Suns' Super Team Named One of Ten NBA Storylines to Watch
The NBA's preseason is fully underway, and the Phoenix Suns tonight will play their third of five exhibition games before regular season action begins in Golden State on Oct. 24.
The Suns made some strong changes over the summer, stripping down a team through trades and free agency in hopes of ultimately making their squad better from top to bottom.
Depth pieces such as Yuta Watanabe, Keita Bates-Diop and Eric Gordon have high expectations for this season to balance out a strong starting lineup that features a newly assembled trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.
Are we watching the final superteam constructed in the NBA?
Bleacher Report believes so, placing Phoenix's trio as one of their ten storylines to watch ahead of the 2023-24 season.
Suns' Super Team Named One of Ten NBA Storylines to Watch
Phoenix's trio of Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Devin Booker are potentially the last Big 3 in the league.
Grant Hughes: "The NBA's new collective bargaining agreement features multiple punitive measures for expensive, top-heavy teams like these Suns. Clubs that exceed the second apron (set at $17.5 million above the luxury-tax threshold this year) face brutal financial penalties, trade encumbrances and even restrictions on their future draft picks—not that the Suns have many of those.
"Many expected the new rules to render teams like the 2023-24 Suns extinct, but new owner Mat Ishbia rode in with a clear intention to capitalize on most other teams' fear. If almost nobody else is willing to face the pain of these new restrictions, maybe his willingness to stare them down is a competitive advantage worth exploring.
"The downstream pain is unavoidable for Phoenix, as well as the Milwaukee Bucks and maybe the Boston Celtics. But if the near-term payoff includes an NBA Finals trip for Phoenix, maybe we'll see more organizations throw caution, financial prudence and long-view planning to the wind.
"And if things go belly-up for the Suns, we might remember them as the last of a dying superteam breed."
