Breaking Down The Hot Start: Are The Phoenix Suns For Real?

The Phoenix Suns continue to turn heads at the start of the 2019-2020 NBA Season.

Nobody saw this coming but the Arizona-based squad has come out with their guns blazing and caught the entire league off-guard. They currently sit at six wins in nine games, just a game behind the Western Conference leaders Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets.

They were even the ones who stained the Philadelphia 76ers’ then unblemished record on November 5th when the latter had stood as the only unbeaten team at that time.

Heck, even ESPN’s Rachel Nichols calls the Suns’ blitz an “anarchy.”

Too early to judge as you might say, but there are already significant indicators as to why this team is as good as posting a legitimate contention come the more crucial stretches of the season.

Let us examine further.

Their current win pace is miles ahead of last year’s winning trend. At six wins in less than 10 games, the Suns have already reached about a third of their total win record from the 2018-2019 season where they finished with a dismal 19-63 standing.

The off-season signings and trades have been paramount to the scorching takeoff, too. Ricky Rubio, Kelly Oubre and Frank Kaminsky all have served notice and led the way for the team’s current success.

But of them all, the team’s acquisition of center Aaron Baynes from the Celtics has to be considered one, if not the most genius move of the Summer. With prized sophomore Deandre Ayton missing out a significant number of games due to a suspension, the 6’10 big man from New Zealand answered the call and filled up the void left by the former top pick.

After nine games with the Suns, Baynes already averaged a career-best in all major stats department. He recorded 15.8 points on an efficient 58.9 percent shooting and 47.4 percent from deep, 5.8 boards, 3.1 assists, 0.3 steals and a block.

As a team, the numbers speak for itself as well.

Along with the Milwaukee Bucks, the Suns are currently one of only two teams to rank in the top 10 of both the Offensive and Defensive Ratings.

It was also the first time in more than four years that the team posted three wins over .500. It was also the first time since the Steve Nash era that the home crowd erupted with MVP chants, this time for Devin Booker.

These numbers are just a few of the many jaw-dropping stats to watch out for the Suns. So the question now is, are they for real? Well, just like what they always say on games that really matter, “throw out the stats sheet.” It's a wait and see situation and we’ll just leave it as it is for now.