The Phoenix Suns have drifted along for the past several seasons. They have been one of the worst teams in the NBA for roughly the past decade. This season, however, everything has changed. A huge trade made before the season has given the Suns real hope that they can return to the postseason. That\u2019s the goal in Phoenix, and let\u2019s see how this team can pursue it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Offseason Changes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Suns made a major splash by signing star point guard Chris Paul in a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Suns gave star guard Devin Booker a backcourt teammate, instantly turning this lottery team into a playoff contender. The Suns added Jae Crowder from the Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat, another especially notable addition to the roster. They sent Ricky Rubio to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Suns also took Maryland forward Jalen Smith with the No. 10 pick in the recent NBA draft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Suns Will Succeed If\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n They get quality low-post play. The Suns have a good backcourt. This is not going to be the problem on their 2021 roster. Chris Paul and Devin Booker in the backcourt will make the Suns extremely hard to defend. Opposing teams are going to have headaches keeping up with those two players. The Suns, throughout their 52-year history dating back to 1968, have lacked elite big men. They have had some good power forwards and frontcourt players, but they have not had elite centers, the kinds of game-changers in the paint who dramatically reshape how the game is played near the rim. While Chris Paul and Devin Booker star in the backcourt, the Suns need DeAndre Ayton \u2013 their No. 1 pick from the same draft in which they passed up on Luka Doncic \u2013 to become a high-quality player. Ayton has not been a bust, but he has not played at the level a team hopes for from a top pick. The Suns need Ayton to take the next step in his development this season. Chris Paul could be an important mentor and guide for Ayton, but CP3 can\u2019t do this by himself. It\u2019s Ayton who has to take ownership of his situation and grow in how he plays at both ends of the floor. If this happens, everything can come together for the Suns this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Suns Will Fail If\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Their defense doesn\u2019t significantly improve. Booker is a gifted scorer, and there\u2019s no question Chris Paul can give the Suns a lot of structure in their halfcourt offense. Yet, where is the imposing and overwhelming defense on this team? The Suns, as you might recall, went 8-0 in the NBA bubble. They didn\u2019t make the playoffs, but they had a great run in the bubble. One of the aspects of the bubble which stood out to NBA observers was the improvement in shooting. The players were playing in the same environment with the same shooting backdrop. Players weren\u2019t flying around the country, which kept them more rested and in good position to shoot well. The Suns can\u2019t expect to be brilliant on offense the way they were in the bubble. They\u2019re going to have to get a lot more from their defense on a nightly basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Outlook<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Suns will finish below the Clippers, Lakers and Warriors, but they now have a real hope of making the playoffs. Expect Phoenix to be part of the mix for the final two or three West playoff spots with the Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, and maybe the San Antonio Spurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prediction: 4th in Pacific Division<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Phoenix Suns have drifted along for the past several seasons. They have been one of the worst teams in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[134],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nba"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14822"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14826,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14822\/revisions\/14826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}