NBA Rumors: Phoenix Suns prove they have fatally flawed roster construction

NBA Rumors: As the Phoenix Suns suffer another injury setback, it's becoming quite clear that they may have a fatally flawed roster.

When the Phoenix Suns made the bold move to trade for Kevin Durant at the 2023 NBA Trade Deadline and then acquired Bradley Beal during the 2023 NBA offseason, it was clear just how dangerous the team could be. However, the Suns' viability as a contender in the Western Conference was widely going to hinge on whether they could remain healthy. At least through the first year-plus of this experiment, it's been a pretty big overall failure.

During year one of the KD, Beal, and Devin Booker era in Phoenix, the team was rarely healthy and their big 3 only managed to play in just 41 games. Phoenix was quite good in those 41 games, finishing with a 26-15 record. However, the lack of health ultimately doomed the Suns as they lost in the first round of the NBA Playoffs at the hands of the upstart Minnesota Timberwolves.

And this season isn't off to a promising start either. So far this season, Booker has played in every game for the Suns but KD has missed 13 games and Beal has missed 12. Phoenix's big 3 has played in just 10 games together. As you would expect, in those games the Suns are 8-2 and play at a high level. In the games that their big 3 aren't complete, Phoenix is just 4-8. And with KD going down with an ankle sprain in the team's win over the San Antonio Spurs Tuesday night, they might be preparing to play even more games without their superstar in the lineup.

The Phoenix Suns have a flawed roster construction

The Suns are good, really good, when they're healthy. However, with the way their first year-plus has gone as a big 3, you can only count on them being healthy for roughly half the year. That's not a good sign for a team that is attempting to emerge this season as a Western Conference contender. It's not a reliable formula for success in the NBA.

So much so that it has led me to the conclusion that the Suns might just be a fatally built team. In theory, they have the talent to win a championship. But because their stars are ones that can't seemingly remain healthy, it's foolish to expect them to live up to such high expectations. From a talent perspective, the Suns built an incredibly strong roster. They simply forgot to account for health. As it turns out, that's a pretty big factor in building out a championship roster.

Maybe the Suns can defy the odds during the rest of the season. Maybe what we've seen from this big 3 in terms of their ability to remain healthy through their first year-plus was a mirage and they end up playing 60-plus games this regular season and are as healthy as they can be heading into the postseason; I just can't envision that.

If I did have to predict one way or another, I'd lean toward this team continuing to struggle with injuries all year long. I wish it wasn't this way but all indications do seem to point to the Suns having a fatally flawed built roster.