1. They will have the highest offensive rating of all-time
Last season, the Sacramento Kings had the highest offensive rating in the league, at 118.6. The duo of Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox powering that group with an excellent and complimentary two-man game.
Given the embarrassment of riches the Suns now possess though, there is no reason to believe they won’t surpass that number in 2023-24 and become the best offensive group of all-time. In the last 10 games of last season – after the Durant deal from the Brooklyn Nets was completed – the Suns had an offensive rating of 118.1.
According to Kendrick Perkins the Phoenix Suns should be ‘heavily’ favored in the West and should breeze through the Western Conference.
— Swipa (@SwipaCam) October 18, 2023
The Suns have:
The best offseason:
Bradley Beal
The best offensive weapon:
Devin Booker
The best scorer:
Kevin Durant
Bright future ahead… pic.twitter.com/Co6pg2oFdN
That is a small sample size, and a lot has changed since then. As already mentioned, Vogel will be looking to see more of an effort on the defensive end, knowing that scoring the basketball is largely going to take care of itself.
But with Durant reunited with Watanabe, and other credible 3-point shooters like Allen and Gordon alongside Booker and Beal, opponents should be terrified by how quickly this group will be able to amass points. Even Jurkic is an upgrade on Deandre Ayton in this regard, assuming he can stay on the court.
He is capable of knocking down the odd shot from deep, something Ayton was far less likely to do, and he understands his place in the offensive hierarchy perfectly already. Jurkic will be setting screens, cutting without the ball and passing out of the post to shooters. The ideal big to have as the Suns buzzsaw their way through the regular season.