Suns' Offseason Ranks Among Best in NBA
Looking around the NBA, it's hard to find a team that had a better offseason than the Phoenix Suns.
With their backs against the wall financially, the Suns:
- Hired a new coach in Frank Vogel while retaining two of the top (and highest-paid) assistant coaches in the league to be on staff for 2023-24.
- Exchanged Chris Paul and Landry Shamet for one of the league's best scorers in Bradley Beal along with a backup point guard in Jordan Goodwin
- Signed a slew of talented veterans in free agency on minimal deals to fill missing pieces to the roster
- Retained small control of draft capital via minor trades after selling the farm earlier at the trade deadline
All adding to the core of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Deandre Ayton.
Championship expectations are through the roof now in the Valley - if they weren't already. There's legitimate hope the new-look Suns can make good on their potential and win the NBA Finals in the near future, all thanks to a strong offseason constructed by owner Mat Ishbia and general manager James Jones.
With preseason basketball slowly approaching, The Athletic recently ranked each team's offseason. Only two teams (San Antonio Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers) ranked higher than Phoenix.
David Aldridge's analysis:
"Phoenix looked like a franchise that needed a shake-up, and GM James Jones delivered. Beal was the headline pickup and will slide into the complementary role offensively alongside Kevin Durant and Devin Booker that’s probably his best spot; that trio should be insanely productive," wrote Aldridge.
"But the Suns’ best work was parlaying minimum salaries and less-than-midlevel slots into what should be a very solid bench. I especially like getting Watanabe from the Nets and Bates-Diop from the Spurs. I’m not sure firing Williams was the right answer, but two straight awful playoff flameouts gave Mat Ishbia a reason to make a change. No doubt, though:
"The Suns are hella small now aside from Deandre Ayton and Bol. And Beal, while willing to pass as a lead guard, was often sped up into turnovers and bad decisions when he had those responsibilities in Washington the last couple of seasons."
The Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers rounded out Aldridge's top five.
