It's official. After a 125-112 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder (66-14) on Wednesday, the Phoenix Suns (35-45) have been eliminated from playoff contention.
The Suns season's nadir comes amid an eight-game losing streak, in which Phoenix has lost by an average of 22 points per game.
Suns have officially been ELIMINATED from playoff contention.
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 10, 2025
Phoenix has lost 8 games in a row... pic.twitter.com/SCJcMdrJcb
This season has been nothing short of a disaster for Phoenix. After going 49-33 last year, it was swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round and has yet to regain its footing.
It fired first-year head coach Frank Vogel and replaced him with the more offensively minded Mike Budenholzer. However, not even Coach Bud could make Phoenix's supposed "Big Three" of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal work together.
This isn't a typical NBA season from hell; this season was a historically catastrophic one for Phoenix. With over $366 million in payroll and luxury-tax penalties, this year's Suns team is the most expensive in NBA history to miss the playoffs. And, to add insult to injury, Phoenix's first-round pick this year goes to the Houston Rockets (52-28) as a result of the Suns' trade for Durant.
There isn't just one quick fix for the Suns, as Booker knows.
"There's not one thing or one person or one player or one coach that's the problem," Booker told ESPN. "When you've had a season this bad, it's a bunch of things. I think the most frustrating part is being that close a few years ago, and now being back to where we are."
Where do the Suns go from here? How does a team that was two games away from an NBA championship only four years ago return to winning basketball?
The most likely move is drastic roster changes. Phoenix can't improve through the draft, so it will have to improve through trades and free agency. Because Beal has a no-trade clause and a huge contract ($110 million due over the next two years), the Suns have to consider trading Durant.
There were rumors of Durant being shopped at the trade deadline, but now with the Suns out of the postseason, it looks like those rumors will become a reality this summer.
Durant, who turns 37 in September, is the only bargaining chip the Suns have. A few teams the Suns could send Durant to are the Rockets and the Timberwolves, both of whom Phoenix talked to at the trade deadline.
The Rockets desperately need an isolation scorer who can create for themselves and others, especially in late-game scenarios. Durant could be a perfect fit around the young, scrappy and athletic team coached by Ime Udoka, who coached Durant while KD was with the Brooklyn Nets.
Minnesota is another intriguing option. Uniting Anthony Edwards with his "favorite player" would certainly make for one of the most prolific offensive duos in the league, but the Wolves don't have many assets to move after the Rudy Gobert trade.
Phoenix is stuck at a franchise crossroads. It's a tough position for the team, which thought going all-in on the Beal-Booker-Durant trio would lead it to prolonged playoff success. But trading Durant might be the only move that could hold off a full-scale rebuild and keep the Suns competitive for the rest of Booker's prime.
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Free agent wing Malik Beasley is no longer a target of the federal gambling investigation being conducted by the Eastern District of New York, attorneys Steve Haney and Mike Schachter tell Shams Charania of ESPN. Word broke in June, just ahead of free agency, that Beasley was under federal investigation due to allegations related to gambling and prop bets made during the 2023-24 season. According to Charania, Beasley’s lawyers have had “extensive” discussions with the Eastern District of New York in recent weeks and learned that the investigation isn’t targeting their client. “Months after this investigation commenced, Malik remains uncharged and is not the target of this investigation,” Haney said. “An allegation with no charge, indictment or conviction should never have the catastrophic consequence this has caused Malik. This has literally been the opposite of the presumption of innocence.” While Beasley is legally afforded the presumption of innocence, it wouldn’t have made sense for an NBA team to sign him without assurances that he would be cleared. A worst-case outcome for Beasley would have meant a lifetime ban from the league, similar to the one levied by the NBA on Jontay Porter after it was determined that Porter manipulated prop bets by exiting at least one game early, citing health reasons. As Charania details, investigators in this case were believed to be focused on unusually heavy betting activity on Beasley’s statistics in January 2024, including a Jan. 31 game in which action on his “under 2.5 rebounds” prop bet surged significantly in the hours leading up to tip-off — he ended up grabbing six rebounds in that game. Multiple reports published in late June and early July indicated that Beasley was dealing with a number of financial issues, including facing a lawsuit from his former marketing agency. Court records earlier this month suggested that the 28-year-old had been sued by his landlord and evicted from his apartment. While Charania’s report doesn’t definitively state that Beasley is 100% in the clear, it doesn’t sound as if any charges are forthcoming, so it seems likely there will be renewed interest from NBA teams interested in signing him. He’s coming off a strong season in Detroit in which he was the Sixth Man of the Year runner-up after averaging 16.3 points per game and ranking second in the NBA in three-pointers made (319). Before news of the investigation broke, the Pistons and Beasley were working toward a potential three-year deal worth roughly $42M, according to Charania, who notes that other clubs had interest in the sharpshooter. Some have stayed in touch with his representatives about his status. Detroit no longer can sign Beasley for $42M over three years — that would have required cap room or the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which has since been used on Caris LeVert. But the Pistons do still hold his Non-Bird rights, giving them the ability to offer a 2025-26 salary up to $7.2M (a 20% raise on last season’s $6M salary). Few teams — and even fewer playoff contenders — still can offer more than that amount at this point in the offseason. The Knicks are among the other teams that have done due diligence on Beasley’s situation, tweets Ian Begley of SNY.tv, though they could only offer a minimum-salary contract.
