The season of giving ultimately involves some receiving, too. And if our local sports teams are giddy pre-teens this Christmas Day, what represents that PlayStation 5 under the tree?
It’s all relative.
The teams that have good things cookin’ like the Phoenix Suns, Arizona Wildcats men’s basketball team and Arizona State football will want that specific item to take them to the next level.
The Arizona Cardinals just want something foundational. The Diamondbacks could use several things, but what makes them most dangerous entering 2025?
The Cardinals must pick a clear direction
What could they want under the tree: A promise ring, because a ring means commitment
Call it 50-50 whether head coach Jonathan Gannon is around for 2026. Call it 60-40 that general manager Monti Ossenfort is around either.
Arizona has been hit hard by injuries in 2025, but as much as the bar was set for a playoff berth after a gracious rebuild period was allowed, the reality is that this team did not build a good enough NFL roster to compete. It took three years to find ourselves at that painful truth.
The issues are beyond Drew Petzing’s play-calls or a quarterback situation that may not include Kyler Murray moving forward.
What the Cardinals should want is a clear direction. Do they hit a harder reset and give Ossenfort or a new GM a chance to draft a quarterback of the future? Do they find a Daniel Jones/Sam Darnold type of reclamation project at quarterback and upgrade the roster, committing to building a winner immediately?
What the Cardinals can’t do is trade Murray, bring back Jacoby Brissett and return this same coaching staff with a sales pitch that a healthier roster and the quarterback change already made is enough to make a difference.
They need to commit to a direction that is very, very different from the plan the Ossenfort regime began with.
Do the Suns want a power forward or to stand pat?
What could they want under the tree: A playoff berth
It’s going to be an interesting path to determine if what the Suns have going is sustainable across an 82-game schedule, but they’re in a strong position entering the new year, especially if guard Jalen Green can inject some scoring punch to the lineup that we expect.
AZCentral.com’s Duane Rankin reports Phoenix is eyeing power forwards on the trade market. That would give the roster some more versatility, but whom exactly they would target isn’t especially clear. Yes, the Suns had interest in Jonathan Kuminga in the offseason, but his new deal signed with Golden State doesn’t exactly line up with what Phoenix had in mind.
Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant is another big-name power forward who could ultimately be traded, but getting off one of Royce O’Neale’s or Grayson Allen’s contracts to make the money work in any situation would be enough of a shakeup on Phoenix’s end to wonder if general manager Brian Gregory should just stand pat.
If they do keep the roster relatively together, it still seems realistic that this is a playoff team. Even a play-in berth is a good enough gift to show fans the Suns are on the right path. And to give the rebuilt roster more competitive time together, looking toward 2026-27.
Arizona State got the best gift before Christmas. But what’s next?
What could they want under the tree: A starting quarterback
Kenny Dillingham isn’t going anywhere, but he will have to deal with a roster undergoing significant change after he put together a strong bit of continuity spanning the past two winning seasons.
Finding a Grade A signal-caller to replace Sam Leavitt would sure give ASU some stability, even if the defense and offensive skill positions have turnover.
Is that internal with Cam Dyer or incoming freshman Jake Fette? It seems unlikely.
Dillingham said his program will “100%” be seeking a portal quarterback.
It’s not clear what quarterbacks in the transfer portal could be had for what the Sun Devils can offer, but just looking at the Big 12 paints a picture that there’s tons of talent to be had. Rocco Becht (Iowa State), Josh Hoover (TCU) and Brendan Sorsby (Cincinnati) are among the top signal-callers looking for better opportunities, along with Leavitt. But not everyone can be LSU’s quarterback.
Some good talent will slip into ASU’s range of affordability. A lot is left to play out in terms of open QB jobs in college, NFL Draft decisions, portal entries and even coaching hires.
The Diamondbacks might be hoping to nail the stocking-stuffers
What could they want under the tree: A closer
The D-backs are seeking clarity at third base. They don’t have a starting-caliber everyday first baseman, either. The outfield isn’t exactly well-rounded because of Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s injury and the defensive aces who haven’t developed behind the plate. Although there are five starting pitchers in theory, Arizona will continue to see if there is more starting depth that can be added to brace for inevitable injuries throughout the season.
But if we had to pick one thing that manager Torey Lovullo has been wanting — and wanting for several years — it’d be a closer.
How easily the bullpen order of operations fit in 2023, when a midseason trade gave Arizona closer Paul Sewald, cannot be lost on the skipper.
Baseball has gone away from tying a bullpen to one guy — the Fernando Rodney experience in 2017 and Brad Boxberger season in 2018 are days of the past — but the D-backs could use any sort of stability to give Lovullo an easier time creating a standard order of operations. Injuries to Justin Martinez and A.J. Puk complicate matters, considering both the money and future projection of their roles.
But starting off the year strong would be bolstered by locking down a solid plan for the back end of the bullpen.
Arizona’s blue blood status is slowly fading
What could they want under the tree: A Final Four
When does it become too long, when a college football or basketball program should no longer consider itself a blue blood in its respective sport?
Tommy Lloyd has kept recruiting juice in Tucson strong and has three Sweet 16 runs to show for it. Yes, last year’s Sweet 16 elimination by Duke and Cooper Flagg was a bit of bad matchup luck.
But the Wildcats are more than a decade removed from their last Elite Eight appearance in 2015. Arizona’s last Final Four appearance was a quarter-century ago.
Gen Z probably does not even understand the pain of the team — with one of the best volume shooters in college basketball history having a poorly timed bad game — blowing a 15-point lead in four minutes against Illinois during the 2005 Elite Eight.
Arizona’s talent is there. Lloyd’s team can go eight deep, has a series of freshmen who have time to grow up over a challenging Big 12 schedule, a veteran point guard in Jaden Bradley, the size to out-physical anyone and enough shooting talent. It will be hard to find an excuse not to make a deep tournament run this year.
