Uncomfortable truths is kind of what we do on The Drive.
Uncomfortable truths like the Cardinals aren’t as close as you think. Or I have a better chance of winning Mr. Universe than Kliff Kingsbury does of winning the NFC West.
Here’s another uncomfortable truth: The Suns did the exact right thing by standing pat at the NBA trade deadline.
I know Suns fans are greedy and I get it. You’ve been wandering in the NBA’s wasteland of irrelevant teams for over a decade and this season you finally got a taste of winning and now you want the whole buffet.
But championships are not won at the deadline. They never have been in the NBA and they never will be.
The foundation of the Suns success this season is their organic team chemistry. NBA teams often feel like a puzzle where only one or two pieces fit and the rest of the pieces are from a different puzzle all together. The Suns pieces are all for the same puzzle and they all fit perfectly.
In the NBA, titles are won by your best being better than their best. There isn’t a player available at this NBA trade deadline that could have changed that for Phoenix and any other move might've completely disrupted their chemistry.
Sure, some NBA trade acquisitions can help a team win games in the postseason but when you get down to nut cutting time, it’s going to be stars vs. stars.
Devin Booker and CP3 vs. Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. Vs. Damien Lillard and CJ McCollum. Vs. Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis. Vs. Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic. And most importantly, versus Lebron and AD. Because while the West might feel wide open right now, if those two heavyweights are ready for the playoffs, its a different story for every team, not just the Suns.
Their only chance to win big in the postseason is if their stars play well and their depth and chemistry compensate for the lack of a proven superstar on the roster.
If the Suns could’ve traded for time, I would’ve signed off on that because that’s what this team (still) needs most. Time for Devin Booker. Time for Mikal Bridges. Time for Cam Johnson. And I’m not sure what Deandre Ayton needs because he basically operates outside of the space time continuum on some plane where he’s both simultaneously run out of time to develop but also just needs more time to develop.
But not even Woj could’ve dropped a time bomb on the Suns.
This Suns season is ultimately going to come down how Devin Booker elevates his game and his team when it matters most.
This team is and always was going to sink or swim based on its current roster.
Given how well this Suns team has played at times for much of the season, thats not a truth that should be uncomfortable for Suns fans.