Arizona gets pretty hot this time of year, but the Phoenix Suns are sweating beads for a completely different reason. The Suns got swept on Sunday night, which hasn’t happened since 1989, and is definitely cause for concern. Media pieces throwing Suns head coach Frank Vogel under the bus have already surfaced owing to Kevin Durant’s scuffle with him, regarding his playstyle. The championship-winning coach could be out of Phoenix, but the question is, who else will be going with him?
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DeMarcus Cousins seems to have an answer. Terming Bradley Beal the “black sheep” amongst his teammates, Cousins tabled the proposition to trade him for Jimmy Butler. Appearing on ‘Bully Ball’, Cousins further added,
“I wouldn’t be mad at a Brad Beal-Jimmy Butler move. Jimmy Butler is 34, and 35 coming up, he is on a way different timeline than those young guys in Miami. You got Terry Rozier there, and you got Bam down there. Those are two younger guys. It makes sense for both guys.”
Boogie even has the whole thing figured out. Calling out his roster spots for his fantasy Suns team, Cousins said,
“You get a point guard; you move Book back to the two. You could put Jimmy at three and have Kevin Durant at four, and you can figure out the rest when it comes to the roster.”
Hearing this strange suggestion from the Kings legend, his co-host, Rachel Nichols was not on board with the combination and had a few questions. Why would Jimmy Butler abdicate his throne in Dade County for a secondary role on a first-round exit team? For championships, obviously, a reasoning even Boggie presented. It’s a well-known fact that Butler wants to win, and he wants to win “now”. His Jordanesque approach to the game will be needed on a contender, something the Heat are unfortunately not.
The Heat are capable and often make for a good Cinderella story in the playoffs, but being the underdog must be tiring, and ‘Jimmy Buckets’ can definitely use a change of scenery. However, pulling through will be difficult with a no-trade clause in Beal’s contract. The Suns’ management is already tied with the Big Three’s contracts as they have no room to move anything as of now.
Feeding three superstars is not cheap
The Phoenix Suns need to get their affairs in order, preferably as soon as possible. With the three-man super team having horribly failed, the Suns will look to make some moves this off-season. The Arizona side will obviously try to keep their homegrown talent, Devin Booker, and losing KD for nothing makes no sense either. But the biggest problem that Suns owner Mat Ishbia faces is the heavy bill of owning three top dogs of the league.
Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant will earn $150M next season.
The salary of the three players is more than 14 teams total payroll in 2024-25.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) April 27, 2024
ESPN Insider Bobby Marks recently revealed that the trio of KD, Booker, and Beal were set to make a whopping $150 Million next year. They are en route to making more money than 14 team’s entire roster, a fact that hits harder when you consider that Indiana, a team that spends only 127 million in salaries, is almost into the second round. Additionally, the Pacers have another “Big Three” on their knees, begging for mercy, as the Bucks go down three games to one against them.
