The Phoenix Suns have had a rocky offseason for the most part. But now that the 2022-23 season is very nearly upon us, they appear set to be one of the top teams in the Western Conference yet again after finishing with the best record in the NBA last season. Everyone in Phoenix is hoping that this will be the season they can finally raise the elusive Larry O'Brien trophy.

There's a lot of reasons to believe the Suns will be in the thick of the title race this season. They have a strong core group led by Devin Booker, Chris Paul, and Deandre Ayton, and one of the strongest benches in the entire league. Given all the talent and familiarity this team has, it's not exactly a surprise to see them be considered one of the favorites to win it all this season.

Still, there are a lot of questions surrounding this Suns team, especially after they crashed out of the playoffs last season. Will they be able to recover from that stunning defeat and the tension-filled offseason they just endured? While they may have the talent to do so, let's take a look at three reasons why the Suns won't end up winning the 2023 NBA Finals.

3. The Suns have no depth at center

The Suns went to great lengths to keep Deandre Ayton on their roster this offseason, despite his strange end to the 2022 NBA Playoffs. Ayton was a complete nonfactor in the Suns stunning Game 7 loss at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks, and given that he was headed for restricted free agency, it seemed like there was a chance that the Suns wouldn't hand him an offer sheet and explore a trade for him instead.

But when the Indiana Pacers offered Ayton a four-year, $132.9 million offer sheet, Phoenix immediately matched it, bringing Ayton back for the next four years. While Ayton may not necessarily be happy to be on the Suns still, they desperately need him, because they have virtually no help behind him.

Right now, it looks like the Suns are going to count on Dario Saric to be Ayton's true backup, with Bismack Biyombo behind him. Saric missed the entire 2021-22 season with a meniscus injury, and is really a power forward rather than a center, and Biyombo is barely playable anymore. The Suns desperately need Ayton to perform this season, but that doesn't seem like a sure thing, and Phoenix's center rotation could quickly become a problem this season.

2. The Suns made no improvements to their team this offseason

Following up on that a bit, Deandre Ayton's re-signing was easily the biggest move they made this offseason, and many wondered whether or not they actually wanted to make that move in the first place. Aside from shoring up their guard depth, the Suns made no noteworthy moves to improve their team this offseason, which has to be a little bit concerning.

We saw last season how the Atlanta Hawks, who made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals during the 2021 playoffs, were complacent during the ensuing offseason, and proceeded to regress to the mean during the 2021-22 season. The Suns are clearly more talented than the Hawks, but it wouldn't be surprising to see something similar happen to them this season.

The Suns have a strong team, and they didn't necessarily need to make a ton of improvements. But we just outlined how weak their center rotation is, and as we will see in a moment, not everyone on their roster is happy to be playing for them. Considering how badly their playoff run came to an end, you would have figured the Suns would have made some changes to their roster; instead, it looks nearly identical to last season's team.

1. The Suns have a ton of organizational turmoil currently

Unless you have been living under a rock, it's been hard to not notice all the turmoil surrounding the Suns right now. Their owner Robert Sarver is selling the team after being suspended for a year by the NBA and fined $10 million for creating and contributing to an extremely toxic work environment. That situation has lingered over the Suns for nearly a year now, and likely will continue to do so until Sarver finally sells the franchise.

In terms of the actual basketball team, things aren't much better. Deandre Ayton clearly doesn't want to be in Phoenix, and admitted he hadn't talked to head coach Monty Williams all offseason long, which isn't a good sign at all. Beyond that, starting power forward Jae Crowder is holding out of training camp and looking to be traded before the start of the season.

To summarize, the Suns are a mess right now from top to bottom. They have a lot of distractions from the basketball court right now, and those distractions likely aren't going to go away any time soon. While they have the talent, there are a lot of question marks surrounding the Suns right now, and the tension in the organization will be the biggest reason they don't end up winning the 2023 NBA Finals.