15-year NBA veteran and current NBA analyst for ESPN, JJ Redick was a guest on The Lowe Post podcast. The Lowe Post is hosted by ESPN Senior NBA writer Zach Lowe.
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“Real quick! Real Quick!”, Redick exclaimed as Lowe attempted to close out the show, “Since Phoenix acquired Kevin Durant. When Kevin Durant and Devin Booker play, they are 15-2.”
This episode was recorded before the Suns loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the quarterfinal game of the In-Season Tournament. So the Phoenix Suns are now 15-3 when Kevin Durant and Devin Booker have played together during the regular season.
Redick would go on to say, “They have a 126 offensive rating and that’s without Bradley Beal.” An offensive rating of 126 would be the best offensive rating in the NBA. The Indiana Pacers currently have the top offensive rating at 124.18.
The Potential for Disappointment
The former Duke Blue Devil did go on to share his concerns about Beal’s injury. “I have had back injuries and those things can linger, they can unfortunately as we have seen with a couple of players of the last few years, end up resulting in surgery.”
“That team to me has the potential to be elite, maybe that doesn’t manifest itself until later in the regular season. Maybe it doesn’t manifest itself until the playoffs,” said Redick, “Phoenix Suns, I am a believer.”
“Before the season, I had four teams in my inner circle of championship contention, Boston (Celtics), Milwaukee (Bucks), Denver (Nuggets), and Phoenix,” said Zach Lowe, “We just hope that Bradley Beal gets healthy and we get to see that whole team play.”
The big question is will Bradley Beal get back and if he is back, will he be the best version of himself? If he is not, can the team as currently constructed beat the Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, and the other top teams in the west?
So far this season the Suns are 0-3 against the Lakers and 0-1 against the Nuggets. They have been very competitive in these games. They Lakers defeated the Suns by a combined 11 points in those three games. The lost to the Nuggets in a very competitive game, 119-111.
The addition of Beal may be the difference in Phoenix getting over the hump against those teams. So, hopefully Beal can be back soon and Suns’ head coach Frank Vogel gets an opportunity to work out the rotation and game plan with a fully healthy team going into the playoffs.
