The Phoenix Suns began the season with championship aspirations, buoyed by the collective offensive firepower of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal — the latest iteration of an NBA super team led by an ultra-talented big three.
But the team could never quite stay healthy, could never quite find a rhythm and never did appear as potent a threat as the Suns hoped to be.
On Sunday, their underwhelming campaign concluded in disappointing fashion, as the Suns were swept out of the first round on their home floor by the Minnesota Timberwolves, who closed out the first-round series with a 122-116 win at Footprint Center.
“Roster-wise, everybody talks about the firepower, but you look around the league: It comes down to the details,” said Booker, who finished with a game-high 49 points. “I don’t want to keep saying that, but it’s a super important thing. You can’t just go out there and think you’re going to win off talent. The game is more complicated than that.”
The Suns beat the Timberwolves in all three regular-season matchups but were swept in a best-of-seven series for the first time since the 1989 Western Conference finals.
“It’s disappointing,” Suns coach Frank Vogel said. “There’s no other way to put it. There’s no worse professional feeling in the world than getting swept in the NBA playoffs. I’ve never been a part of it. I feel pretty low right now. I want to speak to our fans directly and say, I share your passion. I’m as disappointed as y’all are. I share that with you all. But we got beat by a better team this year.
Durant, who scored 33, said the Suns needed to be better in all areas and credited the Timberwolves, especially superstar guard Anthony Edwards, who scored 40 points, including 31 in the second half, to seal the Timberwolves’ first playoff series win since 2004.
Edwards dropped a thunderous dunk over Durant in the second half, and the two players shared a long embrace after the game.
“So impressed with Ant,” Durant said. “My favorite player to watch. Just grown so much since he came into the league. At 22, just his love for the game shines bright. That’s one of the reasons why I like him the most. He just loves basketball. He’s grateful to be in this position. He’s grateful to take advantage of every opportunity he’s gotten. Love everything about Ant. Everything.”
“Will be watching him going forward and you know he’s going to go out there and play extremely hard every single night. But [I] was really impressed with him and he’s going to be somebody that I’m going to be following for the rest of his career.”
the Suns enter this offseason with $209 million in salary, the biggest payroll of any NBA team, and face a projected luxury tax penalty of $116 million.
Beal, who turns 31 in June, has three years and $161 million remaining on his deal, along with a no-trade clause. Durant, who turns 36 in September, has two years and $106 million left on his deal.
And Booker’s projected four-year, $221 million supermax extension starts in July.
The three players are owed $150 million next season — a figure that is more than 14 teams’ total payroll in 2024-25. By themselves, those players’ salaries are enough to exceed the salary cap next season.
