TARRYTOWN, NY – AUGUST 12: DeAndre Ayton of the Phoenix Suns poses for a portrait during the 2018 NBA Rookie Photo Shoot at MSG Training Center on August 12, 2018 in Tarrytown, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
The era of Phoenix Suns tanking is over. But if they do not make the playoffs in 2019 (which would be unlikely) how many wins would make the season a success?
The Phoenix Suns won 21 games last season. They’ve won 68 over their last three years – combined.
So if they won 25 this year, although with a more mature group, is that good enough?
How about 30?
What about 35?
To say only 40 would make a successful season, is that pushing it?
Unless they finish .500 or over, is 2018-19 a failure?
I have personally long believed that had the Suns not been openly tanking over the past three seasons, that they wouldn’t have been as bad as their records have shown.
Too often their best players were benched in key games.
Too often veterans were benched to allow inexperience and immature players to get an exorbitant amount of minutes.
For too long they had the worst coach in the entire NBA at the helm.
Now, I’m not blinded by my fandom here. I realize that even if the organization had consistency at head coach (and a legitimate one), if they had played their best players more often than not (meaning veterans over the young Suns), if they didn’t bench players for injuries that were regularly suspected to either exaggerated or at least not so bad that if the team were in any sort of contention they could be played through, they still weren’t sniffing the playoffs.
But I also realize that it isn’t hard to lose intentionally in the NBA, and when a franchise regularly starts five players who’s ages equaled the youngest starting lineup in NBA history night in and night out, they’re going to lose. A lot.
By a lot.
That said, if there had been an organizational edict to win as many games as possibly, I stand firm in my belief that they would have won somewhere between five and ten more games per season than they did. Admittedly not a lot, but do not forget: even if they had played veterans over their youth, the previous three Suns teams still weren’t as talented as they are built to be in 2018-19.
And to that point, I once again ask what is pondered in the title: how many wins would make a successful season for the Phoenix Suns in 2018-19?