Are Suns Still Considered NBA Finals Contenders?

The Phoenix Suns have lost three games in a row, are still without Kevin Durant and have one of the toughest schedules to finish the regular season.

Are they still title contenders?

A recent CBS Sports article by Brad Botkin outlining the top five title contenders in the NBA, the Phoenix Suns were regarded fairly high, falling second on the list only behind the Milwaukee Bucks.

The article states that despite Durant’s injury that could leave him out for the remainder of the regular season, Durant has a track record of returning from injury at a high level and would be fully capable of doing that again this year.

Botkin also goes into how the Suns are the perfect team to go up against Milwaukee in the finals due to their ability to neutralize the Bucks’ drop coverage. With guys like Durant on Deandre Ayton on the floor it will be extremely difficult for teams to find mismatches on the defensive end.

On top of all this Phoenix has the most potent mid-range offense in the league consisting of Devin Booker, Chris Paul, Durant and Ayton making them one of - if not the most - balanced team in the league on both sides of the ball.

The roles of Ayton and Paul will be critical come playoff time as they will not attract as much attention from opposing defenses and will get more open looks. However, the article goes into how Paul and Ayton’s roles have diminished a bit in the three games Durant played for the Suns which should change if Phoenix wants to be a legitimate threat for the title.

Botkin emphasizes that Phoenix’s wing shooters will be critical late into the season because of the significance of the three pointer in the playoffs.

"Do I have any Phoenix concerns? Yes. Depth and 3-point shooting," he said.

"Indeed, these outlet shooters are going to have to take and make a relatively significant amount of 3-pointers for Phoenix in the playoffs. The Suns are not a 3-point shooting offense as it is, and even with arguably the two best midrange players in the game, it's tough to beat threes with twos."

The other three teams listed in the article are the Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers.

There is no doubt that Phoenix has the talent to win it all but do they have enough time to gel as a team? Durant will be out for multiple weeks and if he misses the remainder of the regular season, the Suns will have to figure out chemistry on the fly during the playoffs which has proven in the past not to work.

However, the Western Conference is wide open and with the talent that the Suns possess, it's hard not to pick them to win the championship.