Suns @ Timberwolves Friday game thread 3-28-2025

[Sunshooter]

Bud has no power to freeze Booker?

 

[BirdGangThing]

Bud has no power to freeze Booker?

ant does

 

[Mainstreet]

I know it's their job, but I wish Leander and Chambers would quit talking about the Suns and the play-in.

Stick a fork in them. They are done.

The only way, the Suns make the play-in is if another team can out lose them.

 

[Mainstreet]

Some final stats.

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Timberwolves 124-109 Suns (Mar 28, 2025) Box Score - ESPN

Box score for the Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Phoenix Suns NBA game from March 28, 2025 on ESPN. Includes all points, rebounds and steals stats.

www.espn.com

 

[SactownSunsFan]

Book always seems to save his worst games for the Wolves and the Mavs. Sigh

 

[BirdGangThing]

legendary. my. ass.

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[BirdGangThing]

Book always seems to save his worst games for the Wolves and the Mavs. Sigh

it'll be the wolves and lakers now

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Booker -54 in two games. It's time to move on

 

[leclerc]

When Booker needs to step up and play big he disappears. Trade him. Giving him another max is stupidity.

Not sure what Ish is... He laid an egg on the retool going to KD and Beal. What will he do this summer. Does he have the balls to replace James Jones or will he keep paying this group top dollars to underperform.

 

[boisesuns]

I know we don’t have tons of options, but I’m in the trade booker camp. KD will be gone, so we might as well reset.

 

[BirdGangThing]

we were never in that game because book was never in that game - he quit before it started - very sad to see but also expected - can't wait around for a 28 year old man's balls to drop again - every star gets double teamed but they don't go scoreless and heartless - that loss was 100% on the guy ish says we'll never trade - 100% on the guy i said was the greatest suns player evs

 

[BirdGangThing]

we will never be a dominant team with booker at the wheel - he's got the talent but not the fight - luka - ant - giannis - jalen brown - these types want the smoke - they feed off it - it drives them to be legendary - but not book - that type of competition puts him in a bad space

devin booker has lost his confidence - no coach - no contract - not even his childhood hero can bring it back - this pains me to say - no it hurts - because not only are we out of draft picks but our only hope looks hopeless

if you want kd traded you can thank devin booker for it - even kd was looking at booker in disappointment last night - gillespie couldn't even look at devin booker - probably because he was on one and didn't want the devin booker cooties

dbc - the devin booker cooties - blow it all up

 

[BirdGangThing]

it's been 3 years since book has dominated but this year was the worst - he thrives when uncontested - in the simple game of basketball with no drama at all - but when personal battles begin and chests start sticking out booker hides in his shell

then the other guy starts telling his team - hey look at book he went back in his shell - and the other guys teammates are like what? then the other guy kicks the shell to prove it - then the other guy's teammates start kicking the shell too

this puts our whole team in shell shock - doesn't matter which team - we've had 3 different teams in the last 3 years and none of them know what to do when booker doesn't know what to do - that's when it happens

 

[CardNots]

beal looks salty as hell - angry face for real - that's one unhappy man

an angry multimillionaire, odd…

 

[AzStevenCal]

it's been 3 years since book has dominated but this year was the worst - he thrives when uncontested - in the simple game of basketball with no drama at all - but when personal battles begin and chests start sticking out booker hides in his shell

then the other guy starts telling his team - hey look at book he went back in his shell - and the other guys teammates are like what? then the other guy kicks the shell to prove it - then the other guy's teammates start kicking the shell too

this puts our whole team in shell shock - doesn't matter which team - we've had 3 different teams in the last 3 years and none of them know what to do when booker doesn't know what to do - that's when it happens

Sometimes I wonder if Ayton taught Booker more than the other way around, specifically that it's all about getting the big contract. But I doubt it's a coincidence that Devin started playng so inconsistently about the time his former girlfriend re-entered his life.

