Five signs this season has been a success

PHOENIX, AZ - FEBRUARY 24: Alex Len #21 and Devin Booker #1 of the Phoenix Suns before the game against the Portland Trail Blazers on February 24, 2018 at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images)
PHOENIX, AZ - FEBRUARY 24: Alex Len #21 and Devin Booker #1 of the Phoenix Suns before the game against the Portland Trail Blazers on February 24, 2018 at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Losing around 60 games in a season can easily be considered an unmitigated disaster for a franchise, especially when coming on the heels of losing 58 and 59 games the two seasons prior. But for this young Suns team, there are many reasons to chalk this season up as a success.

PHOENIX, AZ – FEBRUARY 24: Alex Len #21 and Devin Booker #1 of the Phoenix Suns before the game against the Portland Trail Blazers on February 24, 2018 at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images)
PHOENIX, AZ – FEBRUARY 24: Alex Len #21 and Devin Booker #1 of the Phoenix Suns before the game against the Portland Trail Blazers on February 24, 2018 at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images) /

The Suns are in a full-on, unarguable, re-build mode that has at times been both fun and painful to witness over the past few years. Although the team has suffered through over 170 losses and counting over the past three seasons, had three different head coaches, and been blown out, so. many. times… the 2017-18 season can actually be categorized, in many was, as a success. Granted they weren’t even anywhere near a playoff run, but all things considered, there are enough reasons to say that 2017-18 wasn’t really aren’t all that bad.

Unlike so many other teams in history who have lost as the Suns have recently, they actually have a very nice core that they are building around with the potential to add more young and dynamic talent. They aren’t saddled with multiple albatross contracts that will be near impossible to trade off without sharing a young asset in the deal, and hey, they still play in Phoenix. Many professional athletes call Arizona home in the offseason, and if there is enough of a core to see potential with, there certainly can be the possibility that General Manager Ryan McDonough finally reels a big one in.

I’m certainly not going to blow smoke anywhere you don’t want it and claim that 60ish losses are something to be proud of. But when considering the possibilities of other awful outcomes, where the Phoenix Suns sit today is not all that bad.

In fact, you might even call the 2017-18: a success.