The next Phoenix Suns playoff team is likely going to the Conference Finals
By Adam Maynes
In Conclusion
The Phoenix Suns as currently constructed are a young team, and with that age means bad basketball and a lot of losing right now.
It is not out of the realm of possibility though, that with the right draft class in 2019, one key free agency signing, and one important trade, and the Phoenix Suns, with a core of a minimum of (that we know of right now) Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton, could not make the kind of splash that the Denver Nuggets are currently making, and could not make a run at the Western Conference Finals in their first season of true competitive viability.
It is very likely that the next player Phoenix brings in will be a star, whether it be through the draft, trade, or free agency, since they are angling to go in that direction and have the assets to pull it off should the right one be available.
Phoenix Suns
Might it be someone we expect now? No, but that’s the beauty of the NBA being a business and the vulnerability of all at every level.
If the Suns can get that player, and add the right depth and role players around their current core, they will be able to get through a great number of teams who right now pose a tremendous threat to success.
It does not mean though that in their first major playoff run they will be able to surpass the Golden State Warriors.
In both 1989 and 2004 the Suns ran into buzz saw franchises Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs, unable to get over the hump right away.
While in each era they eventually did (defeating the Lakers in 1990 and the Spurs in 2010), the first step to ultimate success does not necessarily have to be a 35-win season, followed by a 43-win season and a first round exit, followed by a semifinals team, then finally into the Conference Finals after three attempts.
They absolutely can push through rather quickly.
I am sure that many in the fanbase and readership of this post does not agree with my assessment, and that is expected.
But there is no denying that with both history as our guide and a sound reading of the present, the necessary moves to add the talent needed to compete can come as quickly as they have before, thus, one cannot deny that the possibility, nay, the probability, of the Phoenix Suns making the Western Conference Finals the next time they reach the playoffs, entirely exists.