Despite having a star-powered trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, the Phoenix Suns didn’t even make the play-in tournament, finishing in 11th place in the West with a 36-46 record. That embarrassing performance forced the Suns to reevaluate the way they do business.
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They fired head coach Mike Budenholzer and replaced him with Cavs assistant Jordan Ott. They bought out Beal, bulked up their frontcourt by trading for Mark Williams, and sent Durant to the Rockets for Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks. To complement, it also allowed them a package of draft picks that included the 10th overall selection, which they used on Duke center Khaman Maluach.
It was expected that the Suns would be near the bottom of the West as they rebuilt their roster, but instead, they’ve been the NBA’s most pleasant surprise. They’re currently 26-17 and just a game out of fourth in the conference, and they’ve done it by changing overnight from a soft, finesse team into an aggressive, physical team that nobody wants to play.
Brooks, widely seen as a throw-in to that deal, has been the catalyst. He may have the title as the biggest pest in the league, and the Suns have followed his lead. He’s also raised his offensive game immensely, and he’s currently scoring over 20 points a game for the first time in his career.
Brooks led the Suns with 27 in a win over the Nets yesterday, but he also picked up his 14th technical foul of the year. That puts him just two away from a one-game suspension, something the Suns can ill afford as they try to keep pace in a crowded playoff field.
After the game, Devin Booker defended his teammate for what he thought was a cheap tech. “I think he’ll tighten up, but at the same time, I’m here to defend him and say he shouldn’t be getting them,” he said.
“I’m sitting there listening to the conversations that he has with the refs sometimes and I’ve heard a lot worse from a lot more people. We have to look into it. It’s a reputation thing and it has to be figured out,” he insisted.
It’s a difficult balancing act for Brooks to keep up the instigator persona that’s given the team its new identity, but not go over the line by getting whistled for too many techs. That’s especially true if Booker is right and his reputation is preceding him.
Brooks always seems to be at or near the top of the league in techs, so the Suns knew what they were getting when they traded for him. Given the overwhelmingly positive impact he’s had on the team, as well as the fact that he’s played at least 72 games each of the past three seasons and is right about on pace to do so again, they’ll happily take the trade-off.
