2019 Phoenix Suns Odds to win NBA Championship with Expert Predictions

Alvin Gentry was fired as Phoenix Suns' head coach in January of 2013. Since then, the team has gone through five head coaches, with four of them winning less than 30 percent of their games. It has been more than a little pathetic. The next man up is Monty Williams, replacing Igor Kokoskov after just one season. Williams is the most proven of the head coaches since Gentry. But he is taking over a mess that isn't much improved from what the last five have had to deal with. Can the story be any different from what we have gotten used to with this team?

2019 Phoenix Suns Betting Storylines

Deandre Ayton isn't the flashiest first overall pick we have ever seen. But he had a very respectable rookie season, finishing third in rookie of the year voting and joining Blake Griffin and Karl-Anthony Towns as the only rookies to average a double-double in the last decade. His continued improvement is going to be a big key for this team. He has the tools to be elite, but aside from Devin Booker, Phoenix has developed the reputation of being a place where talent goes to die. It will be interesting to watch what happens with Ayton, because he is so important. So is fellow sophomore Mikal Bridges, who wasn't nearly as successful as a rookie. Bridges is a prototypical key piece in the new NBA - a wing who is athletic, can defend like crazy, and is an effective shooter. Consistency wasn't there last year, but he had stretches that could really make you believe. And if we see more of those, it will be a very good thing.

Despite those two, or anyone else, this team remains a showcase for Devin Booker. The problem, though, is that they have not done a very good job of protecting him and making his job easier. He scores despite having to do too much himself. The addition of Ricky Rubio could help. Rubio isn't flashy. And as his unceremonious departure from Utah showed, he isn't a contender-caliber point guard. But he is the best pure guard the Suns have had in far too long. He can allow Booker to play off the ball more, which is ideal, because Booker is much worse when he has to run the play himself. And Rubio can take some defensive pressure off of the superstar. It has the potential to be an impactful fit, though there are real issues with the addition as we will see.

2019 Phoenix Suns Additions and Departures

The addition of Rubio -- on the surface -- is a good one - he's a stable veteran who solves some problems. When you dig a little deeper, though, it becomes tougher to assign a grade. To attract him to Phoenix, the team felt the need to overpay him - $51 million over three years - even though it isn't entirely clear who they were bidding against. And when you couple that decision with the draft, and with the steps they had to take to clear salary, it isn't a perfect pick. At the draft the team had the sixth pick. When that pick rolled around, Coby White from North Carolina was on the board. He was one of three point guards in the draft who was viewed as having seriously high potential. The Suns could have picked him and had him under control for low dollars for a long time. Instead, they traded the pick to Minnesota for the 11th pick and Dario Saric. Saric is fine, but he was disappointing in Minnesota and was more of a throw-in than a prize. After trading down to the 11th spot, they took White's teammate, senior wing Cameron Johnson. That was far higher than anyone else seemed to have Johnson on any boards, so it's a tough move to get excited about. And then they traded away a future first-round pick of Milwaukee's to Boston for Aron Baynes and the 24th pick this year. They used that pick to take Virginia point guard Ty Jerome. Jerome has not nearly the upside of White, and they obviously don't see him as a starter now or in the near future because they signed Rubio afterwards. There is a chance Johnson would still have been available at 24, and his skill set as a shooter is far from unique or irreplaceable, so the team could have used the same assets and received a much better return - and avoided having to invest so heavily in Rubio. And they also traded away T.J. Warren, Josh Jackson - both former first-round picks of the Suns - and De'Anthony Melton, and threw in three future second-rounders along with them, for cap space. Add it all up, and this Rubio deal is not the best one any team has ever made. Or even close.

The summer also saw the departure of Dragan Bender and George King. In the Jackson and Melton trade with Memphis, they received back Kyle Korver, who they bought out immediately, and guard Jevon Carter. On the free agent front, the highlights were a two-year extension for Kelly Oubre Jr., and the addition of forward Frank Kaminsky from Charlotte on a two-year deal. They signed forward Cheick Diallo to a two-year deal - because there is apparently no limit to the number of young guys who have underachieved as pros a team can have. And they took a flyer on undrafted free agent guard Jalen Lecque, offering a two-year guaranteed deal to the player who skipped college ball after a prep year, had the top vertical at the NBA Combine, but didn't hear his name called. All in all, it wasn't the kind of summer upon which championships are built.

2019 Phoenix Suns Futures Odds and Trends

Phoenix Suns Futures Odds

NBA title odds : +50000

Western Conference title odds : +25000

Devin Booker MVP Odds : +10000 (third best)

Season win total: 29.5

Will the Phoenix Suns make the playoffs: Yes +1000, No -1500

The Suns were 36-46 ATS last year, so they were much more of a pleasure to bet against than they were to watch. They went "under" the total 44 times and "over" 38 - exactly the same mark as the Warriors, for what that's worth.

2019 Phoenix Suns Predictions and Futures Odds Picks

The Suns weren't going to be any good no matter what, but they are in a brutal division, running into the Warriors and the arms race in L.A. regularly. The team just needs to set realistic goals - fifth place in the division seems all but a given, though fourth is attainable given that it's Sacramento they are chasing. But the season will be a success if Booker keeps advancing, Ayton shows that he can be a star, and other guys step up and show that they can be part of the future. This season is just a step along the way -- a path that seems like it may never end. And there aren't going to be a ton of wins.

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