3 Phoenix Suns who won't be back after catastrophic first-round sweep

There's more talent than ever in the NBA, and as a result, more teams with a legitimate chance of competing for a deep playoff run. The West is especially tough, and we've already seen how unforgiving the conference can be after the Phoenix Suns were unceremoniously swept out of the first round by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Everything Phoenix has done has prioritized the present over the future, but after the Suns came up well short of their title aspirations, the question must be asked: where do they possibly go from here? There's no real path to improvement for owner Mat Ishbia's club, at least not in any meaningful, obvious way. The Suns have tied up nearly their entire salary cap in their own version of the Big Three: Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal. Grayson Allen was recently signed to a four-year, $70 million extension, but with the team well into the luxury tax, the rest of the roster will have to once again be made up of minimum-salary players and rookies.

Phoenix can't even turn to the draft to find a young diamond in the rough, as the team has dealt nearly its entire complement of picks away in the trades for Durant and Beal. This leaves one obvious scapegoat for the Suns' failings, but few other avenues to shake things up.

Running it back with the current team won't make any Suns fan optimistic heading into next season, especially with Durant another year older after enjoying one of his healthiest seasons in recent memory. Getting swept, especially in the first round, usually brings drastic changes to an organization, but when such changes aren't possible, what's a team to do? Let's look at three Suns who won't be back, and what that will mean for next year's team.

3. Isaiah Thomas won't be returning to the Suns

The Suns tried to make a splash by adding former All-Star Isaiah Thomas to its roster midway through the year, but the move failed to make an impact. Thomas is a shoot-first guard who's too small to provide any help on the defensive end, and on a team with Durant, Booker, and Beal, that's the opposite of what the Suns should be looking for.

Thomas is the only player on the Suns that could be described as a point guard, but he hardly played and failed to score in the series against the Timberwolves.

Phoenix sorely misses Chris Paul, a pass-first point guard that made the players around him better and would do well to find a cheap facsimile this offseason. Durant, Booker, and Beal can get their own shots at will, but having a true floor general to orchestrate the offense will take the Suns to the next level. Whether there's someone available that fits that description and the Suns' price range, is a matter for debate, but what's clear is that it isn't Thomas, whose deal has now expired and will be eligible to hit the open market.

2. Drew Eubanks is a capable reserve, but he could find the open market more enticing than his player option

Outside of completely blowing up the team by shipping out everyone (other than Bradley Beal, who has a no-trade clause), the Suns' roster is locked into its current path for the foreseeable future. The smart move long-term is to trade Durant and Booker and replenish the cupboard with picks and talented young players (which is precisely what Phoenix gave up by trading Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, and picks for Durant last year). Mat Ishbia doesn't strike me though as the kind of owner that is willing to either admit a mistake or punt on the short-term in exchange for gaining a sustainable future.

This means that next year's Suns will look much like this year's Suns, at least at the top of the roster. With general manager James Jones needing to at least look like he's doing something, the bench is where we'll see change.

Eric Gordon, Drew Eubanks, Josh Okogie, and Damion Lee all have player options for next year, and it's very possible that all of them are gone this offseason, which will give Jones a little bit of room to tinker. Eubanks seems like the most likely to leave, as he averaged just over 15 minutes per game this year after playing over 21 minutes through 100 games with Portland the past year and a half.

Eubanks is third in the big guy pecking order behind Jusuf Nurkic and Royce O'Neale, who was acquired in February from the Nets. His player option would pay him over $2.6 million, but he may test the open market and try to get with a team that can give him more run. Lots of teams could use a post reserve that shoots over 60 percent, so expect Eubanks to decline his player option and get more money and more minutes from someone else.

1. Someone has to take the fall, and there are no options besides Frank Vogel

The NBA is a star-driven league. Coaches, with few exceptions, are the first ones on the chopping block when things go south. Frank Vogel has seen that before, having been fired two years ago after guiding the Lakers to a 33-49 record.

With no way to improve the roster, the only way for the Suns to sell hope to their fans is by bringing in a new coach. Does Vogel deserve to be fired after one year, a 49-33 record, and the No. 6 seed in the West? No, but there are no other options.

The seeds are already being planted for Vogel's exit, with reports yesterday from Adrian Wojnarowski claiming that he could be gone with a sweep, which is precisely what happened, and a story today in the Athletic reporting that Kevin Durant "never felt comfortable" in Vogel's offense. Durant scored 26.8 points per game this year, but that's a detail that will be quickly forgotten if it seems that Vogel doesn't have the support of his stars.

The Suns were imperfectly constructed. Going all-out to put Durant, Booker, and Beal, three stars with overlapping skill sets, together is something an inexperienced fantasy manager would do. It's hardly Vogel's fault that the team had zero depth and no real point guard, but despite these glaring flaws, he got them a No. 6 seed in a brutal Western Conference. Unfortunately, he ran into a Timberwolves team that was far superior defensively and had the best player on the court in Anthony Edwards.

Ishbia is going to shake things up somehow, and Vogel seems like the most likely candidate to be in the crosshairs. Maybe it's actually better for him to get off of what seems to be a sinking ship.