Phoenix Suns: Is This Chris Paul’s Best Team Ever?

The 2021-22 Phoenix Suns vs the 2013-14 Los Angeles Clippers

The “Lob City” Los Angeles Clippers put on one of the best shows in NBA history. They finished with a 57-25 record, losing out to Kevin Durant’s Oklahoma City Thunder after a second round, six game bout.

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As the highest ranked offensive team during that season, the Clippers shot 47.4 percent from the field, 35.2 percent from range, and put up a +6.9 point per game differential. Blake Griffin terrorized teams with 24.1 points per game, and Paul followed behind him with 19.1 points per game.

But even after those guys, this team ran incredibly deep. At the shooting guard spot, J.J. Redick averaged 15.1 points per game and Jamal Crawford added 18.6 points off the bench. The Clippers also saw double-digit scoring come from Darren Collison and prime DeAndre Jordan.

This offseason, the Suns added 37.9 points per game with their additions, while parting ways with players who averaged a collective 19.9 points per game. This improvement likely pushes Phoenix’s +5.8 point per game differential up closer to that of the Clippers. But still, this Los Angeles squad strikes as the better group when coming back to their depth.

With this year’s Suns set to field the undersized Jae Crowder at power forward, prime Griffin likely eats him for breakfast. Devin Booker contrarily enjoys a field day with Redick defending him, while other starters Deandre Ayton/Mikal Bridges and DeAndre Jordan/Matt Barnes cancel each other out.

From that point on though, the Clippers wield a strong advantage. Unless both Cameron Payne and Cameron Johnson improve their scoring outputs by a collective 12.0 points per game this coming year, than LA ends up with a strong edge off the bench.

In all honesty, this team should have made it to the NBA Finals, so it comes a no insult to declare them as a more talented team than the 2021-22 Suns.