PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns are hoping to reverse the pattern because the finish of the 2023-24 season.
It wasn’t a horrible marketing campaign, because the Suns reached 49 wins and prevented the league’s play-in match because the No. 6 seed.
Nonetheless, a season of frustration and stress boiled over with Phoenix’s first-round elimination to the Minnesota Timberwolves – a humbling expertise for the workforce.
“Armed with the league’s most costly trio, the Suns fell in need of their purpose. An absence of depth and defensive points saved the membership from profitable 50 video games and wreaked havoc within the first spherical of the playoffs when the Minnesota Timberwolves swept the Suns,” wrote NBA.com Shaun Powell.
“It was a humbling expertise for Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, in addition to new proprietor Mat Ishbia, who thought the celebs would prevail. Durant and Booker have been stable, averaging 27.1 factors per sport in 2023-24. Beal has handled accidents, excessive expectations and has additionally struggled to be efficient as a ball-handler.”
How far can the Suns go, in response to Powell?
“As soon as once more, there might be a variety of duty on the shoulders of three gamers, and no less than two of them will possible be as much as the problem. Durant and Booker are glorious (the Olympics confirmed that) and dependable. Assuming they’re wholesome, each ought to contend for All-Star and All-NBA spots,” he wrote.
“The onus will then be on Beal to bounce again with a daily, high-level season. If that’s the case, the Suns might be within the mixture of contenders, even with a big drop in expertise exterior of the three-man core. Both approach, Phoenix will show both that superteams nonetheless work or that they’re being phased out in favor of balanced, well-constructed alternate options.”
Championship aspirations are excessive once more in Phoenix.
