PHOENIX — The Suns entire outlook on the remainder of this season, as well as their future, just changed with one injury. Phoenix appeared to be going nowhere fast and was sitting outside of the play-in tournament in 11th place in the West. Rumors of frustration were circulating around the team. It looked like this team was done.
But unexpectedly, it looks like they’ve been given a life line.
This week Mavericks star Kyrie Irving tragically suffered a torn ACL that’s going to likely sideline the star for around a year. Its a devastating blow to a team and franchise that has been having to endure one of the painful stretches in sports memory. As unfortunate as the injury, it has created an unexpected opportunity for the Suns.
Dallas is one of the teams that Phoenix is chasing for a spot in the play-in. The Mavericks already traded away their super star Luka Doncic this season, and are expected to shutdown their other star Anthony Davis for the remainder of the year. If that happens, in all likelihood this team will be in complete free fall.
All the Suns have to do is wave as they fly by.
Phoenix should be able to catch the Mavericks and take over the final play-in spot. Now what happens after that is going to dramatically effect what Phoenix does this offseason. The team has stated they plan to work with future hall of famer Kevin Durant on finding him a trade destination this summer… baring them going on a run in the playoffs. So what happens if Phoenix gets hot and makes a run? Do they decide to keep Durant and try and run it back next year?
Further, if they do decide to move off of Durant, the Kyrie injury is going to change things for them again. The Mavericks were seen as one of the teams that would be aggressively looking to trade for KD this summer. With Kyrie out next year, that are likely uninterested now. Phoenix would love nothing more than a bidding war between multiple teams for Durant to drive up the return price. But with every team that drops out, including the Mavericks, what the Suns will be able to get in return gets reduced and reduced.
The future of the franchise depends on what happens over the next 20 or so games. The question is, what comes next?
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Spenser Tilus is a sports reporter for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account @Spenser_Tilus
