The Suns are far from a title lock even after reportedly trading for Bradley Beal

Five months after trading for Kevin Durant, the Phoenix Suns are in the process of completing another blockbuster deal, landing three-time All-Star Bradley Beal in a trade with the Washington Wizards.

The deal could take a few days to be completed, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported, but it’s happening and gives the Suns one of the best three-man tandems in the entire NBA: Beal, Durant and Devin Booker. Each of the three have individual seasons of averaging more than 27 points per game, and Durant and Beal have averaged 30 in a season.

Phoenix showed just how difficult it can be to stop multiple elite scorers on the same team this past season, as Durant and Booker combined to average 62 points through 11 playoff games, including a 79-point average in two wins over the eventual champion Denver Nuggets.

Bradley Beal is forming a new Suns’ Big 3 with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker pic.twitter.com/Klz1wmUVLQ

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 18, 2023

However, the postseason also demonstrated exactly why the Suns remain far from a lock to win a title in 2024.

Phoenix’s defense was putrid against Denver, and the team lacked the depth to consistently score when its stars weren’t on the floor or didn’t have it going. The Suns shouldn’t be faulted for going after Beal, especially not at the insanely low cost of assets they were able to land him, but those issues on the court will only be magnified with a thinner roster. After giving up Chris Paul and Landry Shamet in the deal, Phoenix has just four players left on guaranteed contracts, and Beal’s massive $46 million cap hit won’t make it easy to upgrade the the rest of the team.

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Phoenix’s title odds did improve marginally from +850 at DraftKings before the deal to +650 on Monday, jumping ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks for third-best behind the Nuggets and Boston Celtics. But oddsmakers learned from last season and resisted the urge to put the Suns first, like they did after the team acquired Durant.

Phoenix still has a lot of work to do to build around its Big 3. That likely includes re-signing a bunch of free agents from last year’s team and maybe a trade involving center Deandre Ayton. However, until those things happen, the Suns aren’t a better title bet than more complete teams like the Nuggets.