No. 3. Phoenix Suns
It may be weird to say that the Phoenix Suns are real championship contenders, but this team is very real and this team is very legit. The Suns may have a really good chance to potentially reach the NBA Finals this season, but a lot of it depends on how the seedings play out in the Western Conference.
All season long, the Suns have been a dominant team for a couple of reasons. Not only are they one of three teams to rank inside the Top-10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency, but they have one of the All-Time greatest players in NBA history, who is oftentimes undervalued, in Chris Paul.
As Charles Barkley says all the time: “Chris Paul is the best leader in the NBA,” and he is right. Everywhere Chris Paul goes, not only is he able to find personal success, but his leadership improves every team he plays with.
When you look at the teams Paul has been on and the difference he makes from one season without him to the season with him, not only has every team’s win percentage increased, but their playoff odds have increased as well.
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With the future Hall-of-Fame point guard still being one of the better two-way guards in the entire league, as well as one of the best pure scorers in the league in Devin Booker, this Suns team definitely has a great shot to reach the Western Conference Finals this season for a chance to make the NBA Finals for the first time since 1993.
Assuming the season ended today and the top-seeds won the play-in games, the Suns’ path to the playoffs would be the Mavericks, the Clippers and the Jazz. The Suns are 3-0 against Dallas this season, 0-2 against L.A. and 2-0 against the Jazz this season.
This is a very do-able playoff path for the Phoenix Suns and assuming they are fully healthy, they should definitely be a betting favorite come time for the playoffs.
