untitled-design-2023-05-12t113906-794.png
Getty Images

The Phoenix Suns suffered another embarrassing playoff elimination loss Thursday night, this time from the Denver Nuggets. When halftime rolled around the Nuggets were up by 30 points, an eerie callback to Phoenix's Game 7 loss to the Dallas Mavericks in last season's playoffs when the deficit was the same. Similar to the Mavericks, the Nuggets cruised to a win on Phoenix's homecourt and secured a spot in the Western Conference finals. But for the Suns, another long offseason awaits them, and there will be some difficult decisions to make for this team to reach its ultimate goal of winning a championship.

It will be tough for the Suns to significantly improve this roster given they're paying their top four players $145 million between Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton and Chris Paul. However, major changes could be afoot for this franchise, and Ayton and Paul could be the odd ones left out. According to ESPN's Tim MacMahon, there's speculation that Ayton and Paul have played their last game with the Suns, and could be used as trade assets to bolster the depth of this roster.

To take it a step further, the Suns are expected to "aggressively" shop Ayton this offseason. The former No. 1 overall pick would reportedly be "excited" about a fresh start with a different franchise after what's been a strenuous relationship with the Suns the last two seasons. Phoenix reluctantly matched Ayton's max offer sheet he received from the Indiana Pacers last offseason, and his relationship with Suns head coach Monty Williams has been rocky. Despite back-to-back disappointing postseason appearances from Ayton, the big man is still a productive center and he's just 24 years old. He averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds this season, so he should trigger interest from several teams around the league looking to add some rim protection in the frontcourt.

In regards to CP3, he's got a $30 million team option that becomes fully guaranteed on June 28. MacMahon reports that Phoenix will canvas the league to see what type of deal they can get for the veteran point guard before deciding what to do with his contract. But Paul's age (38), and his injury history, which includes missing the last four games of the Denver series due to a strained groin, could drive his value down.

These are the issues the Suns painted themselves into a corner with when they made the blockbuster trade to land Durant. One of the biggest concerns, once all the excitement settled, was about the team's depth for the rest of the season. Phoenix traded away Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson, two high-quality starters, for a chance to land Durant. And while landing a superstar of his magnitude is always the preferred idea, it left the Suns short on the backend of their roster. As a result, Durant and Booker had to put up herculean numbers on a nightly basis against the Nuggets, and when it came down to it, those two just couldn't contend with a Denver roster that got quality contributions out of several players aside from just Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray

MacMahon reports that the Suns will prioritize adding "quality role players" to surround Durant and Booker, instead of looking to add another All-Star level talent. That distinction is an important one, especially since there were reports earlier in the season that Phoenix was a suitor for Kyrie Irving this summer when he becomes an unrestricted free agent. Any deal to land Irving would have to be through a sign-and-trade with the Dallas Mavericks given Phoenix's lack of cap space, but from the sounds of it, it appears Phoenix may not be interested in adding Irving now.

Whoever is on Phoenix's wishlist of trade targets, it's clear that this team needs some serious retooling in order to contend in an always competitive Western Conference. They've nailed down the nucleus with Durant and Booker, but now they have to fill out the rest of the roster with quality role players to complement their stars and shoulder some of the offensive load when needed in the postseason.