to Nurkic, Phoenix needs a distribution-oriented point guard, two big wing defenders and two proven frontcourt players to properly support Durant and Booker. Good luck. The Suns can't hit the “undo” button on a trade for Beal and can't reasonably expect to replace him and his contract with a useful piece in another contract.
Clumsy execution of risky plans often leads to dead ends. It's no wonder Durant, who hasn't reached the Conference Finals since leaving the Golden State Warriors in free agency in 2019, declined to give details about what went wrong for the Suns. do not have.
“When I provide context, it's taken as an excuse,” he says. “So next year will be better. … I don't want to be here and make excuses for what happened. We're going to deal with it and work it out positively as a family.”
