Here's why Phoenix Suns have 'ability to' win an NBA championship this season

The Phoenix Suns have a team that should win an NBA championship this season.

A prolific Big 3. A big man who can pass and score.

Championship coach who demands defense.

Deep, talented roster, too.

All of that doesn't guarantee the Suns will end this season with their first ever NBA title, but they certainly begin this 2023-24 season as one of the favorites.

“We have the ability to,” said Suns first-year coach Frank Vogel said. “How our cohesiveness comes together, how healthy we remain. How much work we put in. How unselfish we are. How committed are we to the defensive side of the ball? All of those factors will dictate whether we win it or not.”

The Suns open the regular season Tuesday at Golden State with legitimate championship aspirations powered by their explosive Big 3 of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal.

“A lot of things have to lineup for you to get that gold ball,” continued Vogel, who coached the Lakers to the 2019-20 title. “There’s always a starting point of where you’re at and I like our starting point as well or better than anybody in the NBA.”

The Suns made multiple changes to last season's squad that fell to the eventual NBA champion Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference semifinals.

They fired Monty Williams a year removed from him winning NBA Coach of the Year.

They traded Chris Paul, Deandre Ayton, Landry Shamet, Cameron Payne and a motherload of draft picks and got Jusuf Nurkic, Grayson Allen, Nassir Little, Jordan Goodwin and Beal in return.

They signed Eric Gordon, Drew Eubanks, Yuta Watanabe, Keita Bates-Diop, Chimezie Metu, Bol Bol and Udoka Azubuike and re-signed Josh Okogie, Damion Lee and Saben Lee.

Booker, Durant and Beal will carry the offense, but the Suns are confident in their entire roster.

“I think we’re top of the West, at least top of the West for sure,” Little said as Suns finished 4-1 in the preseason. “I think something that people didn’t account for is I think defensively, we’re probably better than most people assumed we’d be. I think we’re a lot deeper than people would probably assume that we are looking at it first glance. I think we got the pieces that we need to be successful.”

The Suns are two years removed from reaching the 2021 NBA Finals.

Only Booker remains from a team that was two wins away from winning it all before losing four straight games to Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks.

This is Mat Ishbia’s squad.

The new Suns team owner approved all the major roster moves starting with the blockbuster deal right before last season's trade deadline that brought in Durant and sent Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson to Brooklyn.

He believes in the team to the point of spending over the second league tax apron, which kicks in when ccombined team salaries reach a certain level, and boldly proclaimed on media day the Suns have the NBA’s best team.

They have a long way to go to prove that, but are happy where they are going into the season.

“As far as the hard work, guys coming in and paying attention to detail, I like where we are right now with that,” said Durant, a two-time NBA champion and finals MVP. “There’s a difference between having that consistency in March, April, May as opposed to right now. It’s easy for me to say that now.”

There has been much talk about how the Big 3 will play together in terms of sharing the ball and who will serve as the playmaker. In the preseason, Booker, Durant and Beal have stressed staying aggressive, but shown the ability to do so within the offense and create for others.

“The unique part about us three is we all have the capability of scoring at the highest level, but we’ve always played the game the right way,” Booker said. “Even when we were kind of not on our own teams, but on different teams, we still continued to play the game the right way. It hasn’t been an adjustment for real. The only thing I tell them to do is to be more aggressive. It’s going to open everything up for everybody else.”

Vogel was adamant that Beal be himself in terms of looking to score. On the surface, Beal is the one who must sacrifice the most out of the Big 3, but he’s finding his offensive lane.

“It’s been great, we’re still working it,” Beal said, who has been dealing with low back tightness in the preseason. “Still putting more plays and sets in. The thing that I love the most is they just love to hoop man and it just makes it easier for everybody. They’re not big high-maintenance guys. They don’t need a lot. Sometimes they need a screen, sometimes they don’t. I think it just makes it easier for everybody, just our continuity right now, but still a lot of stuff we got to work on.”

The Suns don’t have a traditional point guard, but they are looking to push the ball ahead in transition for early offense. Having multiple ball handlers enables them to strike offensively from all angles.

“I feel like things are flowing really well,” Allen said. “The point guard by committee, pushing the tempo, has been great. Just having multiple guys bring it up. Multiple different guys filling the corners, filling different lanes, we’ve been very dangerous in transition.”

Allen said Nurkic is “essentially our point guard” when he’s on the floor with Booker, Durant, Beal and himself.

The 7-footer has not only advanced the ball up court at times in the preseason, but he’s found cutters like Durant and showing early signs why Ishbia said he’s a “better fit” for this team than Ayton.

“When I figure out what I’m doing, I’m coming here to do whatever they want from me,” Nurkic said. “I don’t think the fit will be an issue. I’ve been around the league and seen and competed against these players for a long time. It’s a blessing for me to be in that position, but at the same time, that’s the last thing they need to worry about, me fitting in.

"I’ll do what I have to do to free them up and play the game the right way like they do,'' he added. "I was really surprised how hard they’re competing in practice. Not just the trio, but everybody on the team.”

The Suns have multiple lineups ranging from a 3-guard look to having Durant at the five. Being so interchangeable gives Phoenix the ability to guard different lineups from the opposing team as well.

“When we’re getting stops and forcing misses, or live ball turnovers, it’s going to be darn near impossible to slow us down,” Vogel said.

The Suns are placing high emphasis on defense, looking lethal on offense and have the feel of a team that should win an NBA title this season.

The time has now come for them to start that journey they believe can end with a championship.

“We’re just taking it a day at a time,” Okogie said. “We’re not skipping any steps. Everybody is locked in during our drills and our practices, whether it’s defense or offense. Everybody is locked in and dialed in.”

Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal power Phoenix Suns' NBA championship hopes