The Phoenix Suns’ perpetual roster turnover must end

Connecting to the players on the roster breeds attention – and raises ticket sales

In college hoops, fans of programs like Kentucky and Duke will tolerate this as long as they are in contention for the Final Four every year. However, there is a large contingency of otherwise loyal fans, who grow frustrated about the merry-go-round of players each season.

Fans of colleges like Arizona State, whose university can’t to recruit five-star recruits with the same consistency as Kentucky, go into every season knowing their roster well.

This familiarity helps keep fan interest piqued. The Phoenix Suns could use a few more four-year players.

If nothing else, parents would like to buy their kid a jersey without fear it will be outdated next season.

For better or worse, fans often feel a tribal allegiance to their sports programs. You hear teams all the time talk about how they are a family.

When the Suns lose half their tribe or half their family every year, the folks left behind might feel like they’re just some dudes wearing purple for no reason.

Attendance numbers back this up as well. The Phoenix Suns ranked in the bottom third in attendance four of the last five years, bottoming out with a ranking of 29 last season.

Granted, losing doesn’t help this either, but having players on the team that fans know would incentive ticket sales a bit.

It is paramount this level of roster turnover must end if the Phoenix Suns expect to see any sort of long-term success.

And if the organization insists turnover is a central part of the strategy, at least do a fan promotion where the first 10,000 attendees get a free one.

Preferably Apple.