Suns must get revamp right amid brutal Western Conference

Learning is a gift. Even when pain is the teacher.

Let’s hope the rough initiation is over for Suns owner Mat Ishbia, who appears to have graduated from star hunter to team builder.

There is no margin for error in Phoenix. The Rockets are ring hunting with the addition of Kevin Durant. The Thunder were the youngest championship team in nearly 50 years. The Nuggets have added the IQ and athletic ability of Cam Johnson to play off the skills and vision of Nikola Jokic. The Mavericks will unveil Cooper Flagg and will be low-key contenders when Kyrie Irving returns. The Clippers are really good and might acquire Bradley Beal when his contract situation is resolved. The Timberwolves and Warriors are still very dangerous. And we all know the Spurs are going to be a huge problem for everyone in the coming years.

If it’s any consolation, consider the upcoming scene in Los Angeles now that Deandre Ayton has joined the Lakers. Just imagine Luka and LeBron at peak frustration, imploring Ayton to stop with the stone hands and the phantom screens and the weak finger rolls at the rim. Ayton is the most delusional player in the NBA, and now he’s alongside two demanding, emotive alpha legends. This will be hysterical, especially in Hollywood.

The crowded Western Conference landscape was the logic behind trading Devin Booker weeks ago, before he signs an extension that will max him out at $75 million a year, before he burns another year on the clock, before he conceivably gets fed up with all the losing and asks out of Phoenix. But that is not the plan and not Ishbia’s style.

To thread this needle, the Suns have to get everything right. And to their credit, the revamped front office is off to a very promising start.

They hired a capable young coach. Their debut draft was coherent, aggressive and received very high marks. They were also smart enough to sign veterans to start above and shield the incoming rookies: Mark Williams, a very talented center when healthy; and Nigel Hayes-Davis, a 6-foot-8 forward and two-way player with extensive experience overseas, including winning. And winning players tend to impact winning, no matter where they play. They are exactly what the Suns need most.

The Suns aren’t the only team in handcuffs, bit by runaway spending and the steel jaws of the second apron. They won’t be the only team forever shamed and stigmatized for spending over $100 million to buy out their own player. But if the current plan doesn’t work, we will become roundball dystopia, a city with no present and no future.

The Suns need more than luck. They need lightning in a bottle.

Reach Bickley at dbickley@arizonasports.com. Listen to Bickley & Marotta weekdays from 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.

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