The ending to the 2020 – 2021 NBA season for Phoenix Suns fans was bittersweet. After reaching the finals for the first time in nearly 30 years, the start of the 2020 season was different than years past as they were coming off a bubble full of magic. With a coming-out party of sorts from their franchise player Devin Booker, the Sun’s fanbase knew after that undefeated streak in the bubble, it was time. It was time to give Phoenix and Booker what they have been waiting for. A tag team partner. A weapon of mass destruction of sorts, a point guard. The Phoenix Suns made a splash during the off-season reeling in 11x all-star, and the one many call the Point God, Chris Paul. In a blockbuster trade, the Suns gave up Ricky Rubio, Kelly Oubre, Ty Jerome, Jalen Lecque, and a 2022 1st round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Chris Paul and Abdel Nader.
The city had a sense of reassurance going into the season. They felt like a team we could recognize again. Suns fans have been spoiled with Hall of Fame Point guards over the years and have been dying to get our hands on another. Just look at the 2014 -2015 roster where the Suns suited up Goran and Zoran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Knight, Isaiah Thomas, and Tyler Ennis all in the same year. But everything had changed except for the respect from the rest of the NBA. No one had the team making the playoffs let alone the NBA FINALS.
When the Suns lost to the Bucks after a 50-point performance from Giannis Antetokounmpo, the question in everyone’s head was, what will CP3 do next? Will he stay, will he go, or would the 36-year-old hang it up? Those questions were answered with a 4-year extension worth up to $120 million dollars, which would push Chris Paul to the age 40 by the time it expires. But who would pass up on the opportunity to run it back with a team with the likes of Devin Booker who has taken on a different focus since the Orlando bubble of 2020. Guard Mikal Bridges has placed himself in the mix as one of the top 3 and D guys in the NBA and played with a totally different level of maturity last season. And we can’t forget about the big man in the middle Deandre Ayton, He turned out to be one of the brightest parts of last year’s run to the finals. Ayton’s play down the stretch and through the playoff run where he averaged 15.8 points 11.8 rebounds will make the Suns hard to beat no matter who they are playing.
Making a back-to-back appearance in the NBA finals Is going to be a hard task in the Western Conference. The Los Angeles Lakers added Russel Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, and Rajon Rondo to name a few to a squad that already featured the likes of veteran all-stars Lebron James and Anthony Davis. But the one thing I will tell you is something happened to this team in the Orlando bubble, and it carried over into last season. Chris Paul got to finally taste the NBA finals. I know for sure he is going to give it everything he has and make sure he takes a ring home with him before it’s all over. So as the fans in Phoenix felt on July 20th, operation “Let’s Run it back” is now in full effect.
