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The Phoenix Suns might have their best team ever on the floor this season.
The Suns will be led by superstars Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, both of whom are considered top-10 players. They traded for three-time All-Star Bradley Beal this summer and will be coached by former NBA champion Frank Vogel.
The Suns will have their media day Monday. Phoenix has 19 players on its active roster — including two-way players Saben Lee and Udoka Azubuike — and has to cut two to have 15 standard contracts by Oct. 23, when the NBA requires rosters to be set.
In case you missed it, Suns guard Damion Lee is is “out until further notice” with a right meniscus injury suffered in an on-court workout at the team’s practice facility last week.
Here are five burning questions about the Suns ahead of media day.
Who will be the fifth starter?
The Suns have four of their starters set with Booker, Beal, Durant and Jusuf Nurkic, who they traded disgruntled center Deandre Ayton for last week.
Phoenix’s fifth starter is likely to be one of returning wing Josh Okogie, former Brooklyn Nets sharpshooter Yuta Watanabe and San Antonio Spurs wing Keita Bates-Diop.
Bates-Diop has a 6-foot-8 frame and 7-foot-3 wingspan but lacks some of the athleticism that Okogie and Watanabe have.
Okogie was named the Dan Majerle Hustle Award winner in 2022-23. He emerged as the Suns’ starter in their final 25 games and improved his offense as the season progressed.
Watanabe shot 60-of-135 (44.4 percent) from 3-point range in 2022-23. He also shot above 50 percent on corner threes.
Vogel told The Arizona Republic’s Duane Rankin the Suns could look for some playmaking, shooting and/or defense in their fifth starter.
How will point guard play out?
Beal is expected to be the Suns’ starting point guard to open training camp, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
Beal played fewer than 10 percent of his minutes at point guard last year, as pointed out in our story about how the Suns offense could look. However, he had the second-highest assist ratio of his career (19.6).
Booker has played point guard in the past. In the playoffs this past season, he averaged 7.2 assists per game.
The Suns are reportedly still interested in trading for the Indiana Pacers’ TJ McConnell, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Jake Fischer. McConnell played basketball at Arizona and has connections to Suns assistant coaches Quinton Crawford and Miles Simon as program alumni.
How will Vogel bring it all together?
Vogel has led teams to the top defensive rating in the NBA three times since he was hired by the Indiana Pacers in 2011, which is the most in the league since then.
Vogel’s defenses were impressive in his most recent stint with the Los Angeles Lakers. Even with LeBron James and Anthony Davis out for much of the 2020-21 season, the Lakers finished with the top defensive rating.
Vogel has said his scheme is adaptable to personnel. The Suns do not have many defensive-first players, so it will be intriguing to see how Vogel puns an identity.
Phoenix has three of the best offensive players in the NBA. It retained associate head coach Kevin Young, who is said to be a creative offensive mind.
The Suns were a very efficient team under previous coach Monty Williams. Phoenix has Booker entering his prime and Durant after a season he became the first player in NBA history to shoot 55 percent from the field, 40 percent from the 3-point line and 90 percent from the free-throw line.
Is Nurkic a serviceable five?
The Suns maintained throughout the offseason they planned to keep forming starting center Deandre Ayton, who was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers this past week in a three-team trade that sent former Trail Blazers Jusuf Nurkic, Nassir Little and Keon Johnson and former Milwaukee Bucks guard Grayson Allen to the Suns.
Here was how Suns fans expected Nurkic’s production to be this season in a poll on X.
Nurkic is 29 years old and in 2022-23 averaged 13.3 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. He shot worse from the field than Ayton (58.8 percent against 51.9 percent) but plays a bit more on the perimeter and can shoot the three.
Vogel has said his defense starts with the big man, and Nurkic has been an above-average defender in the paint. However, his perimeter defense is a question especially after he suffered a gruesome broken left leg in the 2018-19 season.
Is this the year?
The Suns have knocked on the door of an NBA championship. Phoenix tried to go all-in for a title last year when it traded for Kevin Durant and even went more in this year when it traded for Bradley Beal.
New Suns majority owner Mat Ishbia has been aggressive in the team’s pursuit of winning. Phoenix is testing the second apron but filled out its roster with solid value contracts, including former Sixth Man of the Year Eric Gordon, Watanabe, Bates-Diop and forwards Chimezie Metu and Drew Eubanks.
Phoenix only has Booker remaining from its 2021 NBA Finals team. The Suns have never won a championship before and on paper have a very good chance this year.
Stay tuned to ClutchPoints and reporter @TrevorMBooth on X for Suns coverage this season.
