Suns facing ultra-competitive, balanced and open Western Conference

PHOENIX — There is a survival of the fittest aspect to the Western Conference this season, which is exactly what is going to make it so fascinating to watch where the Phoenix Suns land in it.

Fourteen of the 15 teams are competitive, an unheard of dynamic in the NBA when usually a handful of organizations each season are somewhere between rebuilding and tanking. Last year, there was a five-win difference between fifth and 10th in the West standings. The season prior, it was a two-win margin. From 2010-19, the average of that gap was 12.2 wins.

Devin Booker is entering Year 10 and has seen different iterations of balance in the West. While prefacing we have to wait and see first, Booker agreed that it’s the deepest he’s seen.

“I think talent-wise, if you go through rosters with names, I think that’s fair to say,” Booker said.

On top of that, there is no clear top dog.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are the favorites and the popular pick of many experts. They are also entirely reliant on youth and are coming off a second-round exit when their star trio landed somewhere between moderately meeting expectations and underwhelming them. Still plenty left for them to prove.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have to change an awesome, established identity to accommodate to the unique Julius Randle after a franchise-altering trade was made the weekend before training camp. The Denver Nuggets’ depth is gone, so unless they hit on their recent late draft picks, they cannot afford any slip-ups from their core three guys surrounding Nikola Jokic. The Dallas Mavericks are the safest bet to remain stable, but after so much repetitiveness in the postseason over the years with teams at the top, only one of the last six Finals losers has made it to at least the conference finals the following year. Can Dallas defy that trend?

Teams like Phoenix and Sacramento are as talented as they’ve been the in last three seasons, years when they’ve been able to win a healthy amount of games. Ditto for the New Orleans Pelicans and a now-healthy Memphis Grizzlies squad that could also challenge for 50 wins, just like the Kings and Suns.

That’s before mentioning the Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors, mainstays fueled by star power that could have enough juice for one more go at a playoff spot. That’s before mentioning an up-and-coming Houston Rockets team that over two blocks of last season went a combined 26-7. That’s before mentioning the San Antonio Spurs, armed with the best individual talent in the league Victor Wembanyama who is just getting started and is now being mentored by not only Gregg Popovich but also Chris Paul.

That’s before mentioning the Utah Jazz, who for two years were 35-36 and 26-26 respectively before stacking up injuries near the end of the year (that conveniently improved their draft position). Even the Portland Trail Blazers have a fairly skilled rotation for the group that will be the punching bag of the conference.

“You can make a case for any team. That’s what you like,” Suns point guard Tyus Jones said. “That just shows the depth of the league. … You’re gonna have to be ready to go each and every night.”

The fun part is that it cannot stay this balanced. It never has and never will. At least one of the squads (and probably more) will sputter out after eyeing a top-six spot. At least one of the squads we thought could win a playoff series or two will crater completely. There are some leading candidates but the likely result is one being a surprise.

“To start, you just kind of have to see how everybody meshes together,” Booker said while alluding to this strong possibility.

Ultimately, this is a good thing for the Suns. Nearly every team that wins a NBA championship improves through the regular season. Phoenix will have to be one of those squads and the schedule will offer little to no breaks. If they can’t make the playoffs through this level of competition, then they were never going to reach their potential anyway.

“Every time you’re tested, no matter the results, you should be getting better going forward,” Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer said. “So I think the fact that there’s so much depth, there’s so many teams from top to bottom that are going to push you every night, ultimately that should make you your best and I think it’s something that hopefully that’ll happen to us.”

Point being, 50-plus wins this year is going to be a whole lot different than reaching that total in previous decades.

“For sure, it only heightens where you have to be, it heightens the level of play and you gotta be ready to go each and every night and that’s only going to bring the best out of you,” Jones said.

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