Evaluating Suns' NBA Cup Group

The Suns have a fairly reasonable draw for their group.

Dec 9, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; NBA commissioner Adam Silver presents the NBA Cup to the Los Angeles Lakers after winning the in season tournament championship final against the Indiana Pacers at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

PHOENIX -- The 2024 NBA Cup is set to tip off for a second season on November 12 - and the Phoenix Suns drew another group that could prove to be beneficial to them in efforts to win the in-season tournament.

The Suns were notably able to break into the knockout stage of the inaugural tournament last season, but were unable to close the deal to close up a spot in Las Vegas for the final four.

They will look to buck that loss this season, in a fairly manageable group.

A breakdown of the group below:

Oklahoma City Thunder

The Thunder were obviously the number 1 seed out West last season, falling just short of making a Western Conference Finals appearance.

They rebounded by surrounding an already strong core with Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein.

OKC is coming into this season as the prohibitive favorite in the conference - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren are a big three that could soon rival the Suns', along with a quality supporting cast.

Mark Daigneault is also the reigning coach of the year and a rising mind in the basketball world. There's no way around it, Phoenix will have their hands full in this game.

Los Angeles Lakers

The Suns played the Lakers twice last season during the in-season tournament, losing both times.

Unfortunately for the Lakers, they didn't do much to build off of securing the 7 seed in the West for the second straight season - with the only major addition to the rotation this season being incoming rookie Dalton Knecht.

The NBA was also sure to recognize the magnitude of tension between the two fanbases and the two quality games that were produced between the two squads in this same tournament last year.

This should be a manageable game for the Suns despite the strong possibility that both LeBron James and Anthony Davis are both active for this contest.

Utah Jazz

The Jazz are somewhat stuck in no man's land - it's difficult to decipher if the franchise is currently trying to win or rebuild.

Nonetheless, they possess some intriguing young talent such as Isaiah Collier and Cody Williams, while also having quality veteran talent such as Lauri Markkanen for the time being.

The Suns had a difficult time putting away Utah in the majority of their matchups last season - so this could be a closer contest than anticipated coming in.

San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs were another thorn in the Suns' side last season, as San Antonio took 3 of 4 matchups last season.

The Spurs only improved this offseason, adding Stephon Castle, former Suns guard Chris Paul, and Harrison Barnes as building blocks around phenom Victor Wembanyama.

San Antonio has improved across the board, have arguably the best coach of all time, and are sure to see a vastly improved Wembanyama coming into the matchup at some point in November.

This should be a game the Suns can win, but it may not come easy at the end of it.

The in-season tournament schedule is likely to release when the full 82-game schedule does - which will likely come in mid-August.