Phoenix Suns fans share their thoughts on new-look roster
The Phoenix Suns made many changes to their roster in the offseason. Here’s what fans had to say about the new-look team ahead of the 2025-26 season.
The Phoenix Suns are rebuilding after two disappointing years with a Big 3 of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, but this youthful, new-look roster has some intrigue.
The Suns will either surprise everyone or remain a marathon away from competing for an NBA championship.
So, for the optimists, let’s first examine what could go right for Phoenix this season. Then, for the pessimists, we’ll look at what could go wrong.
What could go right: Shock the world, make the playoffs
The Suns are expected to miss the playoffs and post a losing record in most preseason projections. However, five teams in the last four seasons reached the play-in with a sub-.500 mark, with one advancing to the postseason, the New Orleans Pelicans in 2022.
With a 36-46 record, New Orleans defeated San Antonio and upset the Los Angeles Clippers in the play-in to earn the eighth playoff seed in the West. The Pelicans lost to the Suns in the first round, but they pushed Phoenix, the top overall seed with a franchise-record 64 wins, to six games. Â
Making the play-in would be an accomplishment, further solidifying their new physical, aggressive identity and responding to those who laughed at the thought of them being better without Durant and Beal.
Making the playoffs after missing the play-in last season would put Phoenix way ahead of schedule to become a championship contender again. Oklahoma City went from a play-in team in 2023 with a 40-42 record to winning the NBA championship two years later.
Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker addresses media before China Games
Devin Booker held a news conference in Macao, China, leading up to the Phoenix Suns’ preseason matchups against the Brooklyn Nets.
Provided by the Phoenix Suns
What could go right: A career year for Booker
This is Booker’s team without question.
He’ll have major ball handling, facilitating and scoring duties even though the Suns have another career 20-point scorer in Jalen Green.
Booker averaged a career-high 27.8 points in 2022-23 on a career-best 49.4% shooting in 34.6 minutes per game. The franchise’s all-time leading scorer also attempted more free throws than at any point in his career at 7.8 a game.
He’s a career 87.3% free-throw shooter.
In his three preseason games, Booker averaged 8.3 attempts (21-of-25) over an average of 26 minutes.
The Suns need Booker to deliver 30, 40 and even 50-point games to compete in more than a handful of matchups. A rise in free-throw attempts may lead to Booker averaging 30.
Booker said the offense is designed for everyone to be a threat, but he must have a career year for the Suns to even exist in the play-in realm.
What could go right: High risk, high reward
Mark Williams has been on a plan to prepare him for the regular season since joining the team July 1, focused on strengthening his lower body and improving his flexibility.
Injury-prone, the 7-footer has played a total of 106 games in three previous seasons with Charlotte. Phoenix traded guard Vasa Micic and two first-round picks to the Hornets for Williams and a second-round selection during the 2025 draft.
When healthy, Williams produces.
He averaged 15.3 points on 60.4% shooting and 10.2 rebounds last season, but Williams only played 44 games, a career best.
The Suns haven’t stuck with a center since trading Deandre Ayton before their 2023 training camp. They nabbed 7-footer Khaman Maluach, the 10th overall pick in the 2025 draft, in the Durant trade and still have Nick Richards and Oso Ighodaro.
Williams is high risk, high reward.
If he plays 60 to 70 games and puts up similar numbers to a season ago, things could get very interesting in Phoenix and lead to a serious conversation next summer. Williams will be a restricted free agent as he’s in the final year of his four-year, $18-million rookie deal.
What could go wrong: Young team historically bad season
The Suns have won fewer than 30 games nine times, with the latest being 2018-19 when they finished 19-63, the second-worst season in franchise history.
Eight of their top nine scorers were 26 years old or younger playing for then first-year head coach, Igor Kokoskov.
Booker was 22. Mikal Bridges and Ayton were rookies.
The Suns had only four players over 30, with Trevor Ariza, Ryan Anderson and Tyson Chandler parting ways during the season by trade or buyout.
Jamal Crawford was the oldest at 38.
The team was too young for a first-year coach. The Suns fired Kokoskov after one season.
The 2025-26 Suns are very comparable in age.
They only have three players who are at least 30 in Royce O’Neale, Grayson Allen and Nigel Hayes-Davis. O’Neale is the oldest at 32.
Phoenix has eight players 23 or younger: Ryan Dunn, Koby Brea, Rasheer Fleming, CJ Huntley, Green, Williams, Ighodaro and Maluach, who is the youngest at 19.
These Suns also have a first-year head coach in Jordan Ott, who is 40.
Granted, Oklahoma City entered last season as the youngest team in the league with an average age of 24.148 and finished NBA champions, but the Thunder had the West’s best record the season before and are led by 2024-25 MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Youth may catch up with the Suns and lead to a historically bad season.
What could go wrong: Injuries
Green came to Phoenix having played all 82 regular-season games in his last two seasons with the Rockets.
That’s durability.
Then Green suffered a left hamstring strain in training camp with Phoenix and reaggravated it during the China trip. He will miss the season opener.
Green didn’t play in any of the preseason games.
Not good, but it’s still early.
Williams has a history of injuries to the foot, back, knee, ankle, and thumb, but is on schedule with the ramp-up plan for the season, as he’s now playing live 5-on-5 in practice.
Injuries are an unfortunate part of the game. Any one of significance who misses extended time will challenge Phoenix’s depth, which is relatively young.
What could go wrong:Â Play hard or else
The Suns are branding themselves as a team that plays with pace, hard, tough, aggressive and defends.
It certainly has resonated within the organization and has the fan base fired up, but that’s a hard style of play to maintain for an 82-game season.
It can be exhausting even for a young team.
The Suns have a challenging 12-game stretch from Nov. 21 to Dec. 23 in which they play the Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota, Houston and Golden State twice and Oklahoma City, Denver, San Antonio and Sacramento once.
The schedule provides tough tests before and after that gauntlet.
The West is brutal. Â
It’s one thing to have an intense, competitive spirit. It can help nullify weaknesses, but high-level talent is still required to win in the NBA.
Phoenix must win with effort, chemistry, game-plan execution and Booker balling out.
Any slippage in any layer of their value system, the Suns will have a long season.
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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