The long, slow death of the Phoenix Suns' season is finally complete. Now comes the harder part: figuring out where the distressed franchise goes from here.

Catch up quick: It was just four years ago that the Suns made the NBA Finals and seemed to be a team with nothing but momentum.

• Since then, the Suns got a new, gutsier owner in Mat Ishbia who secured blockbuster trades for Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal.
• Along with Devin Booker, they were to become the "big three" powerhouse that would finally deliver the first-ever NBA championship to the Valley.

Reality check: Instead, we got the league's highest payroll, three disappointing seasons and unfavorable first-round draft options through 2030.

What's next: We — and every NBA analyst in the country — have no idea how the Suns should regroup. But these are the questions we'll be asking this offseason:

🏀 Should Budenholzer get another chance?

The Suns could dismiss head coach Mike Budenholzer, which would make him the third axed in three seasons.

• "It's raw. We just lost; it's been a tough season. There's been no conversations," Budenholzer told reporters when asked Wednesday if he'd spoken with Ishbia about his future.

🏀 Will we say goodbye to Durant?

It seems increasingly likely that we've seen superstar Durant don purple and orange for the last time, the Arizona Republic reported.

• The Timberwolves, Knicks, Rockets, Spurs and Heat have all expressed interest in acquiring him, ESPN reported earlier this month.
• If the Suns ink a deal with the Knicks, it's possible that fan-favorite Mikal Bridges (who the Suns traded away as part of the 2023 Durant deal) could come back to the Valley.

🏀 Can we drop Beal?

The Beal trade is largely considered to be Ishbia's worst deal: He's expensive, lacks chemistry with Booker or Durant, has been plagued with injuries and holds a no-trade clause that makes it almost impossible to be rid of him.

• Any trade would require Beal's buy-in, and he's made clear that the deal would have to be pretty sweet.

Booker will stay — right?

The season was rough, but the fans were faithful, new Suns home game attendance data shows.

Axon came one step closer to canceling a planned election that could upend its plans to build a new headquarters in Scottsdale.

The big picture: The Scottsdale City Council last November approved the Taser maker's rezoning request for a building near Hayden Road and Loop 101 that would include 1,900 apartments and a hotel.

• Opponents of the apartment units, with support from the organized labor group Worker Power, collected enough signatures to put the issue on the 2026 general election ballot.
• Axon CEO Rick Smith has said the apartments are critical and has threatened the company will leave Arizona if the special election happens.

The intrigue: So, Axon sought help from the Legislature to nix the election.

• A pair of proposals last month that would have eliminated voters' ability to put municipal rezoning decisions on the ballot via citizen referendum fell short.
• A new legislative proposal that emerged last month would force cities with populations between 200,000-500,000, including Scottsdale, to allow apartments and hotels on the campus of an international business headquarters on land zoned for light industrial use.
• The bill includes other parameters, including that the company must employ over 1,000 people and at least 30% of the apartments must be reserved for company employees or police officers, firefighters and health care workers.

Driving the news: The House approved the bill 40-19 yesterday.

What's next: The bill now goes to the Senate.

• Christian Slater, a spokesperson for Gov. Katie Hobbs, told Axios the governor is "committed to keeping and bringing in businesses that create jobs" and she's "closely watching" the bill while working with stakeholders and lawmakers.

More Capitol news

🌡 Phoenix had its first 100-degree day of the year yesterday. (KTAR)

💰 The Phoenix City Council voted to raise development fees, which could increase the cost of new homes by as much as $35,000. (AZcentral)

🧑‍⚖️ Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, with 15 other AGs and Pennsylvania's governor, sued the Trump administration yesterday to restore hundreds of millions in funding to schools from the pandemic-era American Rescue Plan Act that the U.S. Department of Education halted.

🥪 Cheese N Stuff, a central Phoenix sandwich shop, is closing after 75 years. (Arizona's Family)

🏀 UofA hired Buffalo's Becky Burke to be the Wildcats' next women's basketball head coach. (ESPN)

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