New Phoenix Suns head coach Frank Vogel believes his team is ready to make some major noise next season.
“The first thing I can apply is direct belief,” he told reporters Tuesday during his introductory news conference. “Now because I’ve done it, I’ve been a part of it. If the talent is in place, that you can galvanize a group and take the league by storm.”
Vogel, 49, guided a talented Los Angeles Lakers team led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis to a title in the 2019-20 season. He’ll be hoping to pull a similar trick with an arguably more talented team in Phoenix.
The Suns have immense upside given the superstar duo of Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. Few teams can keep up with the level of firepower provided by that pair.
But other questions persist. How will all of the team’s talented players jell given a full season together? Can the Suns improve the defense? How reliable is Chris Paul at the age of 38? And can Vogel get the most out of Deandre Ayton, or will the team look to move him?
Vogel is optimistic on the Ayton front.
“He can be a big deterrent [defensively] and there’s still areas that he can grow offensively,” he told reporters. “I’m intent on really connecting with him and restoring him to an All-Star-level player.”
There’s plenty of reason to believe that keeping the current core in place is the right move. Durant, Booker, Paul and Ayton played only eight games together in the regular season but went undefeated in those contests while outscoring opponents by an astonishing 17.4 points per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com.
That didn’t translate as seamlessly in the playoffs, when the big four appeared in seven games together and went 4-3 in those contests. They still outscored opponents by 12.3 points per 100 possessions, however.
With a full season for Durant to adjust to his new teammates, a bit more luck on the injury front and an offseason to add some depth around the stars, the Suns could be a force.
“We’re very close,” Vogel told reporters. “A lot of things have to go our way. You need a lot of luck and you need some breaks along the way, but I feel like the foundation is in place. We’ve got to just make some moves around the edges.”
