Getty Image / Christian Petersen
The Phoenix Suns’ 2022-23 season didn’t end in the way they expected.
After making a blockbuster trade for Kevin Durant at the NBA’s trade deadline, the Suns were seen as one of the favorites to win a ring.
Instead, they were bounced in round 2 of the playoffs after getting embarrassed by the Nuggets in Game 6 in front of their home fans.
This offseason, they’ve already made another blockbuster move, trading Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, and picks for Bradley Beal, Jordan Goodwin, and Isaiah Todd.
It turns out that Beal wasn’t actually the first star that the Suns looked into making a deal for.
According to SNY’s Ian Begley, the Suns were one of the teams that contacted the Dallas Mavericks about potentially making a sign-and-trade deal for Kyrie Irving.
Julius Randle says NYK is ‘not that far off”, talks about the love he gets in-person from Knick fans & more on @PodcastPShow ; notes on Kyrie Irving, Suns, Mavs’ 10th pick & Taylor Hendricks, who is seen by team as draft’s top shooter: https://t.co/V4H27S5LCf
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) June 20, 2023
Whatever prevented a Kyrie deal from getting done, it seems to have worked out for the best for the Phoenix Suns.
The last few years of Kyrie Irving’s career have been an absolute mess. In his first 3 seasons with the Brooklyn Nets, he played just 103 games. He was finally healthy last season, but got himself in trouble off the court and then ended up demanding a trade.
After the trade, things fell apart for the Mavs and they ended up missing the playoffs.
He’s a bigger star than Beal is and the team still needs a point guard, but it has become clear since he left the Cavs that bringing in Kyrie is a risk and it didn’t pay off for the Celtics, Nets, or Mavs.
We’ll have to wait and see if the Bradley Beal trade was the right move for the Phoenix Suns, but it was probably a better option than bringing in Kyrie Irving and hoping he could avoid injuries, sharing his opinions on the shape of the earth, or deciding he needs another change of scenery.