PHOENIX – New Phoenix Suns general manager Brian Gregory was in to clean house. The franchise’s “Big 3” of Bradley Beal, Devin Booker, and Kevin Durant has been a failure, winning zero playoff games. This summer, Gregory is expected to trade one, if not more, of the trio of All-Stars to try and fix last year’s embarrassing season.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!A small glimmer of hope remains around the Valley that the Suns can figure out another way to fix their problems without trading any of the “Big 3.” However, ESPN NBA analyst Tim Legler believes that dream is finished.
ESPN’s Legler on Suns “Big 3”:
Nov 29, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; ESPN analyst Tim Legler (left) and play-by-play announcer Marc Kestecher during the game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Oklahoma City Thunder at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
“To me, I think this has run its course. I don’t think the results have been anything that they expected. They went out and hired two coaches with a lot of NBA experience, both of whom have won championships in this league, and they gave them each one year to try to sort through that.
“I don’t think that they’ve necessarily chose the wrong coach. I think maybe the mix isn’t necessarily the best amongst those guys. When you’ve had the level of underachievement that they’ve had over the last couple of years, I think you start to look, ‘OK, let’s approach this differently.’ That would be my approach for Brian Gregory.”
Dec 1, 2023; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal (left) on the bench with forward Kevin Durant (center) and guard Devin Booker against the Denver Nuggets at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Phoenix hired championship-winning coaches like Frank Vogel and Mike Budenholzer, but neither was able to salvage the team. Legler believes it’s a fundamental problem holding the Suns back from restoring the prestige from its previous Finals run. The ESPN analyst is adding pressure on Gregory to find the right coach who’ll help find the team’s identity again.
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Reporter Tanner Tortorella covers general assignment for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @TannerTSports
