There's no doubting just how much talent the Phoenix Suns will have from an offensive perspective in the upcoming season. With Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal all set to don the Suns jersey, they will be incredibly difficult to stop with ball in hand and will no doubt put up some big scores. But coach Frank Vogel thinks that there is plenty of potential at the other end of the floor, too.
“We've got a group that has a great scheme, and a very intelligent defensive scheme. Guys will be very well prepared game to game, so the ceiling is very high on what we can be on the defensive side of the ball, but the guys gotta put in the work.”
There's no doubting that the Suns' star trio are each individually far more renowned for their offense than their defense, though Durant has certainly shown his wares as a defender throughout the course of his career. But neither Booker nor Beal is recognized as a slouch at that end of the floor, while the addition of Jusuf Nurkic likely raises their ceiling defensively too.
The Suns are going to have no problems scoring points this season, so just how good they can be defensively may well determine how far they can go. Much like Steve Kerr did with his Warriors in their heyday, coach Frank Vogel may well find himself viewing opposing field goal percentage as a relatively consistent indicator for performance, because if the Suns can make it as difficult for opposing teams to score as he seems to think they're capable, they will be very, very difficult to beat this season.