Why Suns’ Kevin Durant is a ‘problem’ in Phoenix, per Stephen A. Smith

Smith says that Durant has been very aloof in Phoenix and once went a full month without speaking to now-former head coach Frank Vogel. He adds that the 35-year-old is “never happy” and doesn’t care about getting along with the coaching staff or his teammates. Smith states that Durant is “in his own little world.”

He goes on to say that it has been similar to Durant’s behavior in his final days with the Golden State Warriors, which was what aggravated Draymond Green and ultimately compelled Durant to skip town and join the Brooklyn Nets.

Smith urges the Suns to disband the trio of Durant, Booker and Beal, remarking that they are “not a big three” in terms of on-court success; they are just a “big three in money.”

Where do the Suns go from here?

Things don’t seem to be looking up in the desert.

Phoenix surrendered a ton of draft capital to put together this team, critically mortgaging its future. At this point, it doesn’t seem like it was worth it, and it almost mirrors what the Nets did to acquire Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce back in 2013.

Ironically enough, Brooklyn “recovered” by signing Durant and Kyrie Irving during the summer of 2019, only to trade the duo in the middle of the 2022-23 campaign when it became clear that things were not working out.

So, how can the Suns recover? Do they double down on the Durant-Booker-Beal triumvirate and try to win next season? Do they trade one (or more) of the three stars and attempt a soft reset? Or do they blow it up entirely by moving all three players to clear their salaries off the books and recoup some draft assets in an all-out rebuild?

On paper, things looked fine.

Durant and Booker each averaged 27.1 points per game this season, with both players being remarkably efficient. Beal posted 18.2 points per game as the third option and achieved that off of 51.3/43/81.3 shooting splits.

Not only that, but the Suns have decent complementary pieces like Grayson Allen, Eric Gordon and Jusuf Nurkic, all of whom enjoyed solid statistical campaigns.

What was the problem, then?

Obviously, the chemistry just wasn’t there, as evidenced by the fact that Phoenix was the worst fourth-quarter team in the NBA this season (which Smith pointed out). The Suns were also middling defensively, ranking 13th in the league in defensive efficiency.

Phoenix fired Vogel and hired Mike Budenholzer as its new head coach, but it seems hard to imagine Budenholzer coming in and instantly fixing the Suns’ issues (and make no mistake about it: Phoenix needs a quick fix in order to legitimately contend next year).

It may be time to come to grips with the fact that this “big three” isn’t working.

What this will do to Durant’s legacy is another question entirely.