You’ve likely heard the phrase “consolidation trade” quite a bit over the past several years. It’s NBA Twitter’s favorite catch-all solution to roster flaws. Not good enough to win a championship? Just flip a couple of picks and three of your good players into one great one. Problem solved. Milwaukee consolidated its depth into Jrue Holiday and won a championship. Toronto did the same with Kawhi Leonard. Consolidation is almost always the right approach in a star-driven league. It isn’t for the Phoenix Suns, at least not anymore.
The Suns already made their consolidation trade in February. Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and their entire stock of draft picks became Kevin Durant. Despite a disappointing end to their season, Durant largely held up his end of the bargain. He averaged a hair under 30 points per game in the postseason, and while his legendary efficiency may have dipped, he can hardly be blamed for that given the defenses he was facing.
Durant and Devin Booker were so good that the Nuggets felt comfortable throwing help and doubles at them whenever they touched the ball. Phoenix’s role players couldn’t punish them for that. It’s almost impossible to win a game when your third-leading scorer has seven points. Booker and Durant did so in Game 3 by combining for 86. The Denver series was by no means a referendum on Phoenix’s superstars. It was proof of how close the two of them could get the Suns on their own. But to make it over the top? They’re going to need reliable role players around them.
And therein lies the problem. The Suns weren’t supposed to have two stars. They thought they had four. Chris Paul, as he so often does in the postseason, got hurt. DeAndre Ayton, for the second consecutive postseason, hasn’t been nearly consistent enough. These would have been acceptable outcomes from two mid-level players. But Ayton is in the first year of a max contract, while Paul is set to earn over $30 million next season. It’s hard to pay for depth when you’re paying your top four players $145 million. That depth is a necessity when half of that money is going to players who aren’t helping in the postseason.
This makes Phoenix the rare contender that needs to de-consolidate. They don’t need four great players. They need five or six good ones to go along with the two sure things that exist on their roster in Booker and Durant. In most cases, de-consolidation is a fairly…
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