Predicting 2024 NBA Playoffs' Breakout Stars | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

Unless the Phoenix Suns make it all the way to the Finals and find the Boston Celtics waiting for them, they won't face a team that has enough depth to put a good perimeter defender on Grayson Allen.

Clearly no higher than the fourth option whenever the Suns have all their top threats on the floor, Allen is the type of shooter who could swing multiple postseason games from beyond the arc. He led the league with a 46.1 percent hit rate from deep this season, largely because opponents never had the resources to put a clampdown stopper on him. Often covered by iffy defenders, Allen zipped around the floor for shots on the move and hit clean standstill looks off of Jusuf Nurkić's excellent short-roll passing.

Allen was a key determinant in his team's success all season. He shot 49.6 percent from long range in Phoenix's wins, and the Suns were 7-3 in games where Allen made at least five threes. Normally, a player that dangerous would get a defense's full attention. But because Phoenix has three top-level scorers ahead of Allen on the depth chart, nobody can devote enough personnel or game-plan attention to stopping him.

With the Suns handing Allen a four-year, $70 million extension on the final day of the regular season, the 28-year-old guard should enter the playoffs in a good headspace. His financial future is secure, he'll know he's not going to see much in the way of top-flight defenders, and he's coming off the best year of his career.

Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@gt_hughes), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report's Dan Favale.