Suns’ 50th season will be relevantly irrelevant

30 days until the fun begins.

30 days until the season that will be the 50th for the franchise kicks off in Ernest with the start of training camp for the 2017-18 season.

30 days until #SUNSat50 Training Camp begins. I. Can't. Wait. #WeArePHX #Suns
— Valley of the Suns (@ValleyoftheSuns) August 27, 2017

For some fan base’s, anticipation for a season is developed because of the expectation at a run for the playoffs. Or the belief that their team is a legitimate contender for a Championship. They maybe acquired a star player through trade or free agency that makes every game must see TV. Something even as simple as having a high-octane offense that means every game is guaranteed excitement will drive anticipation because win or lose, you just know that every game will be fun to watch.

For the Suns this season, they really don’t have any of that. The rush of anticipation that fans have is for the excitement of what the future has in store, not the present. They’re neither Championship contenders, nor are they even in the hunt to make the playoffs. They don’t have a superstar (yet) and are not an over-the-top high scoring team.

The thing that makes this season worth paying close attention to is the specialness of the season as it is the 50th in history of the franchise. For 49 years the Phoenix Suns have been in the Valley, and (almost unbelievably) they are on the cusp of their 50th.

Yes, the expectation of Devin Booker reaching another level in his game will drive interest – but it’s at the mercy of the season schedule, and not necessarily something to expect to see for all 82 games.

Yes, watching Josh Jackson, Marquese Chriss, and Dragan Bender each attempt to prove their worth as high lottery picks will be interesting over stretches, and certainly Josh Jackson may be a dark horse for Rookie of the Year. Yet, like Booker, will we see noticeable growth and overall consistently play in every game of the year? Not likely. We may see sparks of future stardom for a stretchs, but eventually their age and inexperience will come to bring their play back down a bit.

That all being said, each of those reasons, and more, make for a real and undeniable level of anticipation that makes being excited for a team likely to lose over 50 games worth watching.

This season will, by all intents and purposes, be relevantly irrelevant.

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If everything goes to plan, or at least what we expect the plan to be, and the Suns work hard to grow but regularly come up short in the box score, then 50 years from now, all people will read about or recall is that this was another season in a rebuilding process where the franchise lost a lot, but came one step closer to their Championship aspirations.

Irrelevant on paper, but relevant towards taking the next step.

So as we inch one step closer to the beginning of practices, games, and box scores, Suns fans can look towards this season with a pleasant perspective: we have a lot to look forward too in 2017-18, even if historically it won’t seem like much happened.