NBA: Mid-season playoff seeding predictions for the East and West

18 of 21

Phoenix Suns head coach Monty Williams (Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports) /

7. Phoenix Suns

The Phoenix Suns could be in for some major changes during the offseason. After a fast start to the season, the Suns have really hit some tough times over the past month and a half. The Suns have struggled so much that they have officially fallen out of the top 8 in the Western Conference standings.

Some of that is due to Devin Booker being injured but a lot more of it is due to some roster issues that the team has but clearly didn’t admit to it during the offseason. Chris Paul is beginning to look his age and I’m not sure how far a duo of Booker and Deandre Ayton will take this team in the playoffs.

All that said, I would be highly surprised if the Suns didn’t bounce back (somewhat) in the second half of the season to climb back into the top 8 in the standings. Still, they’ll have to prove their worth by playing their way into the playoffs.