#TheTimeline has taken hold of the Phoenix Suns, and the youth movement is finally giving fans something to be excited about for the future.
Entering their 50th season without an NBA title, one could argue the Phoenix Suns have been on a timeline for quite some time. It stretches back half a century, to the year when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, when the Tet Offensive pulled the United States into the Vietnam War, when Apollo 8 became the first manned spacecraft to orbit the moon.
And yet, 50 years later, the Suns are still orbiting the one thing they’ve been unable to secure during their time as the fourth-winningest franchise in NBA history: a championship.
Heading into the 2017-18 season, Phoenix is no closer to its goal. The Suns are approaching a franchise-record eight straight seasons without a playoff appearance, and with a young roster housing 11 players who are 24 years or younger, it’s unlikely they’ll end the drought this year.
And yet, for a fair weather fan base that often swelters under 110-degree weather out in the desert, there’s reason for hope. This is no build-through-the-middle mirage; after wandering for so many years, this franchise is approaching what could be an oasis.
Maybe #TheTimeline started the day the Suns drafted Josh Jackson fourth overall in the 2017 NBA Draft. Maybe it began with the addition of teenagers Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss in last year’s draft. Maybe it was with the drafting of Devin Booker, or the day the teenager starting looking like the second coming of Kobe Bryant.
Whatever the case, #TheTimeline has become the fan base’s greatest source of hope on the Suns’ long and winding timeline since Steve Nash and Amar’e Stoudemire were running pick-and-rolls together like John Stockton and Karl Malone reincarnate.
Valley of the Suns
After years of trying to build from the middle up, general manager Ryan McDonough has embraced the youth movement. No more LaMarcus Aldridge pitches. No more Blake Griffin talks. No more Point Guard Hydras.
#TheTimeline has taken hold, because there was no set Process to Trust. For a franchise that’s gone half a century without a championship or a No. 1 overall draft pick, it’s a bold approach — especially as McDonough fights to keep his job long-term under an owner who’s thirsted for a return to postseason action for quite some time now.
But as the Golden State Warriors wage their holy war on whatever super-teams the league can conjure up, the Suns finally appear content with hunkering down, lying in wait with the other young, talented teams in the league for their chance to be the next great dynasty.
Will they get there? Or will this paradise ultimately prove to be another mirage that leaves Phoenicians for dead, dehydrated from the heat that comes with the Suns and its fandom? Only time will tell, but there’s an undeniable sense of excitement that comes with looking toward the future.
The promise of potential is always more alluring than tangible talent, especially for teams caught in NBA no-man’s land like the Suns have been since 2010. Playoff appearances and sustained success are nice, but the mystery box could be anything — it could even be a boat!
Still, this is the most excited the Valley has been about its professional basketball team in quite some time, even as the more casual fans watch from the shade. From Twitter hashtags to T-shirt designs, Suns supporters are starting to catch on, pledging their allegiance to an ideology they hope their franchise abides by until the day Phoenix is a home-grown, Western Conference power again.
Friday night, the Suns will play their first Summer League game in Las Vegas — an appropriately arid, scorched earth destination for #TheTimeline to continue its rugged march toward that long-awaited oasis.
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As the next chapter begins, you can be guaranteed plenty of people will be tuning in to see if this growing movement will be more than just another blip on the Suns’ 50-year timeline. All hail #TheTimeline.
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