PHOENIX — The NBA’s highest-paid team is officially among its lowest performers this season.
The Phoenix Suns — with a roster that included an All-Star trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal — were eliminated from postseason contention Wednesday night when they fell 125-112 to the short-handed Oklahoma City Thunder for their eighth straight loss.
In a sign at just how bad the season has become, all eight of those losses were by double figures.
The Dallas Mavericks wrapped up the final spot in the Western Conference play-in tournament and the Suns will go home after their regular-season finale against Sacramento on Sunday.
“There’s not one thing or one person or one player or one coach that’s the problem,” Booker said. “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.”
Booker was referencing 2021, when the Suns reached the NBA Finals before losing to the Milwaukee Bucks in six games. The franchise has endured an agonizing backward slide after adding Durant and Beal in a pair of blockbuster trades.
The group never reached its perceived potential in two full seasons together.
The Suns finished with a 49-33 record last season before getting swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs. This season was even worse — Phoenix is 35-45 and became less competitive as the season progressed.
Durant and Booker have been fairly healthy and productive this year, but Beal has been hurt for big chunks of the schedule and first-year coach Mike Budenholzer could never figure out a consistent playing rotation. At 36 years old, Durant was still one of the best scorers in the NBA, averaging 26.6 points per game and making his 15th All-Star team.
Phoenix actually started the season with an 8-1 record, but Durant went down with a calf strain and the tailspin started. Even when he returned, the Suns could never regain their early form.
“There’s no answer for it, there’s no words for it,” Booker said after the Suns lost by 38 to the Warriors on Tuesday night. “Nothing I can say can really make it better.”
Durant missed the past five games with a sprained ankle, which only exacerbated the freefall.
Wholesale changes could be coming to the franchise over the next few months. Budenholzer — an Arizona native brought to the desert with much fanfare — might not be around to lead a second.
He didn’t speculate on his future after Wednesday’s loss.
“It’s pretty raw right now, it’s pretty fresh,” Budenholzer said. “It’s been tough. There’s no doubt about it. We haven’t been as good as we’ve needed to be and expected to be.”
The only player who seems certain to be on the Suns next year is Booker, who has played all 10 of his NBA seasons in the desert. He said establishing a better team culture — no matter who is around — will be critical to bouncing back next season.
“I think that’s one of the steps that we skipped,” Booker said. “Learning through the wins and the loss, continuing to get better every day, no matter what the circumstances are. We had spots where we did it, but it has to be something that’s turned on at all times.”
