this post was submitted on 22 Oct 2023
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I don't know how players can do, really a lot of stuff outside of what we can know, but some very swingy season are surely:
Bradley Beal - people mostly think that exchanging Chris Paul with Beal will catapult Suns onto some new level. It will be interesting what the results really are, and Beal individually will be commented the most as the new element and generally a guy that didn't play much winning basketball in many years, so for now it's just assumption at this point, based on his legendary ppg.
Ayton - some really think a lot of good of paying 33 million a year for Ayton, despite what everybody saw in the last playoff series. In Portland he will once again be priority, and if it doesn't bring something then I think no one will be admitting what they are saying about him now in a year.
Towns - he's been mostly good before 2022-23, but still Wolves cannot really show much for it, not like when Jimmy Butler came and immediately gave them their best time of the last 2 decades. Fans have been threatening that "with healthy KAT they'll be spooky". But he's gonna be a 28-year-old player that didn't even start his next max contract yet. This "healthy" season can move a lot for him in either direction.
Paul George, Kawhi Leonard - after this season, they have player options and can leave or secure a long-term extension. Lowkey, Clippers were still very good at full roster, so something really good can imaginably happen. If not, there'll be a lot of growing questions as the season goes on.
Lillard - a bit like Beal, he was traded for an actually important two-way player and is expected to bring the world. He actually had a great last season. But when 1st place is the expectation, the probability of disappointment is the highest. No longer can anyone say "Lillard just doesn't have a team, so what can he do....."
Ben Simmons - we all know what's up. Is he gonna be playing good basketball? That'd change a lot.
Ja Morant - I just feel like he's nothing now. People are already saying that Grizzlies are done for now, and Morant probably too. He is gonna come back, though, presumably. Was really good at basketball.
Jamal Murray - a god in 2023 playoffs. Either he plays up to his level regularly after the title or continues not to. Either way, opinion's gonna change.
I personally think Beal is way overrated - good stats on a losing team kind of player. I don’t think the Suns will be any better this year than they were after getting Durant. So still really good, but not the clear favorite by any means. Also, swapping Ayton for Nurkic is definitely a downgrade.
Suns have a lot of firepower this season and unless bradley beal can't hit open shots i don't think it's going to be too bad for him. Nurkic is definitely a downgrade but having a guy that doesn't want to be there hurts you.
Some people are really sleeping on how much the Suns roster has been upgraded since last year. Yeah Ayton to Nurk is a downgrade, but that's about it. And it's not like we need a great center for what we're going to be doing anyways. Nurk is serviceable for our needs and if history has shown anything with Vogel coaching bigs, it's that Vogel should be able to get the most out of him.
Last playoffs what did we see? KD and Book trying to do everything, having to completely carry the team because nobody could even hit open corner 3's. Ayton wasn't showing up anyways and CP3 was useless. Now we went from iirc 3 guys who could hit 3's at an average to above average rate, to like 10. Not to mention KD getting a full season with the team this time to get max chemistry, and it helps that his guy Yuta is there too.
And Beal as a 3rd option is crazy. Yeah maybe you don't want him as a #1 option if you're trying to win a chip. But he's still a guy who's shown to be able to put up 50+ points and average 30ppg in the past. Having a 3rd option with those kind of capabilities is nuts. We'll be able to have at least 1-2 of Book, KD, and Beal on the court at the same time all game without giving them too many minutes. That's huge.
My main concern is health. If this team stays healthy I have no doubt they'll be significantly better than last season.
Who's high on Ben Simmons?
He didn’t suck with Curry. He just sucked in general last season even though he played better as a starter. He was starting next to Curry when the Warriors got off to that amazing start in the first half of the season 2 years ago before they slowed down due to injuries.
Warriors had a great winning record when Poole was replacing Curry in the starting lineup (and Wiggins was not playing in most if not all of those games too). And Poole was scoring most ppg.
Generally the standard is, a player scoring most ppg is called "the best player", and if the team also wins, then people go crazy about him. That's just a fact about what everyone here says.
So I think I would not be surprised if Poole can go only up - from, hm, a lot of people saying Wizards are the league's 30th team now.