Fact or Fiction: The Phoenix Suns have nowhere to go but up

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Each week during the 2024-25 NBA season, we will take a deeper dive into some of the league’s biggest storylines in an attempt to determine whether trends are based more in fact or fiction moving forward.

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Fact or Fiction: The Phoenix Suns have nowhere to go but up

The Phoenix Suns, the NBA’s most expensive roster, who owe $188 million in luxury taxes — as much as the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers combined — are 15-17, outside the Western Conference’s playoff picture.

Is there any hope in the Valley of the Sun?

Phoenix clings to the idea that all is fine once everyone is healthy. Only the New Orleans Pelicans have lost more salary to injury this season, per Spotrac. The Suns are 8-4 when they field Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal together. Their projected starting lineup is 7-3. This is their reason for optimism.

Of course as soon as Booker returned from a sore left groin on New Year’s Eve, Beal left with a hip injury. Beal has not played more than 60 games in a season since 2018-19. He has missed 40% of his games over the past four years and has not been available for more than seven straight games this season. Durant is 36 years old. He has played more minutes than all but 27 players in the history of the NBA. Even Booker has missed an average of 19 games over the past three seasons. They have not been able to stay healthy.

Can Kevin Durant and the Suns climb up the standings? (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)

So this year, as last year, we wonder what life might be like for the Suns if only they could find their footing. Durant, Booker and Beal finished last season with a 26-15 record, outscoring opponents by 6.6 points per 100 possessions, enough to reasonably believe they could do some playoff damage together.

Then came the playoffs. Durant, Booker and Beal took the court together and each performed well from an individual offensive standpoint, averaging a combined 71 points on 50/40/89 shooting splits. But as a…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/fact-or-fiction-the-phoenix-suns-have-nowhere-to-go-but-up-144413910.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2025-01-03 14:44:00

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