Where Suns Stars Fall in Top 100 NBA Player Rankings

We're less than a month away from preseason activities, and the hype around the Phoenix Suns continues to build.

That's for good reason, as the Suns have assembled what many believe to be one of the best rosters in basketball after a long offseason of moves from top to bottom.

Now, a starting lineup featuring Devin Booker-Bradley Beal-Kevin Durant-Deandre Ayton is ready to ignite basketball fever in the Valley.

The aforementioned players are typically considered to be consensus top 100 players in the league, but where do they rank in CBS Sports' rankings?

Where Suns Stars Fall in Top 100 NBA Player Rankings

These rankings are the average of eight different votes from CBS Sports' NBA staff writers.

76. Deandre Ayton

The "Ayton problem" essentially boils down to the fact that he's a very good basketball player who is paid like a great one. He's going to put up a double-double most nights, he's a solid defender and he's fairly durable. There are also concerns about his effort and focus wavering and he doesn't create his own offense -- issues which would be easier to overlook if he wasn't making north of $30 million per year. But when you're a max player who doesn't produce on a max level, it's a problem in a salary-cap league. Both parties probably would have preferred to move on, but it's hard to see a trade happening at this point, so the Suns will have to hope new coach Frank Vogel can help Ayton reach another level. -- Maloney

One spot behind: Kyle Kuzma
One spot ahead of: Jerami Grant

38. Bradley Beal

"Beal has dropped off in both production and availability since his lone All-NBA season in 2020-21, but he's still a lethal creator who put up 23 points per game on 51/37/84 splits last season. Part of Beal's ranking on this list is the projection that both his level of investment and shot quality will dramatically improve alongside Kevin Durant and Devin Booker in Phoenix. On his new team, he will presumably be asked to do more playmaking as well, an area where he's shown promise throughout his career. Beal shot 46% on what the NBA deems "wide open" 3-pointers last season, and he should get a lot more of those looks as a member of the league's latest superteam. -- Ward-Henninger"

One spot behind: Karl-Anthony Towns
One spot ahead of: LaMelo Ball

8. Devin Booker

For the past decade of NBA history, the league's two best mid-range marksmen were Chris Paul and Kevin Durant. Perhaps not coincidentally, one is a former teammate of Devin Booker's and the other is his current co-star. Whether he picked up some of their picks by osmosis or not, Booker will soon claim their mid-range crown. Among the 20 players to attempt the most mid-range jumpers per game last season, only Durant topped Booker's 49.4% shooting mark, and then Booker took it to the next level in the postseason by hitting nearly 55% of his attempts. Booker's growth as a playmaker and defender will be critical as the Suns adjust to their new three-headed scoring monster, but make no mistake: Booker is here because when he needs to create a good look late in a game, there's pretty much nothing you can do to stop him. -- Quinn

One spot behind: Jayson Tatum
One spot ahead of: Jimmy Butler

5. Kevin Durant

"We'll spare you the "fine wine" metaphors and get straight to business: In his age-34 season, Durant averaged almost 30 points per game between Brooklyn and Phoenix while boasting a career-high .677 true shooting percentage -- the best of any NBA player with a usage rate of at least 30%. In his 39 games with the Nets, Durant was second in the NBA in efficiency as a pick-and-roll ball-handler and averaged the most points per possession as a spot up shooter of anyone in the league. The man is basically an unstoppable offensive force while simultaneously having a significant defensive impact. The two reasons he's not higher on this list are availability -- he hasn't played more than 55 games in any of the last three seasons -- and a slight downtick in efficiency over his last two playoff runs. Other than that, there's no reason to expect Durant to be anything less than a top-five player in 2023-24." -- Ward-Henninger

One spot behind: Luka Doncic
One spot ahead of: Kevin Durant