The 2023 NBA All-Star Weekend is officially in the books, which means the season is entering its final stages. Thanks to a busy trade deadline, the league saw several new title contenders emerge in the past few weeks. This is the case with the Phoenix Suns, who pulled off a massive blockbuster at the trade deadline that saw them acquire 13-time All-Star Kevin Durant from the Brooklyn Nets.

With the move for Durant being made official, the Suns now have the third-best odds of winning the 2023 NBA Finals. According to FanDuel, their odds are +480, which only trails the Milwaukee Bucks' at +430 and the Boston Celtics' at +280.

With high hopes and even higher expectations surrounding the team, the Suns should be in the spotlight for the remainder of the 2022-23 season. As we wait for the Suns to return from the All-Star break, let's look at three bold predictions for them once they end up taking the court again.

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3. The Suns will struggle on defense in the first post-break games

To bring Durant on board, the Suns had to trade away two players in Cam Johnson and Mikal Bridges who played a key role in their Finals run in 2021.

Johnson missed more than two months this season due to a torn meniscus, but when he's healthy, he is scoring 13.9 points per game on efficient shooting splits of 47-46-82. Additionally, he still holds the best plus/minus for the Suns this season, as he was averaging +5.71 when he was on the court for them. The next closest player was Devin Booker, whose average is +4.45, so that's a pretty sizable gap.

Bridges, on the other hand, was the best defender on the Suns roster. Bridges was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team last season, while also garnering Defensive Player of the Year consideration. This season, in addition to his strong defense, Bridges was putting up 17.2 points per game on 46-39-90 shooting splits.

While Durant is a solid defender, the Suns will certainly miss Bridges' impact on that side of the ball. In Phoenix, the Villanova product was averaging 1.2 steals and 0.8 blocks a night. Add in the loss of Johnson, and the Suns could have a tough time adapting on defense moving forward.

As Durant is still recovering from a sprained MCL, they will need other players to step up on the defensive end in their first games without Bridges. Darius Bazley, who was acquired in a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder at the deadline, could be an unexpected contributor on that end of the floor, but he might not be enough.

The bold prediction is that Phoenix will have problems on defense in their first post-break games. While it should not be a problem once Durant makes his debut, the struggles might make the front office consider bringing in other players via the buyout market.

2. Kevin Durant and Devin Booker will emerge as the best offensive duo in the NBA

It's no secret that Durant should have a big impact on the Suns throughout the rest of the season. Prior to spraining his MCL, Durant was considered one of the frontrunners for the Most Valuable Player Award, which would have been the second time he took home the trophy, with the first one coming in 2014.

In 39 games for the Nets this season, Durant averaged 29.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game. He made 55.9 percent of his field goals, 37.6 percent of his 3-pointers, and a league-best 93.4 percent of his free throws. Should he play like he was playing prior to his injury, the star forward should be a game-changer for Phoenix.

To make things even better, Devin Booker is having one of the best seasons of his career. The guard is putting up 26.6 points per game on 48-36-85 shooting splits. With Durant now on the roster, his numbers might decrease a little bit, but it also means that Booker's efficiency from the floor could increase as a result of taking fewer shots.

Because of that, the bold prediction here is that Durant and Booker will emerge as the best offensive duo in the league and lead the Suns on a charge up the standings in the Western Conference.

1. The Suns will finish in the top three of the Western Conference

Entering the All-Star break, the Suns have a 32-28 record, which is good for fifth place in the Western Conference. They are only 2.5 games ahead of the Thunder, who currently hold the final spot in the Play-In Tournament with the tenth seed. For comparison, Phoenix finished last season with a 64-18 record, which was the best record in the NBA.

Due to the lack of changes from their roster, and the talent that they had at their disposal, the Suns had high expectations for 2022-23. Unfortunately, things have been far from perfect for them so far this season.

The addition of Durant could get them back on track, though. With the former MVP suiting up for them, the Suns will have two of the best offensive weapons in the game in Durant and Booker at their disposal, which would allow Chris Paul to take on even more of a playmaking role. Deandre Ayton should still keep putting up double-doubles on a nightly basis as well, although his scoring could drop as a result of the addition of Durant.

All things considered, the bold prediction here says Phoenix should have a strong finish to the 2022-23 season. Expect the Suns to keep climbing the standings with long winning streaks and eventually reach the top three in the West. While other teams in the conference did also get better, Phoenix should have an advantage by adding an MVP-caliber player in Durant to their roster, and it should help them beat out some of their other competitors.