Somers: Can Phoenix Suns recover from offseason drama hangover?

Not long ago, although it seems like forever now, the Suns were as innocent as an NBA team could be. 

They were joyful, remember? Going 8-0 in the NBA bubble in 2020. Coach Monty Williams giving emotional speeches about his love for his players. Advancing to the NBA Finals the following year. Guard Devin Booker muttering “damn” in the moments after they were eliminated by Milwaukee. Setting a franchise record by winning 64 games last season.

They were fun to watch, remember?

But something changed in the playoffs last season. We know that for sure now. Innocence was displaced by the reality of professional sports, where money mixes with ego, and the weariness of seeing the same faces and hearing the same voices daily can change a team’s dynamic.

The Suns were taxed by a young Pelicans team in the first round of the playoffs. And they tossed in multiple towels in Game 7 against the Mavericks.

And now, this. On Tuesday, center Deandre Ayton said he hadn’t talked with Williams since being benched in Game 7, 135 days earlier.

That is not normal, despite Williams’ saying Tuesday that it was. He just wanted to give his guys space, he said. There were other players he didn’t talk to in that time, he said. They hear from me a lot, he said, and they would be hearing from me plenty once training camp started on Tuesday.

But there has to be more to this. Williams prides himself, with justification, on his communications skills. He cultivates relationships with players and always talks about creating a workplace — “our gym,” he calls it — that is fun and inviting. Being in the gym is a “get to,” not a “got to,” in Williams’ parlance.

It makes no sense that the two didn’t sit down in an exit interview in the days after the Mavericks loss. It makes no sense they didn’t talk in mid-July, when the Suns matched Indiana’s offer sheet to Ayton, worth $133 million over four years. It also meant the Suns can’t trade Ayton until Jan. 15, and he has a right to veto any deal for a calendar year.

That meant the Suns and Ayton have to co-exist for a while, yet as of Tuesday, Ayton and Williams hadn’t talked?

“Ever since the game,” Ayton said Tuesday.

Asked if he wanted to change that soon, Ayton said, “I’m here.”

For subscribers: 5 things to watch as Phoenix Suns enter training camp amid Robert Sarver fallout

This was a day after the Suns' annual media day, which already was joyless because questions about Robert Sarver dominated the day, as they should have. It was the first time the Suns basketball folks had been available to talk about him.

Usually upbeat and joking to the point of silliness, Ayton was stoic and kept his answers short. Strange for him, especially with a new contract, to act like he’d rather be in Indiana, or anywhere else.

Ayton promised the Suns will see the best version of himself on the court. 

"When I'm between those lines, I'm here to work," Ayton said. "I'm not playing for myself. I have an organization across my chest and a name on my back I have to represent. I'm just here to work." 

But what will he be like off of it? As unhappy as he appears to be now?

Somers: Phoenix Suns were self-aware enough to know media day would be about more than basketball

The Suns used to be about more than just the work. They hung out at each other’s houses, knew each other’s families, and talked about their love for one another. And the way they played convinced us all it was true.

Maybe it still is. Maybe it still will be in 2022-23. But they have some convincing to do.

In Game 7 against the Mavericks, the Suns played like a team that wanted its season to end. 

Forward Jae Crowder, one of the team’s leaders the past two years, wants to be traded and isn’t in camp. 

Shadows from Sarver’s suspension and effort to sell the team loom over the franchise. 

And now we learn that Williams, the NBA’s great communicator, and his starting center have gone four months and 13 days without a meaningful conversation?

That’s not normal. And it’s not the Suns we knew, and enjoyed, over the past two years.

More Suns news: Phoenix Suns players talk about summer of Kevin Durant trade rumors | Suns' Shamet meets father, siblings; focused on family, basketball

Reach Kent Somers at Kent.Somers@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @kentsomers. Hear Somers every Monday and Friday at 7:30 a.m. on The Drive with Jody Oehler on Fox Sports 910 AM.

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