The lasting image from the Phoenix Suns playoff run is not the elimination they suffered at the hands of the Denver Nuggets. It’s the legacy games Devin Booker and Kevin Durant had in Games 3 and 4 where they combined for 86 and 72 points to get their only two wins of the series. I mean, I get it, it makes sense that you’d remember historic performances from two NBA icons. But where does that leave you when you get the magnifying glass out to look at the 2023-24 Phoenix Suns season preview?
Well, first, you have to take off your rose-tinted glasses, rub your eyes a few times and look at this team with a bit of a critical eye. Sit back and let me bring you along on a journey of what the Booker-Durant-Bradley Beal Phoenix Suns season will look like.
Phoenix Suns Season Preview: Futures Odds, Picks & Predictions for 2023-24
Phoenix Suns Futures Odds: Championship, Conference, Division & Win Total
Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook
NBA Championship: +550
Western Conference: +270
Pacific Division: +130
Win Total: 52.5 +100/-122
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Phoenix Suns Season Preview
The Phoenix Suns made one of the biggest splashes of the entire NBA offseason, trading for Bradley Beal and shipping out veteran — and always-hurt-in-the-playoffs — Chris Paul.
And if that wasn’t enough, ol’ one-T Mat Ishbia sent Deandre Ayton packing and received Grayson Allen, Nassir Little, Jusuf Nurkic and Keon Johnson in return. I’m not here to have a talk-radio-guy “grade the trade” segment, but if we’re grading these trades as a whole? I’d say the Suns got objectively worse.
Oh, right, right. Gotta give ’em a grade: C-
However, they did make one move I do see as a positive: They signed Eric Gordon. This isn’t to say I don’t understand the moves they DID make, but if I broke these acquisitions down into simpleton terms, it would look like this:
- Added another ball-dominant scorer in Beal
- Added an oft-injured stiff in Nurkic
- Didn’t solve their biggest problem: How to get stops
The thing they lacked most in the series against Denver was the ability to get a stop. They had ZERO answer for stopping Nikola Jokic, or Jamal Murray for that matter. So what is their path to victory? Scoring 150 a game with Durant, Booker and Beal?
They might be the highest-scoring team in the NBA in 2023-24, yes, that’s true. But realistically, how many games can a team win if its only path to victory is scoring 130-plus points per game with no rim protection?
NBA Futures Picks for 2023-24
The answer: Less than 52.5. I’m taking the UNDER. Yes, that is my Phoenix Suns win total prediction for the 2023-24 season. For all of the reasons outlined above.
A saving grace for the Suns is that they traded for Bradley Beal extremely early in the offseason, which gives them more time to gel. However, that’s not to say there won’t be a learning curve, growing pains or any other 1970s sportswriter cliche term for this “Big 3.” Naturally, there will be some length of time it will take for three ball-dominant players to learn how to share the rock; coaches to learn what rotations work; and, most importantly, who is going to be “the guy.”
Every team needs an alpha. The guy who they know is getting the shot when it’s nut-cutting time — your Kobe Bryants, Michael Jordans, etc. Is it aging Kevin Durant? Is it the finally arrived Devin Booker? We know it’s not score-30-a-game-in-Washington Bradley Beal.
So we’re left with more questions than answers for this Phoenix Suns team heading into the season, and with that, we’re taking UNDER 52.5 wins. Should it take a while for the Suns to dial it in, it could open the door for the Los Angeles Lakers to sneak their way into winning the Pacific Division. Read about how the Lakers could exploit the Suns’ issues and how they could even find themselves as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference come playoff time.
Phoenix Suns Win Total Pick: Under 52.5 Wins -122 at FanDuel
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