30 teams, 30 days: Phoenix Suns | 2026 Season Preview

Welcome to my 30 teams in 30 days series, the most comprehensive and informative previews for every team in the NBA. Inside these posts, you’ll get up to speed with every team’s offseason additions and their roster hierarchies, learn whether they’ve addressed their biggest areas of need, ponder over 5 questions that will define their season and then decide whether you agree with my offseason grades and record predictions.

Notable Additions: Jalen Green, Mark Williams, Dillon Brooks, Nigel Hayes-Davis, Jordan Goodwin, Jared Butler

Notable Subtractions: Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant, Tyus Jones, Mason Plumlee, Cody Martin, TyTy Washington Jr., Monté Morris, Damion Lee, Vasilije Micić

Depth Chart:

PG: Devin Booker / Collin Gillespie / Jared Butler / Jordan Goodwin

SG: Jalen Green / Grayson Allen / Koby Brea / Damion Baugh / David Duke Jr

SF: Dillon Brooks / Royce O’Neale / Isaiah Livers

PF: Ryan Dunn / Osho Ighodaro / Rasheer Fleming / Nigel Hayes-Davis / Tyrese Samuel / CJ Huntley

C: Mark Williams / Khaman Maluach / Nick Richards

Roster Hierarchy:

Franchise: Devin Booker

Core: Jalen Green, Khaman Maluach, Ryan Dunn

Key Rotation: Dillon Brooks, Royce O’Neale, Mark Williams, Grayson Allen, Osho Ighodaro

Rotation: Jared Butler, Collin Gillespie, Koby Brea, Isaiah Livers, Rasheer Fleming, Nick Richards

Development: Jordan Goodwin, Damion Baugh, David Duke jr, Nigel Hayes-Davis, Tyrese Samuel, CJ Huntley

Offseason Overview:

Fortune favors the bold…unless you’re a NBA owner with new toy syndrome. Matt Ishbia wasted zero time in his first couple weeks as owner, swinging massive trades for Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal in pursuit of a title. In the 2 years KD and Book wore Suns jerseys, Phoenix spent a league-leading total of $626 million dollars in salary and luxury tax, $51 million MORE than the 2nd-place Golden State Warriors. The total cost of these acquisitions go beyond just the exorbitant financials however, as PHX traded the equivalent of ~ TWELVE first round picks (5 firsts + Cam Johnson, Mikal Bridges and Chris Paul) and FIVE swaps, meaning they won’t control their 1st round pick until 2032.

Unfortunately for Phoenix, all of that investment led to zero playoff wins in 2 years, a middling 45-37 record in the 82 total games their costly trio played together and a measly +3.4 net rating with all 3 on the floor. The front office tried to shuffle the deck after getting swept in 2024, bringing in Coach Bud to up the 3P volume, just to get the same exact results.

To their credit, PHX did their best to move on this offseason. The Suns reinvested in their franchise icon, smartly used the lone 1st they got in return for KD to select Khaman Maluach and cut their losses by waiving and stretching Bradley Beal’s albatross of a contract. That loosened up the books a bit, though that $20M stain for the next 5 years is a painful reminder of just how much PHX gambled their future, just to lose it all.

Pre-Draft Areas of Need:

🥇 Drive and Kick Creation: 3rd in Passes per game (307.3), 19th in drives (46.1) and 25th in Drive AST%

🥈 Defensive Playmaking: 29th in Deflections per game (13.4), 27th Clutch DRTG (127 DRTG)

🥉 29th in Transition Frequency (14.5%), 8th in Transition PPP (1.16)

PHX introduced some much needed athleticism, youth and grit into their rotation, returning just 7 players from the apathetic 2025 roster.

Season Outlook:

1. Is there a possibility Jalen Green could thrive in Phoenix?

If you take a cursory glance at Jalen Green’s first 4 years, his PPG leading season on a 50-win team could lead you to believe he met expectations for a top draft pick last year. A closer look reveals anemic playmaking volume (9.7 potential assists per 100 with a 28th% Bad Pass%) and relative inefficiency (-3.9 rTS%, 35th%) which contributed to negative overall impact — HOU was +7.6 points BETTER with Jalen Green off the court!

The argument for a revival in Phoenix is centered around Jalen being placed in a more conducive role for his success. In his time in Houston, he was the Rockets primary perimeter scorer, a role he was overextended in, due to his aforementioned tunnel vision in addition to his ineffective in-between game (35% on non-rim/3s FGA). In PHX, Devin Booker will assume that role, relegating Jalen to more off-ball play types such as cuts and transition opportunities, the only playtype group where he scored in the top 20th% of the league efficiency-wise.

There are some intrinsic inefficiencies that can’t be solved simply by putting him around more offensive talent, though I think it’s reasonable to envision Jalen being more effective attacking a tilted defense off of Book’s gravity, as opposed to having to bend the defense himself.

2. Who will win the starting 4 battle?

PHX drafted Ryan Dunn in the 1st round in 2024, then picked up Rasheer Fleming in the 2nd round the following year, two guys with extremely similar pre-draft profiles. Both players entered the league with incredible defensive playmaking ability, posting some of the highest career block and steal rates of any drafted college player since 2008. There have only been 30 draft picks 6’9 or shorter with a BLK% > 5% and a STL% > 2%, thresholds Rasheer and Ryan clear easily.

