Suns No. 5 in Post Free Agency Power Rankings
Though names are still trickling to new teams, the dust of free agency has largely settled, which proved to be a fairly fruitful time for the Phoenix Suns.
After acquiring Bradley Beal via trade, the Suns banked on talented veterans arriving on minimum contracts to round out the roster - and that's exactly what happened. Names such as Eric Gordon, Keita Bates-Diop, Drew Eubanks, Chimezie Metu and Yuta Watanabe flocked to the Valley in hopes of helping the Suns reach their first franchise NBA title.
Now, Phoenix is considered one of the top teams in the league, and are expected to go deep in the postseason - at minimum
Yet in Bleacher Report's post NBA free agency power rankings, the Suns sit at No. 5 behind the Denver Nuggets, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks.
"It feels like the Phoenix Suns should be higher than this, but the teams at the top of the league are stacked right now. For at least the second year in a row, you can make real arguments for a dozen or so teams being legitimate championship contenders.
"The Suns are one of those squads, especially after an impressive free-agency period in which they landed a bunch of potential difference-makers on minimum deals," wrote Andy Bailey.
"After Phoenix laughed in the face of the new collective bargaining agreement's spending-curbing measures by trading for Bradley Beal, it was limited to handing out only veteran-minimum deals in free agency. Getting Eric Gordon, Keita Bates-Diop, Drew Eubanks, Chimezie Metu and Yuta Watanabe with so little flexibility felt like a well-orchestrated coup.
"The Suns' title hopes still rest with Beal, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton (or whichever players they get if they trade Ayton). But they helped themselves with some strong pickups in July, particularly given their limited resources."
Phoenix certainly hopes to be higher than No. 5 at the end of the season - they're simply too talented to fall anything short of an appearance in the NBA Finals, though even walking away without a trophy (similar to 2021) would fall short.
