The Phoenix Suns have a vastly improved roster and a new coach, giving plenty of reason for optimism. But things could be rough to start the season.
Last year, the Suns finished dead last in the NBA, going 21-61. It was a season packed with injuries, coach firings, Twitter drama, and a lot of losing. But soon after the end of the season, things started getting better.
The Suns won the draft lottery and eventually went on to take Deandre Ayton, who should be their franchise center going forward. After rumblings of an unhappy Devin Booker, he finally signed a max contract extension. The team landed Igor Kokoskov as its new head coach. His addition is a step in the right direction in regards to helping the Suns develop their young players.
After selecting Ayton first overall, the Suns moved back up to take Mikal Bridges, an NBA ready 3 and D prototypical wing. They also took Elie Okobo to lead off the second round, a point guard some saw as high as a mid first rounder. They signed veteran wing Trevor Ariza to a one year deal, and they return Brandon Knight from an ACL injury.
Other than the slew of new pieces, the Phoenix Suns also bring back an extremely young core that should be significantly improved this season. Devin Booker can hopefully make the jump from very good to great. Josh Jackson figures to be much better, picking up where he left off to finish up last year. T.J. Warren, Dragan Bender, and Marquese Chriss should be better too.
But all the reasons to be optimistic the Suns will improve are also reasons to think they might start out slow.
A new coach means a whole new system, and a coach who has never been an NBA head coach before has his own challenges. Rookie contributors means dealing with all the ups and downs that come with rookies. Young players mean mental errors. New pieces mean learning to play with a whole new group.
Trevor Ariza, on top of having to learn everyone’s style, will also be looked up to as the team’s veteran leader, a role he’s never fully assumed before. He’ll have to figure that out as the season goes on.
Although their schedule isn’t too bad to start the season, the Phoenix Suns still won’t be favored to win many of those games. Because of everything surrounding the team, it’s likely they get off to a pretty slow start. But that’s okay. All the reasons to be confident going into the season shouldn’t be forgotten if the team starts slow. The Suns are still an improved team.