The 2023-24 Phoenix Suns’ NBA Season Preview
September 21st, 2023
by Alan Lu
Last year, the Suns were going to contend, but they started getting injuries, so they went all in for Kevin Durant. However, this depleted their depth, as they traded numerous key players away to get him, such as Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, and Jae Crowder in the process. When Chris Paul got hurt, it derailed their title chances, and they couldn’t compete with Denver in the playoffs, so they lost to them in their second round series.
This year, they went all in to acquire Bradley Beal in a bid to build a super team around Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, but questions still arise in the process. All three players are injury-prone and have tended to miss games in the regular season, and there is still no clear-cut starting point guard on their roster. Their bench also isn’t nearly as strong as it used to be before they traded for Durant, so the Suns have their work cut out for them in order to meet their annual lofty expectations.
Kevin Durant and Devin Booker will help lead the Phoenix Suns into the 2023-24 NBA season.
(Photo: Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images, via Bleacher Report)
Star Players:
G Devin Booker, F Kevin Durant, and G Bradley Beal
The Suns made big moves to acquire a new big three for the upcoming season, but it’ll be interesting to see how it all fits together. All three of them are All-Star caliber players that could potentially make it a dynamic and potent offensive attack, but they will also need to coalesce and fit and work together as a squad.
Additions:
G Bradley Beal, G Eric Gordon, F Yuta Watanabe, G Jordan Goodwin, F-C Bol Bol, F-C Chimezie Metu, F Keita Bates-Diop, C Drew Eubanks, and F Toumani Camara
The biggest addition was that the Suns added superstar guard Bradley Beal, who has been a very good player when healthy, but has tended to miss considerable time due to injuries. They also made moves to retool their depth, and they acquired talented role players that can shoot and defend in games.
Subtractions:
G Chris Paul, G Cameron Payne, G Landry Shamet, G-F Torrey Craig, G-F Terrence Ross, C Jock Landale, F T.J. Warren, F Darius Bazley, and C Bismarck Biyombo
The Suns also lost a lot of players in the offseason, but the biggest loss was losing their superstar, but also oft-injured point guard, Chris Paul. They traded him away in a surprise trade, and Paul will now play for Golden State for the upcoming season. They also lost a slew of key role players, which could hurt their depth for the upcoming season.
Rookies:
Camara is a very athletic, high-motor combo forward that was selected in the late second round of the 2023 draft. He probably won’t get much playing time this year, but he could project to be an effective rotation player in this league.
Expected Rotation:
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Bradley Beal was traded to Phoenix this season, and he’s hoping to get the Suns a title in 2024.
(Photo: Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images, via SB Nation’s Bright Side Of The Sun)
The Suns have a very talented team, and they have a strong starting lineup if they can healthy. That’s a big if, because their top players have missed considerable playing time over the years. They may not have the depth that would allow them to fill in their absence, so the Suns may have to ensure that their stars stay healthy for the duration of the season.
Projected Starting Lineup:
Key Bench Players:
Yuta Watanabe is a skilled, sharpshooting forward that went on to have a career year last season, as he made 44% of his threes for Brooklyn, but he received shockingly sparse playing time in the playoffs in 2023.
(Photo: Getty Images, via The Sporting News)
G-F Josh Okogie
The Rest of the Roster:
F-C Chimezie Metu
F-C Bol Bol
C Udoka Azubuike (Two-Way)
G Saben Lee (Two-Way)
G-F Ish Wainright
Head Coach:
Frank Vogel helped the 2020 Los Angeles Lakers win the NBA championship in the Orlando bubble, and he’s hoping to help the Suns win the title in 2024.
(Photo: Ross D. Franklin/The Associated Press, via Sportsnet)
Frank Vogel
2022-23 (N/A): 0-0, 0-0 in the playoffs
Coaching Career: 431-389, 49-39 in the NBA Playoffs, won 1 NBA title with the 2020 Los Angeles Lakers
Frank Vogel helped the 2020 Los Angeles Lakers win the NBA championship years ago, but people wonder if that was a fluke because he ended up getting fired a couple of years later. Still, the Suns are hoping that his championship pedigree could help allow him to take them further in 2024.
Outlook:
Kevin Durant and Devin Booker are hoping to lead the 2023-24 Phoenix Suns very far into the postseason.
(Photo: Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images, via Arizona Sports)
The Suns made big, splashy moves in the offseason, but they’ll need their top players to stay healthy, and they’ve sacrificed a lot of depth over the years to try to get them. People will be watching to see if their team will work well together, but some wonder if there are enough balls and shots to go around, as they may lack a true point guard on the roster. If they can come together and coalesce, they could be as great as people think they could be. If they don’t, they could end up having a shorter than expected playoff run this season.
Projected 2023-24 Finish:
Projected Regular Season Finish: 7th in the Western Conference
Expected Playoff Finish: Projected to lose in the 1st Round
2023-24 Preseason NBA Power Ranking: 13
I went to Basketball-Reference and No-Trade Clause to look up some information for this write-up. It will be an exciting basketball season this year, and I’m looking forward to seeing the in-season tournament to see how that will unfold. Anyways, that is my write-up on my preview of the 2023-24 Phoenix Suns. Thanks for reading.
