The NBA playoffs are in full swing, with a few happy and some sad, and only the truly strong can emerge from the best-of-seven series. Life is going to tell me: newcomers will always go to the top, and the old guns will eventually step down from the altar, which is the natural evolution of sports, and it is also the driving force behind the sustainable development of the NBA! Especially this season, Curry stopped the play-offs, KD and Lao Zhan stopped in the first round, this is the first time in the NBA in the past 20 years that there is no Zhan Duku in the division semifinals! Especially Durant, who forcibly formed a big three in the Phoenix Suns, but was swept out, is simply a sin!
Since the new owner of the Suns took over the team, this team with a long history of 52 years but a championship is hard to find has embarked on a fast road to the championship! From the introduction of Durant, to the completion of the Paul Beal trade, to the cleaning of Aibao, every wave of the Suns' operations has an element of big gambling - at best, the Suns have created the Big Three, Durant, Booker, and Beal, which can be called the most expensive Big Three in NBA history; at worst, the Suns have paid for the next 7 years of draft picks, and the salaries of the Big Three have blocked the way for the team to recruit and strengthen! In short, the Suns have no future, and if they can't win now, they will fall into the abyss of losing all games!
This season, the Suns are plagued by injuries and run-ins, and only 49-33 to catch the last train of the playoffs! In the face of the Timberwolves, the dark horse of the West, the whole world thought that the Suns were the natural enemies of the Timberwolves, but they never thought that the Suns were swept by the Timberwolves, and the Suns were also the only team in the league to be swept out of the playoffs this season, which is also the second time in Durant's career that he was swept in the first round! The Suns enter the offseason with a salary of up to $209 million, a luxury tax of up to $116 million, and even more ruthlessly, the total remaining contracts of the Suns Big Three reach $484 million, and Durant Bookerbill's salary next season is as high as $150 million, which is higher than the total salary of 15 teams in the league!
4 years and 221 million US dollars, Booker did not have the life of the boss but got the disease of being the boss! From the perspective of seniority, Booker is the well-deserved boss of this Suns team, but Booker did not have the life of being the boss but got the disease of being the boss, and he is not worthy of the position! After 4 games in the series, Booker contributed an average of 27.5 points + 3.3 rebounds + 6 assists + 1.8 steals + 1.8 three-pointers per game. It is no exaggeration to say that Booker only served as the king of air slashing once in the battle of life and death, and the performance in the other three games all looked Buddhist! What is even more unacceptable is that when the Suns fell behind 0-2, Booker was also revealed to be flirting with a Korean actress, which is what a star should do? Booker's contract has 4 years and 221 million US dollars left, but he is not a qualified team boss at all, and it is hard for you to imagine that the Suns can use Booker as the first core to impact the championship!
With 161 million US dollars in 3 years, Bill became a hot potato. The Suns' big trade of exchanging Paul for Beal seems to be a risky move, but looking back, it is actually a dead move! I don't deny that Beal is younger and more capable of scoring than Paul, but we must admit that Beal's function is even more singular than Paul's, what else can he do except score? The organization is not good, the defense is even worse, and playing is a live target! After 4 playoff games, Beal averaged only 16.5 points + 2.8 rebounds + 4.5 assists + 3.3 turnovers per game, and only scored more than 15 points in one game! What's more, Beal's contract is too big, with 3 years and 161 million US dollars left, and his injury history and resume determine that it has no trading value.
Booker and Beal are the most expensive garbage brothers in the NBA, but this does not prevent them from becoming winners in life! Take Booker as an example, the Knicks intend to pursue Booker's partner Brunson at all costs, Booker can wave his sleeves and go to the Big Apple City to start a new chapter in his career; On the other hand, Durant, from leaving the Thunder to leaving the Warriors and then leaving the Nets, every decision has been controversial, and the more eager he is to prove himself, the more he is in a dilemma! After the series, KD contributed an average of 26.8 points + 6.5 rebounds + 3.3 assists + 1.5 blocks + 1.3 three-pointers per game, with three shooting rates of 55.2%, 41.7% and 82.4% respectively. KD still wants to play basketball in its purest form, but standing next to him are garbage brothers like Booker and Beal, who stay in the Suns and have no hope of competing for the championship, and returning to the Warriors or Thunder will only be more despised by people, too difficult! I can only say: the window left for Durant to compete for the championship is getting smaller and smaller. Fans, what do you think about this?