Fleming & Dunn profile as the ideal modern 4 — if their shots can become reliable. Dunn’s collegiate shooting sample was tiny, he put up just 51 total 3s and 77 FTs in his 2 years at UVA, shooting 52.5% from the FT line (6th worst among 1st round draft picks since 2008) and 23.5% from 3 (3rd worst). His hesitancy to pull the trigger was worse than the raw percentages, as he would kill possessions when he passed up open shots. He was a great deal more confident in his rookie year, but remained abysmal at the FT line (51%, 1st %) and shot 8 points WORSE than league average on spacing playtypes. It will take a miracle for him to become a shooter that demands closeouts with this shooting trajectory, so he’s likely best deployed in the dunker for most of his time on the court.

Fleming declared after the best shooting season of his career, averaging 39% from 3 and 74% from the line on decent volume, making his spacing potential a good bit more realistic then Dunn…however, Fleming didn’t make a single 3 off the dribble last season. In a league that’s increasingly valuing versatility at every position, being dynamic is becoming more and more of a requirement for every player on the floor. I expect Dunn to begin the season as the starting 4, but if his shooting continues to be a problem and he is unable to refine his playmaking to add some offensive value, Rasheer will be breathing down his neck.

3. Will Jordan Ott install any principles from his time in Cleveland?

Jordan Ott has been credited as the mastermind behind the #1 offense in the league last year for the Cavaliers, and he’s been saying all the right things in his media availability since being hired. He’s consistently mentioned playing faster and more aggressive, hunting advantages as soon as the ballhandler crosses halfcourt while introducing more cutting, citing the negative relationship between the time on the shot clock and the PPP of a possession.

Last year, Cleveland ranked 10th in pace and 3rd in transition scoring, aspects that should increase naturally by virtue of getting drastically more active and athletic. CLE also ran PNR 6% MORE than the Suns last year at a league-leading 28.7% rate, which makes me wonder if Ott will lean on the PNR to that extent, considering he won’t have 2 T10 PNR scorers and 2 incredibly dynamic bigs to play through. JG4 and Book were T30 scorers out of PNR last year on similar volume, so they’re capable of running those actions, though PHX’s bigs aren’t nearly as polished screeners, finishers or short roll playmakers, so Ott will need to be creative with his HC alignments, having guys exchange/vacate the corners/sit in the dunker to clear the runways for his perimeter initiators.

One thing I really hope he isn’t planning on doing is running double big with any combo of the 5s on this roster, mainly due to Mark Williams and Nick Richards’ aforementioned lack of offensive polish. I’m slightly concerned that Maluach was directed to take so many 3s in preseason to prepare him to play next to another 5 in his rookie season, which is a ridiculous proposition considering he shot 70%!! at the rim and 76% at the FT line.

4. Will Jordan Ott install any principles from his time in Cleveland?

I’ve never really considered the potential impact of a senior advisor on a franchise, but Nash being brought on certainly caught my attention. Early reports have indicated he’s spent a ton of time in the gym, with GM Bryan Gregory stating, “Everything that we talk about, that we wanted our players to embody and our identity, that’s Steve Nash,” Gregory said. “He’s going to make a huge impact.”

The Suns’ franchise icon (and the greatest PNR player ever) is of course, a massive asset to their current franchise player, Devin Booker. Whether it’s guidance on how to lead effectively or pointers on how to keep a big engaged just a few beats longer to open up a lob, it’s easy to envision how Nash’s presence can translate into a big year for Booker.

5. Can Book re-adjust as the lone star?

For the first time in his career, the full weight of this franchise rests solely on Book’s shoulders. He’s been their franchise player for the better part of a decade, but this is really the first time in his career where he is also their unquestioned leader. “Leadership” convos have never really interested me, as I’ve never been of the belief that a team’s best player HAS to be their leader and I simply don’t know the locker room dynamics enough to judge a player’s ability to lead effectively.

However, with Book entering year 11 with a massive extension, after what he describes was “the 2 toughest seasons of his career”, the onus is on him to be the franchise player Phoenix envisions him as. His task of leading a young roster through a tumultuous Western conference will demand that he continues to improve upon his playmaking acumen (career-high 17.6 potential assists per 100 on his lowest bad pass% of his career), while returning to the All-NBA form he reached in years past. If he can do that, maybe he can begin the painstaking process of atoning for the crippling mistakes his front office and owner made when they mortgaged their future.

Record Prediction

Total Wins Over/Under: 31.5 via BetMGM

Floor: 30–52 (-6 wins)

While I believe Ott will successfully get this unit playing faster and with more effort than they did in previous years, on most nights, they’ll be at an overall talent deficiency at nearly every position. It’ll be tough for this roster to mitigate TOs will playing at a fast tempo if Booker isn’t orchestrating, which could lead to some points being left on the board on a nightly basis.

Ceiling: 37–45 (+1 win)

37 wins in this West is nothing to sneeze at, and it’ll take a Herculean effort from Booker + some efficiency gains from JG4 and contributions from Maluach & friends to reach this threshold.

Let me know if you agree with my predictions! What are your expectations for the Nets this season?

Overall Grade: C

Up Next: Denver Nuggets