Why the Phoenix Suns' point guard trio of Goran Dragic, Isaiah Thomas, and Eric Bledsoe failed: 'The chemistry was just not good'

Midway through the 2014-15 regular season, the Phoenix Suns had a record of 29-25, which was promising enough for fans to feel optimistic about the rest of the season. However, the front office had different plans.

Just before the trade deadline, the point guard duo of Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas was shown the door. Interestingly, these changes weren't solely due to sporting reasons. As then-Phoenix Head Coach Jeff Hornacek later revealed, there were clear signs of locker room issues.

"For whatever reason, the chemistry was just not good. There was a lot of players thinking for themselves, and it ends up trickling to other guys," shared Hornacek, per MassLive.

The Suns' (failed) experiment with three point guards

When Hornacek mentioned "a lot of players thinking for themselves," he was likely referring to the Suns' roster situation at point guard at that time. In addition to Dragic and Thomas, they also had Eric Bledsoe–all three were listed at that position.

While some NBA teams have successfully used three-point guard lineups, such as the 2019-20 Oklahoma City Thunder with Chris Paul, Dennis Schröder, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, this approach requires players to be selfless in sharing playing time and ball-handling duties, as well as being comfortable playing off-ball.

For IT, who was traded to the Boston Celtics in late February 2015, he and his Suns point guard teammates, although it was "tough," initially showed promise in this setup. Therefore, he was surprised when it was dismantled so quickly.

"When we did play together, it was a positive and it worked," the two-time All-Star noted. "But they (the front office) saw something different."

Hornacek's quest for harmony

The word "selflessly" was mentioned earlier—something that, speculatively, wasn't evident in the Dragic, Thomas, and Bledsoe trio. It appeared that at least two of them weren't on the best terms. Isaiah's statements about "The Dragon," who was traded to the Miami Heat that same day, made that quite clear.

"I was a team player. I didn't complain to anybody. I went out there and did my job. The guy who complained (Dragic), you seen it in the media. I didn't say anything," said IT.

Apparently, this tension also spilled over to the entire team, which might be why the front office decided to pull the plug with about two months left in the regular season. For Coach Hornacek, this meant looking ahead.

"When you make a trade, it's kind of a fresh start. And we emphasized (after the trades), let's get it back to where it was with the good team chemistry wherever everybody is happy for each other and playing for each other," the Illinois native remarked.

While there may have been a better atmosphere in the locker room, it didn't noticeably improve the results. This rings true as the Suns finished the year with a 39-43 record in the Western Conference, marking the franchise's fifth consecutive postseason miss.