2023-24 NBA Season Preview: Phoenix Suns
Training camp for the 2023-24 NBA season is officially underway! Up until opening night on Oct. 24, we will be previewing all 30 NBA teams! Today, we will be previewing the Phoenix Suns, who fell just short of making the Western Conference Finals for the second straight season.
What happened last year?
The Phoenix Suns entered the 2022-23 season with the urgency to get the ugly, bitter taste of losing by 33 at home against the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference semis. The Suns began 16-7 before hitting a slight bump in the road, but Phoenix put all their chips in the middle of the table for Kevin Durant a day ahead of the 2022-23 NBA Trade Deadline.
Though the lack of defense, depth in addition to an unfortunate, ill-timed Chris Paul injury, caused them to get eliminated in six games to the Denver Nuggets; no, not even the heroics of Durant and Devin Booker could dig them out of a deep hole.
Offseason recap:
The Suns tipped off the offseason by wielding their swords in a seven-player, three-team deal to land star guard Bradley Beal from the Washington Wizards for Chris Paul. They subsequently added myriad bodies at the start of free agency, including Yuta Watanabe, Keita Bates-Diop, Drew Eubanks and Chimezie Metu.
They did not stop there, helping facilitate the blockbuster Damian Lillard trade by sending Deandre Ayton to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Grayson Allen, Jusuf Nurkic, Nassir Little and Keon Johnson. The Suns offloading Ayton for Nurkic is a considerable downgrade, though they did upgrade their (self) creation, three-level scoring upside and upgraded their depth at the wing spots.
Projected Starting Five?
Devin Booker, G — Booker was beyond sensational in the postseason, averaging 36.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 7.4 assists on absurd efficiency (61.7/51.0/87.0 shooting splits) over his first nine playoff games before running out of gas. Without Paul or Cam Payne, Booker and Beal are expected to garner primary ballhandling responsibilities.
Bradley Beal, G — Beal bounced back from a suboptimal 2021-22 efficiency-wise, sporting a 59.3 true-shooting percentage a year ago in 50 games. He has struggled with lower body injuries over the last four seasons, but Beal is a very good 2.5-to-3-level scorer with improved playmaking.
Josh Okogie, G/F — Okogie improved to 33.5 percent from deep last season and should receive even more favorable looks this year. He will also shoulder more burden for a defense that ranked No. 9 leaguewide post-Durant trade.
Kevin Durant, F — Durant, recently turning 35-years-old, is still arguably a top-5 player in the sport. Durant was more of a stand-still player with Booker, and I’m interested to see how their chemistry continues to form over time.
Jusuf Nurkic, C — Nurkic has not played more than 70 percent of his team’s games since 2018-19. But when healthy, the 7-foot big is a capable floor-spacer and a very underrated playmaker, adding a dimension to the Suns’ frontcourt that they did not previously add, despite being worse defensively than Ayton/Landale. This is an interesting fit.
Key Reserves:
Keita Bates-Diop, F — Bates-Diop is a younger, skinner and more spry replacement for Torrey Craig, who joined the Bulls, Bates-Diop averaged 9.7 points a year ago on 39.4 percent from deep, plus is a solid wing defender.
Yuta Watanabe, F — Watanabe is a career 39.0 percent 3-point shooter and showcased very good chemistry with Durant during their brief time together.
Biggest X-Factor? Jusuf Nurkic
We know what Beal, Booker and Durant can all provide. But how will Nurkic fit into his new role when he’s healthy? He’s more sturdy than Ayton, but lacks the foot speed and awareness requisite for bigs in a Frank Vogel system. If he can be an average back-line presence, Phoenix will be in much better shape than the inverse. They don’t have much depth behind him unless if Durant being the backup five come April/May is on the table.
Season projection?
I project the Suns to finish 50-32 with the third-best record in the West.
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