Phoenix Suns: 5 takeaways from 2017-18 exit interviews

Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images /
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Phoenix Suns
Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images /

Coming off the second-worst season in franchise history, it’s time for change for the Phoenix Suns. Here are five takeaways from their 2017-18 exit interviews.

After a season where their head coach was fired three games in, where their starting point guard was sent home to prepare for a trade after tweeting “I dont wanna be here,” and where there were as many 40-point losses in 82 games as there were combined over the first 49 years as a franchise, the Phoenix Suns are ready for a change of pace.

Expectations were never high heading into the 2017-18 NBA season, but with Devin Booker missing 28 games, Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender failing to take steps forward, Josh Jackson struggling to find his way early and a plethora of injuries and lineup changes, the Suns posted the second-worst record in franchise history and the worst record in the NBA this year at 21-61.

It was as ugly as it sounds. For one of the NBA’s five all-time winningest teams, missing the playoffs for a franchise-record eighth straight year is bad enough. Never securing a championship or a No. 1 overall draft pick in half a century makes the drought feel even worse.

Throw in the rapid acceleration of Devin Booker’s star status, an upcoming head coaching search, a general manager feeling the pressure to deliver in the biggest offseason in Suns history, the top odds at this year’s No. 1 overall pick, at least $10 million in cap space and the fact that Phoenix just posted the league’s worst point differential, offensive rating and defensive rating this year, and you’ve got a recipe for one interesting summer.

As such, the Phoenix Suns’ exit interviews for the 2017-18 campaign came with a lot of questions that needed to be answered. From GM Ryan McDonough to interim head coach Jay Triano to the players themselves, here are some of the biggest takeaways from what they had to say.