It's a saying as old as the sport itself, but it still holds more actual than ever: "Offense may win you games, but defense can win you championships." The Phoenix Suns had offense in spades with the presence of prolific scorers like Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, and Devin Booker. However, their troubles against the Minnesota Timberwolves in their first-round showdown began and ended on the defensive end of the floor.
With a roster devoid of any proven defensive stoppers that could hinder the likes of Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert, and even Jaden McDaniels, Phoenix exited the postseason in humiliating fashion via a four-game sweep.
Former NBA champion and playoff veteran Stephen Jackson shared on the latest episode of All The Smoke Unplugged that he already saw the writing on the wall as the Suns rolled through the regular season with their roster.
A "Big 3" with no defensive stalwarts
When Beal, a three-time All-Star, joined the Suns via trade in the offseason, many hyped the team up for its impressive firepower. However, what they failed to notice was the obvious lack of defenders. Although the Suns had rugged defender Grayson Allen and later added "3-and-D" guy Royce O'Neale, having these players was far from enough.
"I just don't think it'll ever work when you got three stars and none of them are defenders," S-Jax said on the show. "They just got swept by a team that got three stars; two of them are scorers, but all three of them are defenders."
Phoenix's defensive shortcomings were as glaring as the heat in the Valley of the Sun. The team finished with a defensive rating of 123.2 , the lowest out of all the teams that played in the first round. With a Swiss cheese defense, Minnesota superstar Ant-Man carved them up nightly, averaging 31.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game.
"None of them are defensive players, none of them put that effort in on defense, none of them are defensive stoppers," Jackson added. "So you'll never win like that, man. They need to figure that out and going forward."
Management didn't build a suitable roster
Meanwhile, All The Smoke co-host Matt Barnes cited the Suns' lack of pieces that fit as another reason for their playoff failure, saying that the team had "too many similar guys that do too many similar things."
Barnes explained that Phoenix's decision-makers thought D-Book could run the point full-time after handling it well during Chris Paul's absence last season. While the four-time All-Star has proven he can facilitate an offense, doing that and functioning as a court general is different.
"I think they thought because last year when Book, when CP would go down, Book would have four or five game stretches where he's averaging nine assists a game, and he's a facilitator, and he has got better facilitating, but let's keep it real, that was CP's job—getting everyone else involved with that team," Barnes remarked.
The Suns' front office, led by owner Mat Ishbia and general manager James Jones, has a lot of work to do if they are to reshape this roster and better match the superstars they do have. Fortunately for the Phoenix franchise, they have all summer to ponder these moves and do what must be done.
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