3 reasons you should actually be excited about the Suns this year

After one of the most expensive and aggressive builds in NBA history fell woefully short, the Phoenix Suns enter the 2025-26 season with far lower expectations.

Outspoken owner Mat Ishbia moved on from future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant and star guard Bradley Beal. In their place, a youth movement is afoot in the Valley for the first time in half a decade. A new general manager and another new head coach — the fourth Suns head coach in as many seasons — will be tasked with pulling the right strings to elevate the Suns and build an identity, something the team has sorely lacked since losing in the NBA Finals in 2021.

Franchise cornerstone Devin Booker is back with a younger, seemingly hungrier team around him. But with a first-year head coach in Jordan Ott and inexperienced players filling out the rotation, Las Vegas oddsmakers expect the Suns to win around 32 games, which would be their worst performance since the 2018-19 season.

The thing about low expectations, though, is that clearing them doesn’t require much. The Suns know a bit about flipping the script, for good or for ill. They entered last season with championship expectations, only to finish under .500. While few will pick them to even make the playoffs this year, it would not be a shock if they developed better chemistry and competitive spirit, ultimately outperforming their 36-46 record from a season ago.

With the preseason underway and the regular season starting on Oct. 22, a new Suns era is officially beginning. And while it may very well make for a painful viewing experience, here are three reasons to be optimistic about the Valley’s oldest professional sports team.

Younger with more upside

By average age, the Suns were the oldest team in the NBA last season. They switched out 37-year-old Durant for 23-year-old Jalen Green and 29-year-old forward Dillon Brooks, the former Pac-12 Player of the Year in the thick of his prime. They were aggressive on draft night to further expand the youth movement, bringing in St. Joe’s forward Rasheer Fleming and Kentucky wing Koby Brea in the second round.

But the crown jewel of the Suns’ offseason haul is clearly Khaman Maluach, the 19-year-old center from Duke by way of South Sudan. The Suns acquired the No. 10 pick in the NBA Draft in return for Durant, then took advantage of good fortune on draft night to select Maluach when he surprisingly fell to their slot.

The towering Maluach is a work in progress, but one that could pay off big-time. He’s 7-foot-2 and slight despite his 250 pounds — Brooks is eight inches shorter and only 25 pounds lighter — and relatively inexperienced in high-level hoops.

“We’re extremely excited about him as a player,” Ott said of Maluach at the team’s media day. “And then at the same time, we have to understand he’s 19 years old. He only spent one year in college basketball.”

Ott also praised Maluach’s work with the training staff over the summer, and the rookie told reporters this week that he has gained 10 pounds since the draft.

As Maluach develops his body and hones his versatile skill set, the Suns will lean on fellow 7-footer Mark Williams — also acquired on draft night — as well as returning centers Nick Richards and Oso Ighodaro.

“I still have more weight to gain, but I feel like I’m right there,” Maluach said. “I feel like I belong.”

Teammates have already praised Maluach’s intuitive understanding of defensive schemes, saying his communication is akin to an experienced veteran center. Because Ott wants the Suns to be more aggressive on defense this season, Maluach’s ability to learn the system and handle physicality should be useful during his rookie campaign.

That aggressive defense will be spearheaded by second-year forward Ryan Dunn, as good a candidate as anyone on the Suns to experience a breakout season. Last season, as a rookie on a team stuffed with stars, Dunn primarily scored on 3-pointers and fast-break buckets. Going into this season, Dunn wants to score more inside the paint by learning to read defenses better. 

Notably, last week, the Suns picked up a team option on Dunn’s contract for the 2026-2027 season.

A familiar style

Throughout the Suns’ long history, the franchise’s best teams have almost always displayed the same defining features: a fast pace, high scores and lots of threes. If Ott can implement what he wants quickly, Suns fans should be familiar with what they see on the floor. 

The first major wrinkle to sort out will be the fit between Booker and Green, neither of whom is a traditional point guard like Steve Nash or Chris Paul. Booker believes the team will solve this issue by sharing the ball, with each scorer on the team being opportunistic and aggressive early in the shot clock.

“Overall, playing with a faster pace and getting up the court … it doesn’t really matter” who is the point guard, Booker said.

As the lead offensive tactician for the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers last season, Ott unleashed an unpredictable offense that used speed and shooting to overmatch opponents. Ott wants Booker, Green and other ball-handlers on the team to let it fly off the dribble to keep opponents guessing.

Playing faster, though, takes its toll. While younger players may fit easily into a run-and-gun philosophy, veterans are adjusting. The Suns face a big learning curve in an NBA that has reshaped itself over the last two years. 

“The two teams that had the most success, they played really fast, they got up and down the court quick,” said shooting specialist Grayson Allen of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers, last year’s two finals teams. “It felt like there was a never-ending wave of pressure defensively from those guys that were forcing turnovers, getting up into the ball.  And most of that comes down to playing hard, but also it comes down to conditioning.”

More ‘aligned’ leadership

Despite Ishbia’s fingerprints seemingly being on every aspect of the Suns and Phoenix Mercury since he bought the franchises in early 2023, the owner has insisted he is taking on an even larger role in operations since the end of last season.

To do so, Ishbia brought in familiar faces throughout the front office and in the coaching staff. Almost everyone now in a prominent position for the Suns has some connection to the state of Michigan or, more specifically, Michigan State University, where Ishbia played basketball as a walk-on and remains a major donor.

“After last season, we said that old stuff that we did, it didn’t work,” Ishbia said. “Let’s get it done the right way. Let’s build the identity, let’s get alignment across the board. Let’s get on the same page with what we’re going to be doing, from the front office to the coaching staff, scouts, to massage therapists, the medical staff.”

Unlike the past three years, when Ishbia’s team carried championship hopes, the Suns now figure to measure success more incrementally. Ishbia wants the team to showcase a coherent identity and give fans something to be excited about. 

“The most important thing is we’ve got to have fun watching the team again,” he said. “First and foremost, the team we’ve had the last couple years has not been good enough. And I took the blame. I said, ‘Hey, that’s on me.’ Going forward, it’s got to be a team that you’re proud of. 

“Are we going to win 82 games? I don’t have a game total that we’re going to win. But I do think the expectations are a team that we’re proud of, a team that plays hard, a team that competes and a team that’s getting better and that’s fun to watch. Because you’re going to be proud of how we build and get better every year so that we compete for championships for years to come.”

As the Suns broke down at the end of last season and ultimately missed out on the postseason, Booker expressed frustration not only at the team’s failures but also that he was not as vocal and influential in the team’s decisions as he should have been. Booker partially walked back those comments at media day, insisting that he never struggles with being vocal.

“I feel like I used my voice a lot last year, too, but we just fell short,” he said. “It wasn’t as connected as we wanted it to be. I don’t think anybody had problems with each other off the court, we just simply weren’t connected enough.”

With Durant and Beal gone, Booker is now the team’s only center of gravity. He said it’s a priority for him to be a strong leader for his teammates. This way, Booker hopes, the team can be more “connected” than it was when he was flanked by Durant and Beal.

“The leadership aspect is going to be more important than ever this year,” he said.