The sun s gamble turned into a bubble, and the 7-year future is given away, and it will be a waste of money

On July 18, 2025, with Kevin Durant being traded to the Houston Rockets and Bradley Beal being bought out by the team, the Phoenix Suns' "Big Three" era officially ended. From planning to build a super lineup in 2023 to the current sad ending, in just two years, the Suns’ gamble has turned into an empty dream.

This is not only the end of an era, but also a huge failed investment case.

Review the whole story of the "Big Three" team building: Suns' radicalism and big bets

In February 2023, the Suns officially fired the first shot of "group championship" under the leadership of their new boss Matishbia. They exchanged super scorer Kevin Durant from the Brooklyn Nets, and the price they paid was Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson, four unprotected first-round picks and one first-round swap. At that time, Durant was 34 years old. Although he still had strong personal abilities, the hidden dangers of injuries became an indisputable fact.

Immediately afterwards, in the summer of 2023, the Suns further rushed, focusing on Chris Paul and several secondary chips, in exchange for Wizards core defender Bradley Bill. This deal seems to have made the Suns form Booker Durant Beal's "big three", but in fact it has left the team deeply trapped in the quagmire of luxury tax, and has also made the lineup imbalance and lack of depth increasingly prominent.

In order to meet the trading requirements of the Nets and Wizards, the Suns gave away 5 first-round picks and 5 first-round swap rights in just a few months, plus three main players with great potential and immediate combat power. The bet is unprecedented.

The three giants have not had much time to reunited, but their playoff results are bleak.

Although the "three giants" are nominally in glory, there are few actual reunited games.

Durant and Bill both suffered from injuries to varying degrees in the 2023-24 season. Durant played only 58 regular season games, while Bill played only 50 games. There are no more than 40 games that the Big Three really appeared on the court at the same time.

And in the playoffs, the Suns only entered the first round and eventually lost to the Nuggets 1-4. Although Durant still showed strong scoring ability, his age and physical fitness decline have been revealed; Bill was lost in the playoffs, averaged only 14 points per game, was inefficient, and had a lot of loopholes on the defensive end. Although Booker is still outstanding, the pressure and sacrifices he bears among the Big Three are far beyond expectations. Throughout the 2023-24 season, the Suns did not play their due dominance, and the Big Three mode encountered huge doubts from the outside world.

Injuries, contracts, and lineup imbalances, ruining the entire project

Injuries are the biggest enemy of the Suns' "Big Three" plan.

Bill has been injured frequently since joining the franchise and has almost never played a full season. Although Durant performed stably, he was often absent or struggled at critical moments. The team lacks a defensive core and has no strong barrier in the interior. In addition, all three giants are not organized players, so the tactical execution efficiency is extremely low.

On the other hand, the salary structure problem also directly affects the team's operations. The total contracts between Durant and Bill are as high as nearly $300 million, and both are large contracts of many years and are almost impossible to get rid of. Especially Bill's trading privilege clause (trading veto) makes the Sun confined in operation and finally has to choose to buy out.

In addition, the formation of the Big Three also made it impossible for the team to strengthen their role players. After losing puzzle players like Bridges and Johnson, the bench became a shortcoming and the efficiency of offense and defense conversion fell sharply.

Final price: 7-year draft pick + three main players in exchange for a mess

According to statistics, in order to get Durant and Bill, the Suns gave a total of:

5 first-round picks;

5 first-round swap rights;

Mikal Bridges;

Cameron Johnson;

Chris Paul.

The three players later brought back 7 first-round picks and 1 swap rights to the Nets and the Wizards when they were traded, which also indirectly reflects how valuable the assets originally sent by the Suns are.

Now, they only exchanged for the Rockets' Jaylen Green and Dillon Brooks. Although both of them have good abilities, the gap is obvious compared to the luxurious lineup of the "Big Three" at that time. The Suns gave up the team's draft picks for the past 10 years, but did not win a championship, and even failed to score in the division final.

What's even more embarrassing is that from now until 2032, the Suns cannot control their first round picks. In other words, they will not be able to rebuild through drafts in the next seven years, which will directly affect the team's future operation space and talent reserves.

The three giants have shattered their dreams, where will the sun go?

The failure of the Suns' "Big Three" once again verifies a rule: the super lineup is not a master key.

There is no health guarantee, no reasonable coordination and rotation, and the "stack of stars" without tactical execution can only be exchanged for paper glory. From Irving Durant Harden of the Nets, to James Westbrook of the Lakers, to the Suns today, similar scripts have been staged again and again, but the endings are surprisingly similar.

What should we do with the future sun? Booker is undoubtedly the core, but what he needs is more suitable teammates around him, rather than a "giant" who is famous but cannot lead the team.

On the premise of completely losing the draft pick, the Suns can only rely on existing resources to operate reasonably. Whether to continue to rebuild around Booker, whether to choose to give up the playoff goal and train with all your strength, and whether to chase other stars to make a "second gamble" are all issues that management must carefully consider.

And for other teams in the league, the Suns' example also sounded the alarm again: the super lineup is not the only way to the championship.