Grading the interest levels of each Phoenix Suns NBA Cup game

The NBA officially released the schedule for this year's Emirates NBA Cup this past week, and the Phoenix Suns can expect to face some familiar foes in their quest to win a first trophy ever. The snazzier name replacing the in-season tournament of 2023, although the format remains the same.

After a summer spent winning a gold medal with Team USA, it is unclear how much Kevin Durant or Devin Booker are going to care about this tournament. After all, they're not going to be judged on how many cups they win together, but rather if they can hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy into the air just once.

Fans should still be excited though, because there are some fun matchups to look forward to.

If the Suns can navigate these four games - no easy feat - and top their group then they will have three elimination games between them and victory. The semi-final and final taking place in Las Vegas in December, with the Los Angeles Lakers having beaten the Indiana Pacers in its inaugural season last time out.

4. Utah Jazz - Tuesday November 12th

Look, it's hard to try and jazz (sorry...) this fixture up, but luckily the meeting between the Suns and Utah is the first of the four group play games. This in theory allows the Suns to get a win on the board early, and look towards the rest of the competition.

The Jazz are in rebuild mode right now - and even with Lauri Markkanen going nowhere - this is the hardest game to get excited about. These two faced off in group play last season, so the prospect of coming up against a new opponent doesn't even exist here.

Luckily for the Suns this will be played away from home, meaning it is not on them to generate excitement and ticket sales for the game. In 2023-24 the Suns swept the regular season series between the two, winning all four games. Nestled in there was a double-overtime meeting in November, but that was as exciting as it got.

Excitement Rating - 3/10

3. Oklahoma City Thunder - Friday November 15th

The other game that will be played away from Phoenix is against the Oklahoma City Thunder, although there's quite a bit more to this game than the meeting with the Jazz. The Suns will roll into town likely looking to make it two wins on the bounce, which will give them a great chance of progressing to elimination play.

The intrigue takes a step up as well, because the Thunder were the top seed in the Western Conference last season. Behind point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander they are absolutely loaded as well, which make the Thunder a great measuring stick to see how close to contention the Suns truly are.

Guys like Chet Holmgren and Lu Dort are fun to watch because they are such an interesting foil to the key players on the Suns' roster. How center Jusuf Nurkic - an imperfect player who still has value - tries to stop a younger and offensively intelligent Holmgren will be worth tuning in for, while you know Dort will bring it on every possession to Booker.

A nice subplot here is also the fact that Gilgeous-Alexander and Dort were part of the Canada team that did not medal at the Olympic Games in Paris. They were also dealt a hiding by Team USA in exhibition play prior to the games beginning. They'll have a point to prove against the gold medal winning pair of Booker and Durant.

Excitement Rating - 5/10

2. San Antonio Spurs - Tuesday December 3rd

This is where the games take a sharp increase in intrigue, with the meeting against the San Antonio Spurs the final game the Suns will have in group play. By that point they'll likely know what they have to do in order to make the final eight, and they'll get a chance to try and achieve this at home.

Victor Wembanyama is the obvious standout reason for the excitement around this one, and he too felt the full impact of Curry and Durant this summer. France beaten in the gold medal game as he had to settle for silver in front of his own fans. He looked sensational as a rookie, and is only going to be better in year two.

The Spurs might have only won 22 games last season, but they notched two of those wins early against the Suns. Picking up back-to-back wins against Phoenix across October and November, while also plunging the Suns below .500 at that early point in the season. They recovered to win 49 games, but those losses to a team in full rebuild mode stuck with them all season.

The Suns were never as close to contention as they thought they were, and Wembanyama proved that. He'll be just as motivated to put one over on the Suns again in the NBA Cup - and with teams like the Pacers and New Orleans Pelicans making the final four last time out - an extended cup run could be on the cards for "Wemby" and his teammates.

Excitement Rating - 7.5/10

1. Los Angeles Lakers - Tuesday November 26th (live on TNT)

The obvious choice to top the bill, the Suns will come face-to-face with their old foe the Los Angeles Lakers in what is their only nationally televised game of pool play. You could make the case that the Spurs meeting should also have been broadcast to a wider audience, but there's no doubt this is the biggest game the Suns will have.

It being in Phoenix makes this even better, and any chance to watch Durant and LeBron James go at it will always draw big numbers. As the defending champions, it will be interesting to see if the Lakers even care about getting as far as Vegas to defend their crown. These two have met in this competition before, and there was plenty of controversy as the Lakers won.

Putting this as the penultimate game for both also spikes the intensity. Up to this point the Lakers will have played the Jazz and Spurs, and you would think that would equal two wins. If both sides can come into this one 2-0, then the winner of the game is effectively going to be going through to the elimination round.

Putting all of that aside... it's the Lakers! Any chance to beat them - and stopping them getting their hands on silverware in the process - should be seen as a high priority for the Suns. This matchup took place in Los Angeles last season, so the opportunity to bring them back to their place for revenge is as good as it gets.

Excitement Rating - 9/10