Where Suns Stand in Western Conference Power Rankings

The Phoenix Suns are still considered to be a top five team out West.

May 17, 2024; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Mike Budenholzer speaks alongside General Manager James Jones during a press conference to announce his job as head coach of the Phoenix Suns. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports / Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns are set to take the court under the first year guidance of new head coach Mike Budenholzer, who took over the handles of previous head man Frank Vogel.

There's plenty of reason to be excited for the 2024-25 version of Suns basketball, as all three stars in Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Devin Booker return to the lineup healthy after playing just 41 combined games in their first season together.

The Suns kept key role players such as Grayson Allen, Jusuf Nurkic and Royce O'Neale together through the offseason while adding pieces such as Mason Plumlee, Monte Morris and Tyus Jones to the rotation.

Long story short, Phoenix could easily return to the top of the West - though it won't be easy.

For now, the Suns are still in a respectable spot in various power rankings, falling at No. 5 in NBA.com's Western Conference listing:

"The Suns return a starting lineup that outscored opponents by 11.1 points per 100 possessions, the fourth best mark among 21 lineups that played at least 300 minutes. And as noted above, they had a great offense against the league’s best defenses," wrote John Schuhmann.

"But Jones was an incredible pick-up on a minimum contract, and he can help them on both ends of the floor. Not only has he led the league in assist/turnover ratio in each of the last six seasons, but he’s one of two players – Jimmy Butler is the other – that have had more steals than personal fouls in each of the last six. Most important may be taking some of the playmaking burden off Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, allowing those guys to be better on both ends of the floor."

Ahead of the Suns were (in order, 1-4): Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves.

Underneath Phoenix to fill out the top ten were the New Orleans Pelicans, Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Clippers and Memphis Grizzlies.

In our recent total NBA power rankings, the Suns came in at No. 9 - you can read more about that here.