The Phoenix Suns continue to be one of the NBA’s feel-good stories in 2025-26 as they defy expectations.
The latest high point was a thrilling 108-105 win over the juggernaut Oklahoma City Thunder on Jan. 4, which followed league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander heaping praise on former teammate Dillon Brooks.
It’s a good time to be a Suns fan, but those same fans shouldn’t expect representatives of their favorite franchise to be frontrunners for year-end awards, at least according to ESPN.
In a recent piece breaking down the NBA awards watch, ESPN’s Kevin Pelton listed two Suns representatives in the “long shot” category for various awards: head coach Jordan Ott and breakout guard Collin Gillespie.
ESPN lists Jordan Ott as a ‘long shot’ to win Coach of the Year
For Coach of the Year honors, Pelton lists Detroit Pistons and former Cleveland Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff as the favorite.
Detroit has essentially been a better version of the Suns in the Eastern Conference as a team entering the year with low-to-no expectations only to shatter them with a winning record into January. The Pistons at the time of writing are 26-9, placing them as the No. 1 seed in the East, three games ahead of the New York Knicks.
“Historically, Coach of the Year has tended to reward a combination of exceeding expectations and overall team success,” Pelton writes. “That naturally points to Bickerstaff.”
Fair enough!
Ott’s culture shift in The Valley has led to a massive improvement, chiefly on the defensive side of the ball. Entering the new year, the Suns led the league in steals per game ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder and notched a defensive rating that put them No. 12 in the league after finishing 28th in that category a season ago.
Ott’s Coach of the Year resume is no doubt strong, but the upstart Pistons under Bickerstaff will be tough to beat during awards season — especially if they maintain the top seed in the Eastern Conference into postseason play.
Still, Pelton provided a hat tip to Ott, noting how stout his coach of the year case is to this point: “Nobody has outperformed expectations this season more than the Suns, but naturally, that's a bit easier to do for a team that was in the lottery last year. Still, a Phoenix playoff berth would make Ott a strong contender.”
Collin Gillespie also considered a ‘long shot’ for Sixth Man of the Year
Despite Gillespie making his own case to be considered in the Sixth Man of the Year conversation — something I wrote about in November — the odds-on favorite for the award from that month is ESPN’s favorite as well.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. of the Miami Heat is Pelton’s SMOY favorite, despite slipping to third in his odds to win over at Bet MGM (+700) behind Nickeil Alexander-Walker (+340) of the Atlanta Hawks and Anthony Black (+550) of the Orlando Magic.
Pelton notes that those other contenders may not qualify for SMOY at season’s end if they continue to get run in the starting lineups for their respective teams.
Gillespie, too, has been thrust into the Suns’ starting lineup in recent weeks due to injuries sidelining guards Jalen Green and Grayson Allen. He’s now started 16 of his 35 games played.
But when Green ultimately comes back healthy, there’s a good chance Gillespie will be relegated to the sixth man role once again. Given his game-to-game consistency and ability to contribute in a plethora of statistical categories, Gillespie shouldn’t be ruled out of the SMOY conversation just yet.