Our Phoenix Suns have made amazing strides to start the year.
They are one of the more dominant teams in the NBA to start the season.
The major reasons are the new pieces they’ve acquired this year from roster to coaching.
A deeper look at the roster can illuminate why the Suns have began so strongly.
The Suns are currently sitting at #3 in the Western Conference with 9 wins and 3 losses.
One of the Suns’ stars, Kevin Durant, continues to be as dominant as he has been his whole career.
He leads the team in scoring at 27.6 points per game and leads the team in blocks per game, averaging 1.4.
There is no doubt he’s getting the job done, but is this too much strain for him?
Durant has had a long history of injuries and fatigue throughout his whole career. Currently, the Suns injury report said, “Durant will miss at least the next two weeks while recovering from a left calf strain suffered in Friday’s dramatic 114-113 victory over Dallas on November 8th.”
This is due entirely to the fact that he is playing too many minutes.
Durant is averaging almost 39 minutes per game which is even more than he played last year.
Head Coach Mike Budenholzer needs to figure his roster rotation out in a more efficient manner because it’s not just Durant getting overplayed, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal deal with this too.
They are younger, therefore more resilient, and less prone to injury, however; playing them over 35 minutes a game might end badly.
Devin Booker is doing just as much for the team this year by being a key point in leading the offense.
This year, he’s averaging around 23 points per game and is leading the team in assists at around 7 per game.
He has always had a great scoring touch and this year, he is helping facilitate the ball just as much.
However, it did take a couple of games for Booker to find his groove, but he is normally slow to start heating up.
He started off the season a little bumpy with 12 points and 3 assists in the season opener against the Los Angeles Clippers.
In the next 4 games after, he started scoring more but defensively and playmaking-wise he was not shining; we need Booker to keep the offense smooth by being a 2-way playmaker.
In their 5th game in a rematch against the Clippers, D Book shined, dropping 40 points with 8 assists and 3 steals.
Since then his numbers have started to even out more.
In the next game he played, he nearly had a triple-double with 30 points.
Now, even in his 13-point game in a win against the Dallas Mavericks, he still stepped up with 12 assists.
In reality, despite a slow start, there is nothing to worry about because Booker always steps up when needed.
The 3rd star in the Suns starting trio, Bradley Beal, has finally started to fit into the Suns roster. After being traded last year to the Suns, he had a rough time finding his place.
During his whole career playing for the Washington Wizards, he was the main star.
He was the go-to scorer and the offensive power of the team.
This gave him the chance to make All-NBA teams during his years there.
In his first season on the Suns, he was put in the position of being a team facilitator.
He even spoke on this situation during this year’s off-season saying, “They were using me as more of a facilitator than a scorer, and honestly, that kinda f**ked with my head”.
Nevertheless, this year, Budenholzer has finally found the right spot for him.
He’s being used to get straight buckets now and to use his length on defense.
Beal leads the Suns in defense with almost 2 steals per game and contributes to many stops on defense.
Bradley Beal isn’t the only one who’s found his place on the team.
The Suns have one of the deepest teams with lots of role players to help support them off the bench.
Point Guard Tyus Jones continued to shape the offense, which he is known for.
Budenholzer continues to use him to facilitate the offense to get Durant, Booker, and Beal buckets, this is exactly what we need from them.
He also does his job on defense by getting steals occasionally.
He scored a season-high 22 points in a loss against the Sacramento Kings on 11/13.
His inflation in points that game created a drop in assist which was part of the reason for the loss.
Center Jusuf Nurkic is powerful and dominant on the board.
In 3 of Sun’s recent games, he has had above 15 rebounds and still continues to average around 9 points per game.
At 7 feet tall and 291 pounds, he just can’t be bullied in the paint.
Small Forward Royce O’Neale is the Phoenix Suns 6th man supreme.
O’neale is a great bucket off the bench and his shooting skills are amazing as well.
With Kevin Durant being out for 2 weeks due to injury, O’Neale’s usage will go up significantly.
He went 7 for 8 shooting from the field in a win against the Mavericks on 11/08.
That’s not all he’s doing though; O’Neale stays consistent on the defensive side by stopping the ball in transition and helping it quickly move back upcourt.
His production from the 3 is not to be overlooked as well as his secretly great defense.
Other players on the bench are doing great things as well such as Grayson Allen, Mason Plumlee, and Monte Morris.
Overall, the Suns show great promise this year and will continue to shine.
Will they end as a top seed heading into the playoffs this year?
We will have to see.
