With 7 wins in the past 8 games, the tank team Suns have become the dark horses of the Western Conference! One transaction gave birth to three winners

Three weeks into the new season, the NBA Western Conference is in chaos. First of all, the three teams of Thunder + Nuggets + Rockets rank among the top three in the league in net efficiency. The Thunder, the Nuggets, with a deeper lineup, and the Rockets, with Durant seamlessly integrated into Udoka's system, have little pressure on them in the regular season, as long as they maintain their core health. As for the bottom teams, the Mavericks fired Harrison, and according to the US media, thick eyebrows were also put on the shelf. The Mavericks are likely to rebuild around Flagg this season; the Grizzlies wanted to send Morant away, but their demands were extremely high and they froze themselves there. Here with the Clippers, Kawhi Kawhi hasn't played for a long time, Bill has been reimbursed for the season, Paul has been abandoned, and Harden is fighting alone wherever he goes. It’s tiring, but the work is fruitless.

What is more surprising is that after entering November, a tank brigade suddenly emerged, that is, the Sun. When the US media ranked the league's teams in terms of strength during the offseason, the Suns were basically ranked around 25th in the league (13th in the Western Conference). Because judging from last season, without Durant, Booker led the team alone to win a victory, and there was an undercurrent in the team's locker room, and the atmosphere was very disharmonious. During the offseason, the Suns sent away Durant in exchange for Brooks and Jaylen Green. In addition, they bought out Beal, renewed Booker's contract in advance for 145 million in two years, and exchanged two first-round picks from the Hornets for Mawei. Suns owner Ishbia has emphasized many times that the team will not be bad and will continue to build a competitive lineup around Booker. As a result, in the first 5 games, 1 win and 4 losses, even a team like the Jazz who deliberately failed to do so lost.

But after entering November, the Suns seemed to have changed a team. They beat the Jazz, upset the Spurs (ending the Spurs' 5-game winning streak), took revenge on the Clippers, defeated the Pelicans + Mavericks + Pacers in a row, and only lost to the Warriors once, with 7 wins and 1 loss in the past 8 games! First of all, compared to the long regular season, this is indeed a small sample event and there is chance. However, there are traces of everything! Starting with statistics, the Suns ranked 7th in the league in offensive efficiency this season (119.0), 12th in the league in defensive efficiency (114.1), and 8th in the league in net efficiency +4.9! The highly anticipated Jaylen Green only played 2 games after returning from a hamstring injury before suffering a hamstring injury again and will be sidelined for at least 4-6 weeks. There is no way, it is equivalent to Booker leading the team alone, which is also the fundamental reason for the sudden explosion of the Suns.

Booker has changed! According to player statistics this season, Booker scored a total of 371 points, second in the league, second only to Alexander; fourth in the league in total assists, averaging 28.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 7.0 assists per game, with a two-way shooting percentage of 50% + 37%; the biggest difference from the past 10 seasons is that Booker no longer holds the ball, and he spends less time holding the ball in each game than Antetokounmpo. There are four tasks in each game: running around without the ball in a wide range like Curry; getting the ball and finding mismatch opportunities; pushing the team to counterattack and transition between offense and defense; standing up to resolve the battle at critical moments. The role players of the Suns are even more surprising. Brooks was a famous blacksmith in the Grizzlies and Rockets. When he arrived in the Suns, he averaged 20 points per game. In Booker's words, Brooks always provided energy to his teammates from both ends of the offense and defense.

There is also the underrated Allen, who beat the Pelicans in a big victory. He scored 42 points in 28 minutes and made 10 of 15 three-pointers, setting a new record in the history of the Suns! The four most irreplaceable players on the team are Ryan Dunn + Gillespie + Mark Williams + Goodwin, especially Ma Wei. When he is on the court this season, the team's net efficiency per 100 rounds is +14.9, which is comparable to the Thunder! The rise of the Suns seems difficult to understand, but it is actually easy to explain: Booker is the absolute boss, and he does not have to worry about anyone threatening his ball rights and status. Especially after Bill and Durant leave, Booker's willingness to lead the team by example will be even stronger. As for the Suns' role players, they have indeed not maximized their value in the past few seasons.

There are 5 players in the team who have averaged 2 three-pointers per game this season, and the average of 16 three-pointers per game ranks third in the league. The victory over the Spurs really stunned Wenbanyama with a three-point rain. As for the ball handling issue, in addition to Booker, Allen averaged 4.3 assists per game + Gillespie averaged 4.9 assists per game + O'Neal averaged 3.2 assists per game. Brooks can also support it. Everyone is the initiator of the offense and the end point. Everyone is involved. Naturally, the energy of offense and defense is different from last season. To put it simply, you may not be able to keep the rich life, but everyone can live the poor life and enjoy it in various ways. Will solar energy maintain this trend? It's very simple, as long as the average points allowed per game is in the top ten in the league (currently 113.6 points are eighth in the league).

Defense determines the lower limit. Looking back, the original deal between the Suns and Rockets produced three winners. The Suns sent away Durant, everyone is alive, and Jaylen Green also has the opportunity to continue to grow in the Suns. The key to this team-based play is the mainstream of the NBA, such as the Pistons, Thunder, and Nuggets; Durant also signed a two-year 90 million pension contract with the Rockets, which is closer to the championship. Durant has the opportunity to add a few items to the honor book; and for the Rockets, with Durant, the team's net rating is third in the league; without Durant, the team's net rating is first in the league. They have adapted to this switch of play, which will also help young people grow up. Maybe they will encounter it in the playoffs.