Will Phoenix ever rise from the ashes?

7 seconds or less has just become 7 years or more of rebuilding for the Valley of the Sun.

Matt York/Associated Press

The Phoenix Suns have been one of the most historic franchises since the NBA’s conception. The Suns, celebrating their 50th year anniversary throughout the 2017–18 season, have had their fair share of history in this league, from their surprise appearance in the NBA Finals against the Celtics in 1976 to the Charles Barkley era in 1993 and the revolutionary “7 seconds or less” period featuring future hall of famer Steve Nash. But even with all of this rich history, the Suns have yet to win an NBA championship and it doesn’t seem like that will change any time soon.

As reported Sunday by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Phoenix Suns fired head coach Earl Watson, along with a majority of his assistant coaches. Watson first joined the Suns organization in 2015, as part of Jeff Hornacek’s coaching staff. Due to a poor start in the 2015 season, Hornacek was fired and Watson subsequently took over head-coaching duties from 2015–2017, compiling a final record of 33–85 before getting canned. Watson was originally brought in as the head coach of the Phoenix Suns because of his aura of positivity while also enriching the locker room with a sense of family and togetherness. These were important ideals to have with a young team that was bound to lose a majority of games throughout the season, but had hopes of growing together and building great team chemistry on and off the court.

Watson was a journeyman, beginning his basketball career at UCLA, under his role model and legend John Wooden. Watson would continue his NBA career with multiple teams, taking in everything he learned from other great coaches, including Jerry Sloan, Jerry West, George Karl, Hubie Brown, and Frank Vogel. Watson would also remain a respectable vet during his NBA playing career, working alongside superstars Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Damian Lillard during their early years in the league.

Photo by Victoria Arocho — The Associated Press

Unfortunately, with little coaching experience and a roster of players who weren’t even able to legally purchase alcohol, Watson was destined for failure in Phoenix. The players bought into his system of love and family, but none of that was shown on the court and particularly, for the first three games of the 2017–18 season. The Suns were ridiculed throughout NBA circles, with losses of 48 and 42 against the Portland Trailblazers and Los Angeles Clippers, respectively. The team did not look engaged at all on the court, and the Suns continued to become a bigger embarrassment than the Chicago Bulls, who are currently facing their own internal troubles as an organization. Enough was enough for Phoenix, and the Suns quickly cut the cord with Earl Watson, ultimately making Jay Triano the interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

Sure the Suns are without second round pick Davon Reed, Brandon Knight, and Alan Williams, but there is no excuse to lose as bad as they have for the beginning of their 50th season as a franchise. Eric Bledsoe seems to be gone too, but that’s a story for another day.

Watson’s love for UCLA basketball would even stir up rumors during the 2016 season that he would potentially pursue a head-coaching job at his alma mater if Steve Alford were to leave for the Indiana Hoosiers’ gig. With all that being said, Watson has much to work on with his X’s and O’s as a head coach, but he is a well-respected individual on and off the court and will continue to do great things, wherever that may be next. I can very well see Watson continuing his love for coaching somewhere in the college circuit, where he will be given more freedom to mold his own program into a powerhouse, something that he wasn’t able to succeed at in Phoenix, with the front office shutting down star players such as Eric Bledsoe and Tyson Chandler.

Watson and his staff getting fired is merely the first domino to fall in a never-ending cycle known as Phoenix Suns Basketball. Triano is now the fifth head coach for the Suns since 2012. They have been mediocre for way too long now. Suns owner Robert Sarver and the current front office regime have been losing star players for the last couple of years. Phoenix is beginning to lose their credibility as a free agent destination and it can be clearly seen with how they treated players like Goran Dragic, Isaiah Thomas and Eric Bledsoe. Potential coaching candidates are very wary of taking this job, as they have seen what has come of this franchise in the last 4 years. The foundation for this team will not flourish for the coming years unless there is perfect alignment and synergy between the team, the front office and the ownership group.

Phoenix Suns Media Day (2017)

As an organization, the Phoenix Suns now need to make sure they tread lightly throughout this season now more than ever. General manager Ryan McDonough, who recently signed an extension, has been given too many chances to rite the ship in the desert. There is no doubt in my mind that the Suns are far and beyond the worst team in the NBA now. It’s sad to see such a well-respected franchise continually hit the reset button every few years, especially now with such a promising pool of young talent. Ryan McDonough is a glorified NBA scout and has made very solid draft picks to insure “The Timeline” lives on for Phoenix. TJ Warren, who recently signed a contract extension, is an efficient scorer and can very much become a competent sixth man. Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss have shown strides tand signs that they can complement each other on the court, relying on positional versatility, freak athleticism, and court awareness. Josh Jackson is also the perfect defensive fit for the future of this team, something that this franchise desperately needed in order to return to glory. But most of all, Devin Booker has shown he has the intangibles of a future NBA superstar.

The Suns haven’t seen the playoffs for the past seven years and “The Timeline” is far from complete. McDonough has two extremely vital components left in order to shift “The Timeline” in the right direction. The Suns are bound to pick in the top-five of the top-heavy 2018 NBA draft and they must not mess this one up. This could be the last pick needed to make the next great Suns team and finally make the Suns relevant again. This team should be ready to compete in 2020, but player development is absolutely key. McDonough’s next choice at head coach after this season must be a home run. The Suns have had too many low-tier options since Mike D’Antoni, and its finally time that they can reach stability and consistency with a good head coach.

Phoenix will rise from the ashes, but patience is important now more than ever. Everyone, from the fans all the way to the ownership group, must endure through what may be another tough season but it could all very well be worth it when the results of “The Timeline” begin to reflect on the court.