The Phoenix Suns are a team in free-fall right now, which is good news for the Golden State Warriors who are fighting with their pacific rival for a spot in the Western Conference playoffs.
Thursday's loss to the Victor Wembanyama-less San Antonio Spurs was the fourth-straight defeat for the Suns, and seventh in their last eight games as they've fallen to 11th in the standings and 2.5 games behind the Warriors.
With the league's highest payroll and a trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, the Suns' struggles mean they're starting to draw a label as one of the worst 'super teams' of all-time.
The Warriors have contributed to the Suns downfall
Phoenix don't seem like a team connected right now, and there's probably a good reason for that based on all the trade discussion that was flying around before the deadline. For weeks the franchise wanted to trade Beal, but were simply unable to do so because of his exorbitant contract and more importantly a no-trade clause he was unwilling to waive.
Yet it's actually Durant's future that may be a bigger talking point for the Suns, with the Warriors having been incredibly aggressive in trying to reunite with the 2x Finals MVP earlier in the month.
So aggressive was Golden State's Durant pursuit that they seemingly convinced Phoenix to actually trade him, with a deal reportedly in place before the superstar forward voiced his disapproval about the potential move.
Fortunately for the Warriors, they were able to pivot and acquire another veteran star in Jimmy Butler. But for the Suns they have to try and move forward with Durant and Beal, knowing they were willing to
How do Phoenix hope to build chemistry in this situation? The divide was further signalled in Durant's recent comments when he referenced the front office as "those guys," with 3x NBA champion Udonis Haslem describing it as a disconnect.
"Anytime you start referring to the front office as 'them' and 'the higher-ups' and 'the guys upstairs,' then that means there's a disconnect because it's usually 'we' and 'us.'" Haslem said.
While the Warriors can't take all the credit, there's a distinct possibility that the Suns never entertain a Durant trade without their aggressive pursuit, and therefore the current disconnect in Phoenix wouldn't have materialized to the same degree.
Durant's future will be a huge storyline entering the offseason, particularly if the Suns can't save their season and reach the playoffs which based on current form looks very unlikely.