Inside the Suns – Topics: Rebuilding, Mike Budenholzer, James Jones
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Your weekly Inside the Suns analysis straight from the BSotS community who live and breathe the team.
Each week the Fantable – a round table of Bright Siders – give their takes on the Suns’ latest issues and news.
Q1 – Which option do you prefer the Suns taking this summer:
GuarGuar: I am fully on the path that we trade KD and get some role players/picks back for him and build a properly constructed roster around Book. Book is this franchise and he’s been beyond loyal and we should not ship him out unless he asks to be shipped. We can get back great pieces for KD and field a proper team.
Rod: I’d prefer option #2 with KD being the outgoing player because I just think the Suns should try the non-nuclear option first. And it has to be KD instead of Book if you go that way because KD’s value will never be higher than it is now while I don’t think that Book’s value will really drop if the team hangs on to him another year (or half-season if that turns out to be the case). I’d really love to move Beal but we all know that’s an extremely unlikely option. Keeping KD to pair with Beal is likely a better fit than Book and Beal but perhaps not depending upon what the return for KD turns out to be.
The allure of getting more draft picks back by trading both Book and KD is akin to buying more lotto tickets to me and I’d rather not dive head first into putting all my hope for the future back into that route again. I want the Suns to try this option first as they can proceed on to option #1 later if it doesn’t work but there’s literally no going back if you jump into it right away.
With all that said, I also believe that the Suns have to at least listen to offers made for Book this summer. If one pops up that is just too good to turn down, then you have to go with it and dive head first into option #1.
The most important thing about either option is getting under that 2nd tax apron though. The harsh restrictions it imposes just make it too difficult to make more than minor adjustments/trades.
DarthVoita: It’s too early to say definitively which path I want to take. We still have three months before a decision has to be made. But as I’ve started down this train of thought, I find myself leaning toward a partial rebuild.
Rebuilds take time. Even if you trade both Devin Booker and Kevin Durant for assets, the chances of landing true foundational pieces are slim. The real hope lies in recouping draft picks—not just for the sake of acquiring players, but for securing a future. And what do you hope to do with that future? Draft someone like Booker or Durant all over again.
If the past 15 years have taught us anything, it’s that this process is long and unpredictable. There will be draft swings and misses. Even if you land the right guy, he won’t be an instant All-Star. Development takes time. If everything breaks right, it still takes three to five years for a young player to become a legitimate threat in the league. And beyond that, every move has to be calculated—building the right roster around him, ensuring he has the best offensive and defensive support.
A full rebuild is grueling. Look at Oklahoma City, Cleveland, Boston. Each of those teams endured at least five years of struggle before emerging as contenders. Some have sustained success, but only by making painful sacrifices along the way. If that’s the path we choose, we have to be ready to embrace mediocrity for half a decade or more.
And I don’t know if I’m ready for that.
Q2 – In either of the scenarios in Q1, which of the following do you believe would be the most important part of the return in a trade, draft picks, or young promising players?
GuarGuar: I think we need to get some promising young players more than picks. We don’t control our own picks until 2032 so let’s get some upside players and some players who can contribute right away and keep us competitive. We won’t be able to tank unless we deal with Houston who has all our picks.
Rod: I honestly value young promising players above draft picks. I hear a lot of people saying that the Suns need to try and get their own draft picks back but doing so would be very difficult and you never know where other team’s picks will fall in the future so I’d rather get back some good, young players on relatively cheap contracts than future draft picks, especially if those picks have protections on them.
Darth: Right now, I believe in a soft reset around Devin Booker. At least, that’s where I stand as I continue processing what needs to happen this offseason.
That means targeting young, energetic, and complementary players—guys who can help right away while still growing alongside Booker. And yes, draft picks matter too, but not necessarily as building blocks through the draft. Instead, they should be assets to leverage in future trades, keeping the team flexible and ready to strike when the right opportunity arises.
Ishbia had the right mindset. He just missed on his swings.
Q3 – Should the Suns fire James Jones, Mike Budenholzer, or both this summer?
GuarGuar: I would fire them both. Clearly Bud has lost the locker room. I don’t think Book has ever called out his coach the way he has the past week leaking stuff to Chris Haynes and then that postgame presser after the Pelicans loss. Bud refusing to run anything but drop coverage on defense drives me bananas.
James Jones may not be running the show so it’s hard to say his role exactly in forming this current underachieving squad. But he’s been around for the most disappointing two years in our franchise this millennium so he’s got to go as well. We need a fresh reset in many ways.
Rod: With Jones it really depends on whether he’s the one making the decisions or if he’s just carrying out Mat Ishbia’s orders. If it’s that later, firing him won’t likely make much – if any – of a difference. At the very least, it could be good PR for Ishbia as a lot of fans are calling for Jones’ head. If Jones has any real influence on the decisions, it would probably be good to replace him with someone with fresh ideas on team building.
As for Bud, I think the Suns need to replace him with someone more flexible and better able design schemes make better use of the talent he has than trying to make them fit into what he wants them to be. A few weeks ago in a previous ITS article, Brrrberry brought up some names of possible replacements for Bud, none of them “retreads” that could bring in some new ideas/approaches and I’ve warmed considerably to that idea. The NBA has changed and what worked in the past won’t necessarily work now or in the future. The Suns haven’t had a head coach with new/inventive idea since Mike D’Antoni and I believe it’s time to find someone who looks forward rather than backward to coach this team.
