Phoenix Suns look to establish new super-team roster chemistry during preseason

The Phoenix Suns' Media Day on Monday featured plenty of confidence on the part of team owner Mat Ishbia, who declared he has the "best team in the league" — on paper.

Ishbia will exceed the NBA's second luxury tax apron to pay for a super team helmed by three All-Stars in Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Bradley Beal.

But Phoenix's first-year coach Frank Vogel said he's not sure how this team will look as it begins training camp on Tuesday ahead of five preseason games, starting at Detroit this Sunday.

Vogel called the preseason an important "starting point" for the "beginning of a marathon," to build the new roster's chemistry.

“Some situations you hit the ground running and the integration is seamless," Vogel said. "Sometimes it takes a little more time for a team to gel, and we don’t know what that’s going to look like for our group. The preseason is the beginning of our long journey.

"Hopefully we’re able to jell very quickly, install our system very quickly, and hit the ground running on opening night.”

That will be Oct. 24, at Golden State, to start the regular season.

Gaudy super team chemistry in any pro sport can turn out one of two ways: championship contenders or pretenders.

The "Showtime" Lakers won five titles in the 1980s and a revolving door of Hall of Famers on that roster or early 2010s Miami Heat led by Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh winning two out of four trips to the finals.

Then there are the recent failed super team examples: the Lakers with James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook that didn't make the 2022 playoffs; Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving Brooklyn failed to make it past the East semifinals together in Brooklyn and played just 17 games together between January 2021 to February 2022 before each of them wanted out.

Phoenix's super team construction began last season when Durant was traded to Phoenix from Brooklyn, joining Booker and Chris Paul midway through last season.

After the team's semifinal elimination by eventual NBA champion Denver, the shuffling began and part of that was trading Paul to the Wizards for Beal. Paul later was dealt to the Warriors.

After last week's trade involving Deandre Ayton, Booker now is the sole returning player from the team's 2021 finals run.

He has 13 new teammates on Phoenix's 19-man preseason roster as the defensive-focused Vogel implements his new system. Some of them played together previously.

They include bigs Yusuf Nurkic and Drew Eubanks as well as wings Nassir Little and Keon Johnson, who came to Phoenix from Portland after the three-team trade involving Ayton, 3-point marksman Yuta Watanabe, who played with Durant in Brooklyn last season, and guard Jordan Goodwin, who played alongside Beal in Washington the past two seasons.

“It’s good to be familiar with the guys in the league, regardless of me or Yuta played together," Durant said Monday. "I knew what he was. I knew what he brings to the table along with all my other teammates now just from playing against them and following the game.

"That’s always gonna be about the reps you get in with one another on the floor. That’s gonna be the most important tell-tale sign of who we are as a group, and that usually takes a while to kind of see what everybody’s role is. But I’m looking forward to the journey.”

It's understandable that team chemistry won't be totally proven in the preseason. That's the time when most of the bench players get more time to prove they're worthy of making the 15-man regular season roster, or audition for other teams if they don't make the cut.

Still, this preseason, Phoenix's new Big 3 has time to learn to play together when everyone is fully healthy instead of midseason, including the new bench players, such as 16-year veteran Eric Gordon.

“You definitely have to take it seriously," Gordon said about the preseason. "But I think as long as we’re all healthy during preseason and throughout the season, that’s what matters the most.

“Going into the year, going into the first game all healthy and ready to go, talent is talent, we know that we have a good team. It’s all about how can we all be on the floor at the same time and go through all the ups and downs throughout the season, and all the adjustments that we need to propel ourselves to be a good team along the way.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Suns look to prove super-team roster chemistry during preseason