 

[Carolinacacti]

He looked hung over last night

 

[elindholm]

we will never be a dominant team with booker at the wheel

There is no path to making the Suns a dominant team within the next 15 years.

 

[Mainstreet]

There is no path to making the Suns a dominant team within the next 15 years.

This is the sad part, although I'm not sure about the time frames, but this sounds close.

The Suns need to hire the best scouts and player development coaches in the world. Other teams are better than the Suns in finding late round gems and undrafted free agents.

 

[AzStevenCal]

This is the sad part, although I'm not sure about the time frames, but this sounds close.

The Suns need to hire the best scouts and player development coaches in the world. Other teams are better than the Suns in finding late round gems and undrafted free agents.

I'm not either. I know there is no easy way to get out of this hole and become a contending team but the countdown for future success doesn't even start until this front office finally stops trying to fix what can't be fixed.

Fans don't want to see a return to those horrible bottom of the league years and I understand that but IMO that's the price we have to pay for the stupid decisions we've made the past decade or so. If we decide to just try and put the best team on the court every year without considering our long term future, 15 years from now we might still be 15 years away.

 

[Mainstreet]

I'm not either. I know there is no easy way to get out of this hole and become a contending team but the countdown for future success doesn't even start until this front office finally stops trying to fix what can't be fixed.

Fans don't want to see a return to those horrible bottom of the league years and I understand that but IMO that's the price we have to pay for the stupid decisions we've made the past decade or so. If we decide to just try and put the best team on the court every year without considering our long term future, 15 years from now we might still be 15 years away.

The Suns need to be fixed, no doubt about, but I dislike it when threads turn into let's blame it on Devin Booker.

Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal will be paid more than the Booker next season. Btw, those two players weren't even on the Suns Finals team.

If one wants to look at blame, this is sort of how it goes in regard to change of events. This is why the Suns are where they are now:

1. Change in ownership from Robert Sarver to Matt Ishbia.
2. Monty Williams was replaced by Frank Vogel who was later replaced by Mike Budenholzer.
3. Massive trade of first round picks, swaps and players (Bridges and Johnson) for Kevin Durant.
3. Trade of Chris Paul, Shamet and a load of second round picks for Bradley Beal.
4. Ayton and Camara traded for Nurkic, Allen and others.

 

[Mainstreet]

If fans want accountability, let's look at the moves the GM and ownership has made.

 

[Hoop Head]

Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal will be paid more than the Booker next season. Btw, those two players weren't even on the Suns Finals team.

What I think is more important to the Suns is those guys didn't earn their deals here in Phoenix. Whether they were on that finals team is ancient history. They didn't put pen to paper to commit to being a part of this franchise.

 

[Mainstreet]

What I think is more important to the Suns is those guys didn't earn their deals here in Phoenix. Whether they were on that finals team is ancient history. They didn't put pen to paper to commit to being a part of this franchise.

I'm not understanding. The Suns traded for them, so they must have wanted them. There was a conscious decision to add them to the team and take on their salaries.

 

[Chaplin]

I'm not understanding. The Suns traded for them, so they must have wanted them. There was a conscious decision to add them to the team.

And both Bradley Beal (waiving the trade clause) and KD (public comments) pushed to get here. Another fact that's ignored.

 

[AzStevenCal]

If fans want accountability, let's look at the moves the GM and ownership has made.

Absolutely, but I think you have to go back much further than the KD trade. The Durant trade was bad for so many reasons but the biggest reason is we just didn't have the kind of roster that could survive such a lopsided trade. And we didn't have that roster because of all the horrible draft picks we made during the McD era.

If DA hadn't self-destructed and if we'd had another Mikal and another Jae Crowder and another CamJ waiting in the wings, we could have made the KD trade work and maybe even won a title or two. But our run to the finals convinced too many decision makers that we were on the verge of being great so cost-be-damned dominated their thinking. And as bad as things look right now, I expect them to keep getting worse until the front office wises up.