I think the biggest reason the Nuggets are the team to beat in the playoffs is that they can beat you in multiple ways. Also rebounding isn’t an issue because of their size. Offensively, they can bully teams inside (through offensive rebounds and/or shots in the paint) or kill you from the perimeter. The Jokic and Murray 2 man game almost always generates a good shot. Most of all, the other players that surround jokin and Murray are two way players with good size.
As for the Suns, they’re not beating teams by overwhelming them in the paint or imposing their size. So, imo the Suns offensive blueprint has to look similar to the Warriors (a jump shooting team that uses Curry+Klays shooting gravity to get easy shots in the paint through cuts, slips), especially in the playoffs. It’s still too early to draw any conclusions but I think KD, Beal, and Booker have that potential.
But the 4th and 5th spots still worry me. Particularly defensively. Suns don’t have a legitimate shot blocking center who can deter shots in the paint. That usually means opponents can always get a good shot off when they need it. While having those Booker, Beal, and Kd on offense can help mitigate this issue, a strong defensive presence in the paint can give you that extra cushion you need and mistakes on offense won’t be as costly sometimes.
I think a good move would be to fill those two spots, with a focus on size and defense. Think about how good the kyrie, KD, Ben Simmons, and Claxton lineups were defensively last season, or OKC’s old KD-Ibaka-Adams lineup. So with Booker, Beal, and KDs shooting and shot creation ability, I wouldn’t be too concerned with the lack of shooting if they can make a strong defensive impact.
As an aside, for the Suns to be serious contenders, a player like Eric Gordon should be a luxury, not someone you have to rely on. Regardless, again, its still early in the season so there’s still a lot of things to tinker, but imo the lack of defensive players and size could be a serious issue and is one that can greatly affect the Suns chance at championship
None of this really matters when our “big 3” haven’t played a single minute together. Jokic will get his, no offense to Nurk, but any of Book, KD, and/or Beal would make up any difference the rest of the Nuggs could put up.