There's plenty of drama to be had in the first-round series between the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Clippers. Russell Westbrook will have the time of his life trying to get back at Kevin Durant for leaving him in free agency in 2016, the Clippers will have another opportunity to defeat old pal Chris Paul in the playoffs, and the Suns will try to hold off a Clippers team with a chip on their collective shoulder, especially with the injured Paul George not exactly being on the best of terms with Devin Booker.
As jam-packed with narratives as the series may be, there's one overwhelming sentiment among fans and pundits for what is the most likely outcome of the series. Almost nobody outside of the loyal Clippers fanbase expects them to even threaten the Suns in some capacity, with some analysts even criticizing LA's failure to lose their final game so that they could dodge one of the championship favorites.
Even then, the Suns will know just how competitive this veteran Clippers team can be even without the services of a certain two-way wing. After all, back in 2021 with Kawhi Leonard on the mend, the Clippers almost split the first two games at Footprint Center, with Deandre Ayton saving the Suns with the immediately-iconic Valley Oop.
This time, with Leonard on his own without George, the Clippers will have the services of a more decorated playoff performer. And that in and of itself is not something the Suns should take lightly. No one will dare doubt the playoff version of Leonard, especially after his legacy-making 2019 postseason performance.
Thus, the Suns will need their wings to step up defensively, especially with their best defender Mikal Bridges giving way in the trade that brought Kevin Durant to the Valley.
Here is the Suns' biggest X-factor against the Clippers in the 2023 NBA playoffs, and it's not Deandre Ayton.
Suns' biggest X-factor(s) vs. Clippers: Josh Okogie/Torrey Craig
When you can trade for one of the best players of all time, you do whatever it takes by paying whatever it costs and reap the rewards. That's exactly what the Suns did when they traded away the farm for Kevin Durant, and there's not a single rational soul in the entire world that should deride them for giving up a plethora of picks, in addition to Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson, and Jae Crowder to do so.
But still, everything comes at a price. While Durant's arrival solves a lot of the problems the Mavs exposed in the Suns in their embarrassing Game 7 collapse last year, losing Bridges means that Phoenix loses one of the best point-of-attack defenders in the entire association, which would have come in handy in a matchup against Kawhi Leonard.
With Bridges gone, the responsibility of guarding the opposing team's best player falls on Josh Okogie, a bench player for much of his career who managed to separate himself from the rest of the Suns' wings back in February as they awaited Durant's recovery.
Okogie is definitely athletic enough to at least bother Kawhi Leonard and make it difficult for him to get to his spots in the high post area. However, Leonard stands at 6'7, and he might to be too much of a physical force for Okogie's 6'4, 213-lb. frame to stop.
Meanwhile, given the Suns' vast array of offensive weapons, the Clippers will definitely live with a few open Josh Okogie jumpshots. And Okogie has to make the Clippers pay when that happens.
The Suns also have Torrey Craig to handle Kawhi Leonard-defending duties if necessary, and he definitely has more size and strength to handle the Clippers star's physicality. Moreover, Craig actually shot the ball well from deep this past season, albeit on low volume (39.5 percent on 3.2 attempts per game), making him a more dangerous spot-up threat than the inconsistent Okogie.
It will definitely be interesting how Monty Williams decides to divvy up the minutes between Okogie and Craig, especially when the Suns can afford to ride the hot hand. Williams can also go to Kevin Durant to guard Leonard for stretches, with the more dangerous Terrence Ross or TJ Warren as the Suns' fifth man during those minutes.
But it might be best for the Suns' championship hopes if they ease Durant into a more strenuous two-way burden, saving his defensive work at a deeper juncture of the playoffs. Therefore, a hot-shooting series from Okogie and Craig should go a long way towards the Suns' hopes of making quick work of the Clippers.
Deandre Ayton is also a huge X-factor, as his work on the glass and defensive mobility allowed the Suns to counter the Clippers' small-ball lineup back in 2021, but stopping Leonard will be of utmost importance to Phoenix, paving the way for such a vital series from the Suns' defensive-minded wing duo.
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