Valley of the Suns
Fansided

1 advantage the Phoenix Suns have over every Pacific Division team

By Luke Duffy

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 22: Devin Booker #1 of the Phoenix Suns in the second half at Crypto.com Arena on March 22, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. 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 Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 22: Devin Booker #1 of the Phoenix Suns in the second half at Crypto.com Arena on March 22, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. 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 Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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Phoenix Suns
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 20: Kevin Durant #35 and Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

L.A. Clippers – Durability

The NBA looks set to introduce harsher penalties on resting players, especially during nationally televised and in-season tournament games. This seems like a ruling that has been made with the Clippers very much in mind, with Kawhi Leonard seen by many as the founding father of “load management”.

His teammate and fellow All-Star Paul George has been known to dabble in this himself, which explains why the Clippers have failed to ever truly get off the ground in a consistent way since going out and getting both players back in 2019.

You could look at this another way and argue that Durant isn’t exactly a picture of health these days, and at 34-years-old isn’t getting any younger. Similarly Beal has had a couple of niggling issues in the past that Suns fans are collectively burying their heads in the sand right now rather than face.

But despite this, Booker has been a pretty durable star throughout his time in the league. He’s already played over half as many regular season contests as his teammate Durant, and is nearly a decade younger. Ayton has been known to miss some time here and there, but compared to Leonard and George, he’s an ironman.

So the Suns will enter this Pacific Division race knowing that they have the more durable stars than that of the Clippers. Looking beyond that and to the depth both possess, and the Suns would rather the collection of players they cobbled together this summer, instead of Russell Westbrook, who has returned to the Clippers for another season.

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