If nothing else, Mat Ishbia has stuck to his word. In March, when the Phoenix Suns were in a downward spiral, the owner told ESPN that they would “pivot and reload” around Devin Booker in the summer if they couldn’t salvage the season. Ishbia scoffed at the idea of trading Booker and rebuilding, saying it is “silly” and will “never happen.” And now, heading into Booker’s 11th year with the franchise, the star guard has a new, lucrative extension. Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, meanwhile, are gone.
Phoenix has definitely pivoted, and it has attempted to reload around its franchise player. Dillon Brooks, acquired in the Durant deal, will set the tone for what the team hopes will be a vastly improved defense. Jalen Green, also acquired in the Durant deal, will happily absorb much of the playmaking responsibility that previously fell to Durant, Beal and Tyus Jones. The Suns have two new, young centers (Mark Williams and No. 10 pick Khaman Maluach) and a new coach (Jordan Ott) tasked with putting the puzzle together. It’s not entirely clear where all of these moves leave them, but hey, they’re no longer the NBA’s most expensive, disappointing team.
The State of Play
Last year: They won eight of their first nine games under Mike Budenholzer, but you probably don’t remember that because Durant hurt his calf in the ninth game and the season went downhill from there. In January, Phoenix traded for Nick Richards, then sent its 2031 pick to the Jazz in exchange for three far less valuable picks. The Suns wanted Jimmy Butler, and, when trading for him proved impossible, they came close to trading Durant to Golden State. Durant didn’t like that idea, so the Warriors traded for Butler themselves and Phoenix’s big acquisition ended up being Cody Martin, whom the team acquired from Charlotte in a Jusuf Nurkic salary dump. As of mid-March, the Suns were still in position to make the play-in, but then they lost nine of their last 10 games to finish 36-46 and 11th in the West, with the fourth-worst defense in the league.
The offseason: Phoenix promptly waved goodbye to Budenholzer and lead executive James Jones. In his introductory press conference, new general manager Brian Gregory, who was an assistant coach at Michigan State University when Ishbia was a walk-on, used the words “alignment” and “aligned” a total of 27 times in 37 minutes. Before the draft, the Suns hired Ott, formerly an assistant coach with the Cavs, Lakers and Nets, and agreed to send Durant to the Rockets for Green, Brooks, the No. 10 pick and five second-rounders. After some more maneuvering, they came away from draft night with Maluach, Rasheer Fleming (No. 31) and Koby Brea (No. 41), plus Williams, who remains eligible for an extension. In July, they signed Booker to a two-year max extension, used the stretch provision on Beal, waived Martin’s non-guaranteed contract and claimed Jordan Goodwin off waivers. They also signed Nigel Hayes-Davis, who spent the last seven years playing in Europe and won EuroLeague Final Four MVP last season.
Las Vegas over/under: 31.5 wins, per BetMGM
The Conversation
Suns believer: Brian Gregory wasn’t the most popular hiring, but the Suns’ new general manager has done exactly what he was supposed to do. As soon as he arrived, Phoenix cut its crazy payroll, got younger and secured a long-term commitment from its franchise player. Getting the pick that became Khaman Maluach in the Kevin Durant trade was incredible work. Signing Nigel Hayes-Davis for the minimum and claiming Jordan Goodwin off waivers might be the two best under-the-radar moves that any NBA team made all summer. After underachieving for a couple of years, it’s going to be so nice to watch a Phoenix team full of guys who actually complement one another and can get stops.
Suns skeptic: Um, do you think Devin Booker and Jalen Green complement each other? And do you think that signing Booker to an extension that could pay him more than $70 million when he’s 33 years old was a good idea? I like Maluach as a prospect, but, considering what the Suns gave up to get Kevin Durant in 2023, it’s hard to get too excited about what they got from Houston. And if Maluach is the center of the future, why trade two first-round picks for Mark Williams? You can talk yourself into Hayes-Davis and Goodwin being difference-makers on the second unit, I guess, but I’m more interested in the big-picture plan here. Going the waive-and-stretch route with Bradley Beal was shortsighted, and now the front office is stuck trying to rebuild — wait, sorry, reload — while fielding a competitive enough team that Booker doesn’t feel like he’s wasting his prime. I would have just traded Booker and started over.
Suns believer: You know Booker has no interest in being traded, right? Maybe that’s because he remembers when the franchise was in a much worse place than it is now and he understands that you can turn things around quickly when you get a bit of momentum. In 2019-20, Monty Williams’ first year as coach, Phoenix was coming off a 19-win season. It was 26-39 when the world stopped in March 2020, but then it won eight straight games in the bubble, signed Chris Paul in the offseason and made the NBA Finals the next season. This is obviously not a Finals-caliber roster right now, but, if the Suns can just show they’re on an upward trajectory, they’ll accelerate the rebuild at the right time.
Suns skeptic: Paul joined a young team that had been built through the draft, with a few smart free-agent signings sprinkled in. This is a different mix, with a different cap sheet, operating under a different CBA. Green is expensive, Booker is extremely expensive and the front office has to work around Beal’s dead money for the next five years. And this time, getting on an upward trajectory won’t be easy. The defense should be better than it was last season, but I don’t see it being elite unless they play Dillon Brooks and Ryan Dunn heavy minutes together and Maluach develops extremely quickly. Offensively, they’re asking waaaaaay too much of Booker. If the no-PG look didn’t really work with him and Beal, why would it work with him and Green? I like Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale just fine, but Phoenix needs more playmakers in the worst way.
Suns believer: Two years ago, no-PG look didn’t “work” for a team that had championship aspirations. It’s not like the offense was bad! Booker is a fantastic playmaker, and he’s the perfect guy for Green to learn from. I don’t think Phoenix will have any problem initiating offense, and I’m optimistic that the team will actually get out and run from time to time this season. I’m sure the lockdown musical duo of Brooks & Dunn will play plenty of minutes together, but, with Allen, O’Neale and Hayes-Davis in the mix, Jordan Ott will do a lot of mixing and matching. I am not sure exactly what the rotation will look like, and I love that! Phoenix has interesting options now, and there has been a much-needed vibe shift.
Suns skeptic: Again, those are fine role players, assuming the improved 3-point shooting that Hayes-Davis showed overseas translates. It is unfair to Booker, though, to expect him to drag this group to the playoffs. Even the play-in is probably a stretch, given that the Suns aren’t in the East and they just swapped Durant and Beal for Brooks, Green and a 19-year-old. Sure, the vibes should be significantly better than they were last season, but that doesn’t mean the product will be.