The Kevin Durant era of Phoenix Suns of last year took the whole season to figure out themselves and in the end, they only managed to get 36 wins and eventually miss the playoffs. They have moved on from it and retained a few players, one of them is Grayson Allen who has an insightful comment on what made things different.
Allen emphasized how different the situation is right now and refused to throw under the bus squad that was supposed to make the contenders. They had their own Big 3 in KD, Bradley Beal, and Devin Booker. The first two have now gone to two other Western Conference teams.
The KD era reached went three years and reached the playoff twice after missing the last one. Their best season was in 2023 when they went the second round and lost to eventual champions Denver Nuggets.
Allen thought they have the personnel that fits in the system this time.
“It’s not really comparable to last year’s team. I was a part of it. So I can’t just say last year’s team was wrong and this one is right,” he said. I was obviously part of the problem, but I feel like the group that we found, the connectiveness that we found, the system JO (Jordan Ott) has with the personnel that we have.”
Coach Ott is also new to the team, taking over only in June last year.
Grayson Allen’s statement echoes Matt Ishbia’s
Team owner Matt Ishbia admitted around December that his team back then just did not have the right fit and that’s the reason why they traded KD. He sent them to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks who is now emerging as the heart of the team.
Suns are still figuring things out with some personnel in and out of the line-up. Allen said they will only get better.
“Everything has just clicked so far and feels like everything is going to get better.We’re moving the ball better offensively as it goes on,” he said.
“Figuring out our pressure defensively and rotations and trusting each other. It feels like we’ve gotten a lot better since the first month of the season.”
They are currently 30-19 and on a three-game winning streak. They sit at no. 6 in a stacked Western Conference. The team are yet to teach full strength with star Devin Booker and Green barely spending time together on the court.
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