If you conducted a poll on what the Phoenix Suns' record would be through the first quarter of the season, odds are that every non-Suns fan wouldn't have guessed the team would be 14-10, seventh in the West. They've strung together wins on the court (and their biggest one could come tonight), but the real win came in an off-court move the team made over the summer.
Phoenix fired Mike Budenholzer after the team failed to make it to the play-in tournament last season. Rather than hire another veteran head coach, the Suns sought a first-time head coach. The decision came down to Jordan Ott or Johnnie Bryant, both assistants with the Cavaliers. Phoenix chose Ott to be its next head coach, and he's been excellent since he stepped in.
It's evident that the Suns' players, led by Devin Booker, who was part of the head coach search, want to play for Ott. It says a lot that a team made up of veterans and young players has fully bought into a first-time coach.
Phoenix is playing with a level of grit that was nonexistent in the past couple of seasons, so Mat Ishbia wasn't kidding when he said that this season would be different. The Suns lead the league in steals per game (10.8) and are fourth in the league in offensive rebound percentage (34.3%).
The team also has a 113.4 defensive rating, a 115.5 offensive rating, and a 2.1 net rating, all of which are just outside the top ten in the league at 12. Last season, Phoenix had one of the worst defenses (27th) and net ratings (23rd) in the NBA. The Suns were also one of the league's worst offensive rebounding teams, averaging 7.2 steals per game, third-lowest in the NBA.
Jordan Ott is the head coach the Suns needed
Ott isn't the sole reason behind Phoenix's improvements; acquiring defensive menace Dillon Brooks in the Kevin Durant trade helped, as did trading for the team's leading rebounder in Mark Williams, but how he's led the Suns in a short time gives fans hope that no one felt in the past couple of years.
He took over a dismal situation and helped transform the culture. For the first time since the end of the 2021-22 season, Phoenix won't fire its head coach at the end of the season. The Suns went from Monty Williams, who spent four seasons in the desert, to Frank Vogel, who lasted one season, and Budenholzer, who also lasted one season.
The coaching carousel ends with Ott. He is the coach to lead Phoenix forward. It's nice to sit back and enjoy watching the Suns play again.