Does Adding Bradley Beal Make the Phoenix Suns the Favorites to Win the Title Next Season?
The Phoenix Suns are a very storied franchise that has had a lot of great players and a lot of success. Despite this, they have not won a championship just yet. Charles Barkley, Grant Hill, Steve Nash, Amare Stoudamire, Devin Booker, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, and now Bradley Beal are some of the great players to be a part of the organization. After losing to the Bucks in the 2021 NBA Finals and then losing in the second round the following two seasons, the Suns decided to fire head coach Monty Williams and bring in Frank Vogel. They also added star Bradley Beal in hopes of competing for a championship next season. Will this super team of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal be enough to win the title next season?
When you look back at the teams that have won championships in recent memory, most of them have been very well-rounded and well-coached teams. They all need a superstar to lead them, but they also need a great supporting cast that fits well with the star players. Last year’s championship Warriors team featured a supporting cast of Andrew Wiggins, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Jordan Poole, Kevon Looney, and more. The 2021 Bucks featured a supporting cast (non-all-star level players) of Brook Lopez, Bobby Portis, PJ Tucker, and Donte DiVincenzo. In 2019 the Kawhi-led Raptors had a supporting cast of Siakam, VanVleet, Lowry, Danny Green, and Norman Powell. So, in summary, you most likely won’t win a title without a great supporting cast unless you are the 2017-2018 Warriors with Kevin Durant.
That right there is the issue with the Phoenix Suns roster. Yes, it is great to stack superstars together on one roster; but it usually does not translate well when it's time to actually compete for a championship. First of all, there is only one basketball. Booker, Durant, and Beal will each want 22-25 shots per night. How many shots does that leave for DeAndre Ayton? What about the rest of the players on the team? Ayton has already had a very rocky relationship with the team over the last couple of years. The Suns now traded away Chris Paul, who could help Ayton get easy looks around the rim.
In the playoffs this year, we saw a perfect example of why stacking superstars together is not enough to win a championship. Even with the addition of Durant, the Suns could not get past the Denver Nuggets, a much more well-rounded team that did not only rely on its star players. On top of that, star players come with star egos as well. We have seen it happen many times where a “superteam” has failed to meet expectations because it could not manage all the egos on the team. As it stands right now, the Suns' bench consists of Cam Payne, Jock Landale, Bismack Biyombo, Torrey Craig, TJ Warren, and Terrence Ross. Simply put, that won't be a good enough supporting cast to win a title.
The Suns' best bet might be to add quality role players on a vet-minimum deal. They don't have the money to make any big signings or add any high-end role players. If there are no significant changes to the Suns supporting cast, they will continue to have a hard time winning their first championship.
