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After acquiring Kevin Durant in February, the Phoenix Suns had justifiably high hopes entering the 2023 NBA Playoffs. Unfortunately for them, they were one of four victims of the rampaging Denver Nuggets en route to a first-ever championship, with Devin Booker and Kevin Durant unable to stave off the Nikola Jokic-led onslaught and being resigned to a second round exit.
As talented as that Durant/Booker combination is, however, the Suns' expectations will be even higher entering the 2023-24 season after they acquired Bradley Beal in a trade with the Washington Wizards. That talented duo has become a talented trio, and with Deandre Ayton slotting in as the fourth best player this team has a very high ceiling next season.
But will it all come together? The Suns would hardly be the first super talented team to fail to live up to expectations, but with so many stars running around it's hard to imagine this team not being a contender. With that in mind, here are three bold predictions for the Suns in 2023-24.
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1. Phoenix Suns to lose close to half of their first 15 games
As good as the Phoenix Suns appear likely to be next season, it's very possible that they go through an early season period of growing pains. In fairness, that didn't happen at all when Kevin Durant entered the fray earlier in 2023, with the Suns winning their first eight and 12 of their first 13 games with KD on the floor, but with Beal in the picture there will be a lot more logistics to organize.
Each of the Suns' new big three is a capable facilitator, but each of them is also better at scoring than they are at creating. They're all capable isolation scorers, but with three weapons as lethal as they are on the floor, letting one of them play isolation is certainly not the best way to maximize the talents of this team.
Each of them is going to have to sacrifice elements of their game, and it wouldn't be a huge surprise if they take a bit of time to figure out the exact mechanics of that. None of these three are the kinds of players who need all the spotlight, but regardless, they'll most likely take a few weeks to get things clicking.
2. Phoenix Suns to end the season bottom five in the league for bench points
With Beal now in the picture, the Suns probably have the most talented top-end in the league. With Durant, Booker and Beal they're already paying plenty to their superstar trio, but bear in mind that they also hung onto Deandre Ayton in that trade – someone who shaped as a key piece of any major move they might make. And with Ayton on a 4-year deal worth over $30 million per year, they've got a salary cap which is just about ready to burst at the seams.
After trading Durant in, the Suns already lacked depth, and now they've gone and traded Chris Paul and Landry Shamet as well as a host of picks. They've got little else outside of Durant, Booker, Beal and Ayton, and don't exactly have a whole lot of scope to add a great deal of depth to the mix.
It's of course still possible that the Suns do move Ayton on at some point for depth, but for the time being he's still there and even if he does get traded, the Suns starting point means that they're not going to have a whole lot in the way of back-ups regardless. They have put all of their eggs in this four-man basket, so expect them to have to do the bulk of the heavy lifting next season. New coach Frank Vogel will no doubt look to spread the minutes of Booker, Durant and Beal to negate the fact that they won't have much of a bench, but the fact remains that the Suns won't be getting a lot of help off the bench next season.
3. Phoenix Suns to make the NBA Finals
Maybe there will be some teething issues in Phoenix. Maybe the overused adage that there is only one basketball will prove true – at least early on. Maybe their lack of depth will expose them at times. All of that could be true, but over the course of an 82 games season the Suns will have plenty of time to sort it all out.
This team is stacked to the absolute brim, with two of the best scorers in the game already at the wheel and their new addition in Bradley Beal not all that far behind. Add the reliable finishing of Deandre Ayton into the mix and you've got a team which probably can't be matched for talent. They've got some good teams that they need to get past in the West, but the Phoenix Suns' new look team will be a tough out for anyone. They can do what they failed to do this season and make their way through to the NBA Finals, and whichever Eastern Conference team they face there will have a very tough time ousting them in a seven-game series.
