Insider: Suns Facing Most Pressure After Trade Deadline

The Phoenix Suns have all of their chips pushed to the middle of the table.

Jan 25, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) reacts after he made a three point shot during the fourth quarter against the Washington Wizards at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns fumbled the NBA trade deadline after not landing any notable players to help change an underachieving roster, and as a result, there's some serious pressure mounting in the desert.

After 52 games, the Suns are an even 26-26 with dibs on the tenth-place position out West - a farcry from where the organization should have been considering the massive expectations heading into this season.

ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst labeled the Suns as one of five teams with the most pressure on them entering the second half of the schedule:

"They failed in their monthslong pursuit of Jimmy Butler and openly shopped Durant and Beal. They're mired in the second apron of the luxury tax, limiting ways to change the roster, and sit at .500 with the toughest remaining schedule in the league. Beal's no-trade clause is padlocked in place, and Durant has just a year left on his contract and appears headed for a showdown with the team if he doesn't want to extend this summer," wrote Windhorst.

"What's worse than underachieving? Being expensive and inflexible, too. The story writes itself. Getting out of this will be a chore.

"But the Suns' actions indicate they know they're in trouble, and they're examining how to dig themselves out. They needed to -- and did -- explore trading Durant even though it upset him, and they needed to offload salary to get some future flexibility. And they moved in this direction, trading Jusuf Nurkic with a first-round pick on deadline day, saving $130 million in salary and taxes this year and next.

"There will likely be more unsavory medicine to ingest this summer, when Durant's future with the franchise comes back into question. How the Suns handle it and how well they execute a possible Durant trade is vital to their future."

The Suns were ultimately plagued by Beal's no-trade clause, a risk they inherited when they acquired him from Washington that eventually bit them in the behind when it came to upgrading their roster.

As a result, Phoenix pivoted to potentially dealing Durant, which only irritated the star player, and like Windhorst mentioned, could lead to the Suns looking a lot different this coming summer.

The Suns need to win - here and now - and that pressure is only amplified after a chaotic trade deadline.