Starters: Bradley Beal, Devin Booker, Josh Okogie, Kevin Durant and Jusuf Nurkić
Even after the trade that sent Deandre Ayton to the Portland Trail Blazers, this starting five has a chance to be the best lineup in the NBA. In fact, replacing Ayton with Nurkić may make that more likely.
Some analysts called that a talent downgrade in the immediate aftermath of the deal (and that may be fair), but Nurkić is a better and more willing passer than Ayton. And in a lineup with three No. 1 scoring options in Booker, Durant and Beal, a little extra passing from the 5 is a smart thing to add.
Closers: Bradley Beal, Devin Booker, Josh Okogie, Yuta Watanabe and Kevin Durant
For all of the reasons above, the Phoenix Suns could well close games with the same lineup that starts them.
With the one-on-one scoring abilities of the aforementioned stars, though, the wrinkle that Nurkić’s passing adds isn’t entirely necessary. That’s especially true down the stretch of games, when things often devolve into one-on-one battles anyway.
Replacing Nurkić with Watanabe, one of the most dangerous corner three-point shooters in the league, would make it even harder to help off the three-point line to try to stymie Booker, Durant or Beal.
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