In their sweep at the hands of the Thunder, the Suns became the first team to be eliminated in the 2026 NBA Playoffs, and the only team to be swept in Round 1.
After barely making it out of the play-in as the West's seventh seed, they went on to be dominated by the league's best, showing the gap between where the current team is and where championship contenders lie.
There was a lot that went wrong in that series for the Suns, mainly the injuries, but in reality, they put up about as good an effort as one could've hoped. That's just how much better the Thunder are. After a series like that, full focus needs to be on what it will take to reach that level.
Find the right partner for Devin Booker
It was a nightmarish first season in Phoenix for Jalen Green, playing just 32 games in the regular season and averaging 17.8 points on 51.6 TS%. He saved their season in the play-in, but reverted to inefficiency in the playoffs, averaging 21.8 points on 47.4 TS% in the Round 1 sweep.
After all that went wrong, it's hard to judge Jalen Green for a season like that. Still, there's enough of a sample size over his career to know the type of player he is, and that may not be the right fit next to Devin Booker.
He's still just 24-years-old, but entering his sixth season with small improvements to his game over the years, it's hard to imagine anything changes now. However, his young age and minimal contractual obligations might be enough to sell a team on taking a chance on an uber-talented but flawed player.
That would be the Suns' opportunity to pivot towards a proven star talent. With limited assets, expectations can't be too lofty, but there are options. It could be Ja Morant, for example, who is bound to leave Memphis this offseason for a low price. Phoenix will need to make a high-risk, high-reward move in hopes of building the right long-term partnership with Devin Booker.
Get younger and bigger
When looking at Oklahoma City's roster, what stands out is its youth, size, and homegrown talent. Shai was sent there following his rookie season and became the superstar he is now. Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren were both drafted there and became All-Stars. They turned many of their guys into reliable role players themselves, like Ajay Mitchell, Cason Wallace, and Lu Dort.
The Suns have started that process, like when they turned another team's trash into their treasure with the signings of Collin Gillespie and Jordan Goodwin. Their young players have promise, too, as rookies Khaman Maluach and Rasheer Fleming showed flashes of becoming NBA talents, and sophomore Oso Ighodaro seemed to be one already.
However, they forfeited much of their ability to field homegrown talent through the draft in the trades for Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, which means now's the Suns' time to replenish some of those assets by selling high on aging veterans, like 30-year-old Grayson Allen and 32-year-old Royce O'Neale.
Allen and O'Neale were crucial to the Suns' success this season, but they're the type of smaller, unathletic, and older players that the league is trending away from. Teams will certainly hold value for them, but for the Suns, they're more of what the team needs less of.
In turn, selling high on them allows Phoenix to invest in current and future young talent. It opens the door for guys like Rasheer Fleming and Ryan Dunn to step up, who are the tall, athletic wings this team needs more of. It could also provide the opportunity to fetch some late first-round draft picks to add to that.
It's easy to say the team needs to trade for a star and get younger and bigger; it's not easy to execute that, especially in an effort to get better in the near future. Yet, this is the offseason challenge that Brian Gregory and Suns management face, and a crucial one at that.
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