Phoenix Suns: 5 reasons they won’t make the playoffs in 2017-18

5. The West is a bloodbath where playoff hopes go to die

Even if the young players all make major strides, even if Josh Jackson is a Rookie of the Year frontrunner, even if the vets have another great year left in them, even if Devin Booker makes “the leap” and even if everything else comes together in 2017-18, the Suns could still miss the playoffs, simply because the Western Conference is an absolute bloodbath.

The Golden State Warriors somehow got better. The Houston Rockets added Chris Paul. The San Antonio Spurs are still the San Antonio Spurs. The Oklahoma City Thunder got Paul George, the Minnesota Timberwolves snagged Jimmy Butler, the Denver Nuggets signed Paul Millsap, the Portland Trail Blazers will have a full season with a healthy Jusuf Nurkic…you get the idea.

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The only teams that got worse this summer are the Los Angeles Clippers (still have enough talent for the playoffs), Utah Jazz (same, even without Gordon Hayward) and Memphis Grizzlies (still have Mike Conley and Marc Gasol).

The only teams the Suns might pass in the standings are the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings, and even those feel like long shots. For a team that missed the playoffs in 2013-14 with 48 wins, it shouldn’t be a surprise to hear a brutal Western landscape will keep Phoenix out again in 2018.