The next Phoenix Suns playoff team is likely going to the Conference Finals

James Harden Houston Rockets Stephen Curry Golden State Warriors (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Modern Western Conference Construction

The Houston Rockets are old, and will be vulnerable.

Currently the oldest team in the league, James Harden will be 30 by the start of next season (if you say “eh” 30 isn’t that old in basketball years, you are correct. And yet ask yourself, you still don’t want the Suns to sign a 30-year-old free agent, do you?), and Chris Paul will be 33 before the end of this regular season.

If this Rockets team ever does make the Finals, I’d bet dollars to donuts that they only appear in one, and are far from the dynasty that many make them out to be.

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Golden State, the one and only true dynasty in the NBA, is set for several years to come (presuming Kevin Durant hangs around, which I expect he will), probably blocking a Phoenix run to the Finals right off the bat.

But while their core is only 28-30, they too are already the third oldest team in the league, and coupling regular season play with playoffs year-in and year-out (they average 102.75 games as a team in each of the last four years with at least three more seasons – I would think – of more of the same), and the Warriors will probably age more dramatically than we think, much like the Lakers did in the early 90s.

In only 2-3 short years, the Suns will be at the age that the Warriors were when their dynasty began. Comparing the two would be like comparing apples with rose bushes, but the fact remains, the young Suns core should be on the rise just as the Warriors are on the downslide.

While another team in the West (Denver, perhaps) could replace Houston if that team falls, there is no reason to believe that the Suns could not be that team to fill the void as well.

Again, I am saying that the Suns will likely make the Conference Finals. if they are good enough at that time to be a 50+ game winner, then they should too be good enough to topple a team who currently seems insurmountable.

The Houston Rockets might very well be that team.