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Earlier this month we took a look at some NBA offseason power rankings and the Phoenix Suns were ranked No. 3 or 4 in most of them behind the Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks in some order.
The overall consensus of those rankings was that the Lakers were the team to beat in the Western Conference.
Not so fast.
A new ranking of NBA Western Conference teams has the Suns as the No. 1 team in the West as the 2021-22 NBA season approaches.
The rankings, compiled by NBA.com’s John Schuhmann, have Phoenix ahead of the Lakers in the Western Conference.
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Schuhmann wrote of the Suns: “This season’s Suns are kind of like last season’s Heat, except that Jae Crowder didn’t leave. There’s no asterisk in regard to their trip to The Finals, but getting back promises to be more difficult. The Suns were one of just two teams that ranked in the top seven in both offensive and defensive efficiency, and as noted, they were very good against good teams. There’s obviously room for improvement with their young starters — Deandre Ayton (22), Booker (25 in October) and Mikal Bridges (25) — but it’s fair to wonder if Paul (36) can remain at the level he’s been at the last two seasons. It feels like they’re still missing a piece on the frontline (with Dario Saric possibly out for the season), but McGee can help the Suns inside. That restricted-area-plus-free-throws differential was much worse with Ayton off the floor (-7.4 per 48 minutes) than it was with him on the floor (-4.4, still not great), so you can see the need for a more traditional back-up center. McGee had the second best rim-protection mark (opponents shot 47.7% at the rim when he was there) among 247 players who defended at least 100 total shots at the rim, and he’s obviously a much better lob threat than Saric or Frank Kaminsky.”
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Of the second-ranked Lakers, he wrote: “If the Lakers aren’t back to being the best team in the West (and maybe they are), they’re at least back to being one of the league’s most fascinating experiments. Looking back at Westbrook’s single season playing alongside James Harden in Houston … his touches and time of possession were down, but his usage rate was still high, and his true shooting percentage (53.6%) was his highest mark of the last four years, in part because he got to the basket more, with 47% of his field goal attempts (a career-high mark) coming in the restricted area. If the Lakers can get him to the basket that much, they’ll be in great shape.”
The Utah Jazz, Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Clippers round out the Top 5 in the NBA.com Western Conference NBA power rankings.
What the odds say
BetOnline recently released NBA title odds and NBA Conference odds for the upcoming season and it had the Suns fifth overall in odds to win the NBA Championship and third in the Western Conference.
The Suns were listed at 14/1 to win the NBA title, behind the Los Angeles Lakers (3/1), Brooklyn Nets (3/1), Milwaukee Bucks (9/1) and Golden State Warriors (10/1).
They were given 15/2 odds to win the Western Conference, behind the Lakers (2/1) and Warriors (9/2).
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Don’t count Phoenix Suns out in 2021-22 season
NBC Sports’ Kurt Helin recently wrote to not count out Phoenix in the upcoming season: “They deserve this high ranking after reaching the NBA Finals then having a quality offseason — but count me in the camp that thinks it will be hard for them to repeat last season’s levels of success. The Suns did a lot right this offseason, re-signing Chris Paul (to a deal that looks fair once you see the details) and adding more shooting in Landry Shamet. re-signing Cameron Payne, and they inked gold medalist JaVale McGee to backup Deandre Ayton. Add in the fact the young Suns — Devin Booker, Ayton, Mikal Bridges, both Camerons, and so on — should take steps forward and the Suns likely will be better next season. That doesn’t mean an automatic return to the Finals in a wide-open West, they may ultimately take a step back, but they have the potential to return.”
Sportsnaut’s Vincent Frank wrote that the Suns could be a serious contender in the West again: “We can talk about the Anthony Davis injury until we’re blue in the face. We can also talk about Phoenix defeating a Jamal Murray-less Denver Nuggets team in the conference semifinals and going up against the Clippers without Kawhi Leonard in the Western Conference Finals. That’s all fine and dandy. But these Suns were able to come out of the top-heavy conference and take on a superior Milwaukee Bucks squad in the NBA Finals. Coming up a bit short hurts. In no way does that mean the Suns won’t be back in 2021-22 with Chris Paul returning to the desert.”
We don’t have to wait long to get a glimpse of the 2021-22 Suns.
Phoenix opens NBA preseason play on Oct. 4.
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Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.
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