Post#24 » by DAWill1128 » Wed Jan 22, 2025 11:41 pm
If the Suns can pull it off, in my opinion, I think they can win the West.
Booker and Beal are redundant, carrying two smaller, score-first shooting guards who are not good on defense. If either one is not getting a lot of ISO scoring possessions, then they do not bring a lot.
Last year the Suns played Booker, Beal, and Allen together as three small, score-first, defenseless shooting guards.
Jimmy, on the other hand, is like Iggy on steroids. Jimmy is a fill-in wherever and whenever it's needed. Jimmy might be the NBA's best jackknife player. In terms of adding size and physicality to the roster, he is a major upgrade on Beal.
The Suns issue last year was that even with some great players on the team, they were playing 4 negative defenders together. Beal, Booker, Allen, Nurkic.
The Suns bringing in Richards was big; he's a more active, lively body on the defensive end than Nurkic. At least Plumlee brings some athleticism and energy, unlike Nurkic.
The Suns have picks; they probably move Nurkic for more depth pieces.
While I don't think the Suns have great on-ball defenders, I do think Richards, Durant, and Butler in a frontcourt together are all strong help defenders, and that can mask some of the guard defense. If they play Jimmy out of the point forward role in spots and play Dunn in place of Jones, I think they probably have a great defense.
The 2nd place team out West is led by Alperen Sengun; this isn't exactly a massive leap to get into the WCF.
As for OKC, it's not a world-beater roster. They did lose to Dallas in 6 last year.
The thing about the Suns picks history is it's just the nature of the NBA. They are going to swing for the fences to win the franchise's first championship; it's a clear direction. If it doesn't work out, Durant and Booker will yield a massive haul of picks.
The Suns have two top 3 players at the Shooting Guard and Power Forward positions.
I would rather be the Suns than the Warriors, who cannot decide and have diminished themselves and the opportunities to move in either direction. This franchise is sniffing its own farts at this point.