Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal give Phoenix a star-rich lineup and options galore in the West.
NBA basketball returns Oct. 24. We are counting down the days like the seconds on a shot clock — literally, that’s what we’re doing. As of Oct. 1, our writers will list 24 storylines heading into the 2023-24 NBA season.
A new storyline will drop each day. Here is No. 7:
With Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, the Suns have the rest of the West on notice.
There are a lot of questions about how this is going to work, but there’s no denying the Suns’ talent. Even if this team doesn’t have a point guard, the three stars will continue to get buckets.
They can play one-on-one for 48 minutes if they want to. But just a little ball and player movement can create openings that Beal, Booker and Durant can take advantage of. Plus, all three stars are willing passers who have averaged at least 5.5 assists over the last five years.
Depth could be an issue, and the Suns will need a way to keep the stars fresh. But they added a couple of useful players in the three-team trade that sent Damian Lillard to Milwaukee and one great thing about having three stars is that you still have two if one is unavailable. If all three are available in the playoffs, you can have at least two on the floor at all times. Not many teams have two players who can capably defend Beal, Booker or Durant. Even fewer teams (especially now that Jrue Holiday has left Milwaukee) have three.
The Suns’ own defense is a big variable, and their two biggest additions (Beal and Eric Gordon) have been playing for bad defensive teams for the last few years. But size matters on that end of the floor and, with no point guard, the Suns will have size in their lineups. They’re one of three teams that have ranked in the top 10 defensively in each of the last three seasons and new coach Frank Vogel has had seven top-10 defenses (including three that ranked No. 1) in his 10 full seasons as head coach.
The Suns’ ceiling will be determined by their bigs’ ability to rebound and their role players’ ability to make open shots. If it all comes together, the Suns could be the best team in the league. Even if it doesn’t, they have enough top-line talent to overcome issues further down the roster.
