How will the 2022 NBA Finals Affect the Phoenix Suns?
The Suns neglected to engage in trade talks with either of these Finals teams over the past few years, so there’s no draft capital hanging in the balance depending on which team finishes out on top here. With that, nothing from this year’s Finals should directly influence Phoenix.
However, the way in which the Suns are viewed by the league at large coming into the 2022-23 season might undergo some changes.
Last year, Phoenix over-achieved by making the Finals seemingly out of the blue. Flooded with young talent, no team in the league looked better off than them even after their crushing loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.
This year though, things feel oppositely. While the Suns still resemble a talented and promising team, they no longer look like an unstoppable juggernaut. This year, they disappointed everyone with an embarrassing postseason effort. Also with their young talent becoming eligible for increased pay this summer, their golden window from a financial standpoint has now closed.
With that, how the world views the Suns has already changed for the worse. However, if the Warriors reclaim their throne this year after a three year hiatus, it should improve the narrative around Phoenix coming into next year, as they can cling to the fact that they experienced notable success against the would-be champs during the previous regular season.
One or two solid outings against the potential champs from the season before is nothing to ride home about, but at this point, it’s all Phoenix stands to gain.
If the Celtics win though, it might not affect the Suns at large, but more so their star player in Devin Booker.
Seemingly from the start of their careers, Jayson Tatum and Devin Booker have been compared to each other, likely due to their exceptional shot-making skills. But if the Celtics go on to win The Finals with Tatum playing a significant role, he will accomplish exactly what Booker failed to do less than a year ago.
This scenario breathes disaster for those defending the idea that Booker is better than Tatum, as any photograph of Booker holding up the Larry O’Brien, and possibly even a Finals MVP trophy in the other hand will trump any argument on Booker’s behalf.