Darth: Stay the course. Move on from Kevin Durant. See what this team can do without a player who, whether actively or passively, may be working against its success. Something has felt off since the day he arrived.
Since Durant’s arrival, the Suns have cycled through Monty Williams, Frank Vogel, and now potentially Mike Budenholzer. The one common denominator? Durant. Meanwhile, Devin Booker was here before KD, and the team made the NBA Finals and won 64 games.
Keep James Jones, too. He’s proven to be a strong talent evaluator in the draft, and I don’t believe he’s been the true decision-maker on some of the franchise’s recent missteps. A new owner wanted to make a splash, and he didn’t just dive in—he cannonballed into an empty pool.
Give Jones another season. One without Durant. Build around Booker. See where you land.
As always, many thanks to our Fantable members for all their extra effort this week!
Ryan Dunn – 17.5 mpg, 6.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 0.8 apg, 0.4 spg, 0.5 bpg, 0.5 TO, 2.2 PF, 43.1% FG%, 30.1% 3P%, 44.0% FT%
Oso Ighodaro – 13.9 mpg, 3.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 0.9 apg, 0.4 spg, 0.3 bpg, 0.5 TO, 1.4 PF, 57.4% FG%, 0.0 3P%, 52.8% FT%
Statistics courtesy of NBA.com.
Bradley Beal (Left Calf Injury Management) – Game Time Decision
Cody Martin (sports hernia) – Game Time Decision
Last week’s question was “Do you believe there is a valid reason for Coach Budenholzer’s decision to bench Ryan Dunn?”
18% – Yes.
82% – No.
A total of 119 votes were cast.
On March 6, 2020, Suns’ backup center Aron Baynes scored 37 points (career high), gathered 16 rebounds and recorded 2 blocks while making 9 of 14 shots (64.3%) from three while taking over for injured starting center Deandre Ayton in a 127-117 home win over the Portland Trail Blazers. In NBA history, no one else had ever done all of those things in one game.
“When things start going bad, everybody tries to point fingers to find out what’s wrong. People are going to come up with stuff. The relationship (between Book and Budenholzer) is great. We’re on the same page, we’re trying to win and that’s that.” – Devin Booker
“Honestly, he (Bol) is just playing lights out, shooting with confidence, making plays, being active on defense, blocking shots, protecting the rim….So he’s been huge for us, and we’re gonna continue to need that moving forward” – Tyus Jones
“These should be playoff feel type games from here on out the rest of the season.” – Devin Booker
March 4 – Two-Way Player Signing Deadline
April 13 – NBA Regular Season ends
April 14 – Rosters set for NBA Playoffs 2025 (3 p.m. ET)
April 15-18 – Play-In Tournament
April 19 – NBA Playoffs begin
May 12 – NBA Lottery
June 25-26 – NBA Draft
This week’s poll is…
True or False…
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Welcome to Inside the Suns, your weekly deep down analysis of the current Phoenix Suns team.
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No matter what else the Suns do in the offseason, getting below the 2nd tax apron should be a high priority.
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ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith believes Devin Booker should ‘want’ to leave Phoenix Suns
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith said Phoenix Suns star guard Devin Booker “should want out” as the team dropped five games below.500 after Sunday’s home loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“I think so,” Smith said on ESPN’s First Take on Monday. “We’ve got to look at the Phoenix Suns situation. They went all in to get Kevin Durant. It’s kind of inexplicable.”
Booker is in his 10th NBA season and is the franchise’s all-time leading scorer at 15,960 points, but the Suns (28-33) are having a disappointing 2024-25 season.
“If I’m Devin Booker, this is what you’re going to do if you’re the Phoenix Suns,” Smith said. “You have to move Kevin Durant or Devin Booker. If you don’t move Devin Booker and you move Kevin Durant, you’re going to get assets, but those assets that you’re going to get is basically a reclamation project. If you’re Booker, you don’t want to stick around for that.”
The Suns last missed the playoffs in the 2019-20 season, which ended with an improbable 8-0 bubble run in Monty Williams’ first season as head coach. They reached the NBA Finals the next season and have made the playoffs four straight seasons, but they are in danger of missing the postseason this year.
“So, therefore. you might want to leave,” Smith continued about Booker. “He’s only about 28 years of age. Been in the league about 10 years. You’re just looking at them right now, this is an absolute, positive mess. There’s no way around it and as far as I’m concerned, if I was him, I’d want out.”
Phoenix is 11th in the West and 4-12 in its last 16 games.
If the playoffs began today, the Suns wouldn’t even make the play-in as they’re four games behind Sacramento and Dallas for the ninth and 10th seeds in the conference.
“That is just pathetic,” Smith said. “It is bad. Look at Mike Budenholzer. He’s a champion as a coach, he can’t pull the right buttons? You look at (Bradley) Beal, Durant, Booker, they can’t get it together?
Booker addressed a reported meeting between him and Budenholzer in which NBA insider Chris Haynes said the Suns head coach told him he was being “too vocal” on the court and during timeouts.
“We’ve had multiple conversations,” Booker said before Sunday’s game. “I can’t seem to find one that sticks out more than the others. It’s a player/coach relationship. When things start going bad, everybody tries to point fingers to find out what’s wrong. People are going to come up with stuff. The relationship is great. We’re on the same page, we’re trying to win and that’s that.”
The Suns conclude a four-game homestand Tuesday against the Los Angeles Clippers (32-28), who are sixth in the West and 4½ games ahead of the Suns.
The top six teams in each conference avoid the play-in.
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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