The Phoenix Suns Roster Cost Nearly $630 Million In The Last Two Seasons: Zero Playoff Wins With Durant, Booker, And Beal originally appeared on Fadeaway World.
Two seasons ago, the Phoenix Suns made an earnest effort to contend for the NBA title by forming a superstar trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal. In a costly investment to acquire silverware, the Suns unfortunately fell short. To make matters worse, they came up empty-handed in their efforts to succeed in the playoffs as well.
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According to a recent report by ESPN’s Zach Kram, the Suns invested an exorbitant amount in salaries over the last two seasons to aid their title aspirations. He wrote:
“With Ishbia’s eager support, the Suns led the league in total payroll over the previous two seasons. According to an analysis of Spotrac data, Phoenix spent $626 million between salaries and luxury tax payments. That was $51 million ahead of the second-place Golden State Warriors. And that doesn’t even factor in the nonfinancial penalties that Phoenix faced, due to the league’s new cap environment, as a result of spending past the second apron.”
The breakdown of these figures highlights just how costly the Suns’ strategy became after team owner Mat Ishbia facilitated the acquisitions of Durant and Beal. The impact their contracts had on the Suns’ cap was immense.
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Here’s a rough breakdown of the salary and tax bill for the Suns over the past two seasons.
Phoenix Suns Salary and Tax Bill Breakdown
2023-24 Season: $255.7 million ($189.6 million in total cash, $68.1 million in est. luxury tax bills)
2024-25 Season: $370.1 million ($219.9 million in total cash, $152.2 million in est. luxury tax bills)
Total: $629.8 million
Kram’s figures fall slightly short of the full total, but that doesn’t lessen the impact of the Suns’ financial losses. As he mentioned, these figures don’t factor in the additional non-financial penalties the Suns had to deal with.
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With Durant, Booker, and Beal taking up 107.11% of the available cap space in the 2024-25 season, Phoenix was destined to incur heavy penalties for its roster construction efforts.
A massive luxury tax bill can still be justified by postseason success. Unfortunately, the Suns came up short in this department as well.
The last time Phoenix won in the playoffs was a first-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers in 2023, before Beal joined the team. Since forming the superstar trio, the Suns failed to register a single playoff win.
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In the 2024 postseason, Phoenix was swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Last season, the team’s performance was poor enough to see them out of the playoff picture, falling to 11th in the West.
Kram also compared the Suns’ spending to the New Orleans Pelicans, highlighting just how wide the gap was with the next team in the list that did not win a playoff game in that time. He wrote:
“Phoenix nearly doubled the spending of the next team that didn’t win a playoff game; the New Orleans Pelicans spent $336 million, or $290 million less than Phoenix.”
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When considering that the Pelicans have effectively been delaying a rebuild, this doesn’t paint a great picture for the Suns organization.
The end of the 2024-25 season, however, has also marked the end of Phoenix’s experiment. In many ways, the trio simply didn’t work together. Whether it was an overlap of skills or a lack of chemistry, some factors prevented each player from being their best.
Last season was possibly the best opportunity for the trio to succeed. With Durant appearing in 62 games, Beal in 53, and Booker in 75, they had plenty of time to build chemistry. In this regard, it may have simply been a case of it being the wrong fit.
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Breaking it all up may have been in the Suns’ best interest after all.
Kevin Durant’s trade to the Houston Rockets was one of the pivotal moves of this year’s offseason. Offloading Durant’s contract allowed the Suns to shed some salary with the acquisition of Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks, while also recovering some lost draft capital.
Meanwhile, Phoenix recently opted to buyout Bradley Beal’s contract, while stretching it over the next few seasons. Although this money will be dead money on their salary sheet, the cap impact is significantly reduced, allowing the team to come under the second apron. This move also allowed Beal to join the Clippers in free agency, boosting their overall roster strength.
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The Suns have committed to rebuilding around Devin Booker, who recently agreed to a two-year extension, making him the most expensive player in the league. Given the massive investment in their 28-year-old star, the Suns are expected to forge a new path forward.
This story was originally reported by Fadeaway World on Jul 24, 2025, where it first appeared.