Phoenix Suns: With 1-seed in hand, Suns should be patient with Chris Paul

The Phoenix Suns need to show patience with Chris Paul’s impending return. 

With roughly 10 games remaining in the regular season, the Phoenix Suns are sitting atop the Western Conference with a nine-game cushion. They’ve all but locked up the top seed in the conference and homecourt throughout the postseason.

This is a team that hasn’t missed a beat, no matter the circumstance. Even without Chris Paul over the past couple of weeks, the Suns have not lost any ground in their lead atop the conference.

Nevertheless, with the playoffs in the near distance, Paul is inching toward his return to the team.

According to a recent report, Paul is close to making a return to the team and could do so this week before the playoffs in a few weeks. However, an argument can be made that there should be no rush for his return.

The Suns don’t have much to play for over the last few weeks of the season and should be focused on fine-tuning their fundamentals, avoiding getting caught up in bad habits, and, perhaps most importantly, getting healthy.

Even if Paul is 100 percent, with his injury history, it would probably be best to give him some extended rest. Or, at the most, bring him along slowly.

The Suns are sitting in a place of a luxury. For the majority of the season, the Suns have been the most dominating and overwhelming team in the league. Contrary to popular belief, the Suns should probably be heavy favorites to win the 2022 NBA Championship.

They may not be as flashy as some of the other teams in the league or even have as big of stars as their counterparts, but they’ve clearly been more dominant.

The Suns have the look of a team that’s looking to right a wrong (blowing a 2-0 series lead in last year’s NBA Finals). But if they’re going to be successful in that endeavor, they’re going to need to be as healthy as possible.

Phoenix has been the best team in the league for the majority of the season. That’s unlikely to change headed into the playoffs. To assure that it doesn’t, the team needs to be patient and make sure Chris Paul is truly 100 percent when he returns.