The Green Bay Packers are about to kick off their 2025 NFL regular season, so it feels like a good time for some of the players to look back at some of the key moments and experiences they’ve had in the offseason. For quarterback Jordan Love and tight end Luke Musgrave, the 2025 NFL offseason will always be one that they’ll cherish — and not just because of anything that’s football-related. Love and Musgrave both got married to their respective longtime girlfriends in the offseason. The signal-caller tied the knot with Ronika Stone in June, while Musgrave and Madi Weisner exchanged vows in July. Ronika Stone’s wedding lookback gets Green Bay tight end’s wife’s reactions Mrs. Love recently shared a post on Instagram that shows a series of snapshots from her wedding with the Packers’ signal caller. “Every detail was SPECTACULAR ,” Ronika wrote as a caption for the post. She clearly is still awed by how her wedding looked that day, with several beautiful flower arrangements adorning the special day. Ronika’s post drew plenty of comments, including one from Mrs. Musgrave, who wrote “UNREAL.” It’s great to see Packers players’ wives showing support for each other just as Love and Musgrave do on the field. For Musgrave, he is looking to have a big rebound in 2025 after only appearing in seven games and coming up with 45 receiving yards with zero touchdowns and only a couple of first downs on seven receptions and 10 targets. The Packers, who will play the Seattle Seahawks at home this Saturday for both teams’ 2025 NFL preseason finale, will face the Detroit Lions at Lambeau Field in Week 1 of the 2025 regular season.
Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels has suggested on multiple occasions that he is "one hundred percent" confident he will "be throwing some passes to" wide receiver Terry McLaurin during the 2025 season. It seems Daniels may have had some inside information. NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated revealed Friday that the situation involving the Commanders and McLaurin "is in a better spot than it’s been" since the 29-year-old requested a trade on July 31. "The sides started out pretty far apart," wrote Breer, "so there was a lot of ground to make up. Maybe the deadlines in the next couple of weeks will help push an agreement through." The "pretty far apart" line may be referencing a previous report that claimed "one person with knowledge of McLaurin’s contract negotiations" said he had "asked for more than" the average annual value attached to DK Metcalf's five-year, $150M deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers. That same story insinuated that Washington may be more comfortable paying McLaurin around $27M or $28M per season via a multiyear extension. Coming off their trip to this year's NFC Championship Game, the Commanders likely won't be trading McLaurin's rights anytime soon. At this point, Washington acquiring a suitable replacement for McLaurin and getting him familiar with the team's offense in time for the Commanders' Week 1 game against the New York Giants is unrealistic. For an article published on Aug. 18, ESPN's Ben Solak wrote that he believed the McLaurin-Commanders standoff would eventually end "with a compromise extension before Week 1." It's unclear what McLaurin will do if this does not occur before the Giants matchup on Sept. 7, but it sounds like the two sides could work something out.
Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris announced that starting right tackle Kaleb McGary will miss “significant time” with a left leg injury suffered in Wednesday’s practice. "The thing I will say to you now is that he will miss significant time," Morris said after the Falcons' last preseason game in Dallas, per the team's official website. "Looks like it will be IR, whatever the case may be, we will have to see there, but he will miss significant time for us." McGary went down during individual drills and had to be carted off the field. Although Morris indicated that the six-year veteran will land on injured reserve, that could come with a return designation if the Falcons believe he can return this season. The 30-year-old just negotiated a $3.5M raise earlier this month with a two-year, $15M extension. With Michael Penix Jr. entering his first full season as a starter, McGary may have had some added leverage as the left-handed quarterback’s new blindside protector. McGary’s injury will stretch an already-injured tackle room even further. Swing tackle Storm Norton is recovering from ankle surgery and former UDFA Tyrone Wheatley Jr. is out for the year. If Norton isn’t ready for Week 1, it’s unclear who will start at right tackle. Morris specifically mentioned Elijah Wilkinson as a player who is expected to step up amid the injuries. He’s currently listed as the backup left guard on the Falcons’ unofficial depth chart, but the eight-year veteran moved to left tackle for the team’s second preseason. He also has 20 career starts at right tackle, though the last came in 2021. Brandon Parker is listed as Atlanta’s backup right tackle, but has lined up at left tackle in the preseason. Like Wilkinson, he has plenty of past experience at right tackle as well. Rookie Jack Nelson could also be a factor after starting both preseason games at right tackle, but the seventh-rounder may not be trusted to protect Penix’s blind side right away. If McGary and/or Norton begin the season on IR, UDFA Jordan Williams could make the roster as extra depth after getting a handful of snaps at right tackle in the preseason.