Will the Suns win more games this year than last? (2026-27 edition)
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OP
OP
almost wish i was a betting man
Ouchie-Z-Clown
I'm better than Mulli!
I think this ignores development.
Gillespie played big minutes for the first time in his career last year. He knows better the rigor now. Bodies adapt. Small incremental improvement likely.
Dunn and Oso another year in, another year with pro weight and nutritionists. Another year of physical and skill development. Incremental improvement’s hopefully likely.
Fleming and Maluach both significantly improved physically and still growing and developing. Enhancing their skills materially. We likely see BIG, impactful growth and improvement for the team here.
Miles bridges Brings a physical component this team lacked last year. Improvement.
Jalen green likely won’t miss as many games. Likely improvement. Could be nothing all the way to big improvement. I think this is the biggest variance variable.
Loss of two very good high volume shooters is somewhat mitigated by addition of kennard. So this is a small incremental step backwards potentially.
Ott going into a second year as head coach. I’d expect growth there too.
In the aggregate I would expect this team to be measurably better. But none to an obvious addition of a star. But rather the aggregation of multiple smaller elements. Yes, all has to go right for those to align, but nothing I listed above is crazy.
EDIT: and that forgets peat. He’s a wildcard. I suspect he will be up and down this year, but I’m thinking he adds a little spice to the recipe.
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Yuma
Suns are my Kryptonite!
I agree with ALL of this.
Then I have the devil on the other shoulder whispering, the Western Conference just got tougher. SA has another year under their belt in development. Same with OKC. Stuff always goes wrong we don't see coming. Like Jalen Green being unhealthy for the first time in his career. Guys wore out at the end of the season because Ott played them too many minutes over the course of the season. Las Vegas odds makers have the Suns winning LESS games this season. The LV odds makers are usually pretty astute.
I just keep going back and fourth on wether they improve, stay put, or decline.
Ouchie-Z-Clown
I'm better than Mulli!
Things like injuries are largely unforeseeable. As for OKC and San Antonio getting better - they were already way outta our weight class so that silent have much bearing on our record. The warriors are aging. I’m unsure what the wolves will look like. The rockets have whatshisname point guard coming but KD a year older. Lakers likely step back. Blazers who knows with a new coach and terrible ownership. To a degree the other teams are a crapshoot.
PHI PHX PHAN
Rookie
This pretty much echoes my sentiments as a whole. I personally believe that had Green not missed such a significant amount of time that they likely win closer to 50 games last year.
I'm admittedly higher on Green as a player than others but with that aside;I am even more excited about how this roster has been transformed in such a short span of time.
We have some promising young talent, draft picks, and a more balanced roster.
I'm not afraid to go on record and say we win 48+
Raindog
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I'm not nearly as sold on some of this as you are.
- Ott really looked more lost as the season went on, so I'm still not sure what we have there.
- I'll be surprised if Dunn and Oso get much playing time, and it will likely be a bad sign if they do.
- One could reasonably expect that Fleming should be improved, but how much run is he going to get with Bridges on board now? I can very well see Ott limiting him once again.
- Peat might turn out to be something eventually, but he's going to see even more limited minutes because of the aforementioned. Its pretty evident at this point that Ott doesn't trust rookies or otherwise less experienced players.
- Maluach is the main young guy who should be getting more minutes, and is likely to because Williams will very likely once again be unreliable over the course of the year. I just pray that Ott doesn't stymie his development by giving Oso his minutes.
- Gillespie and Goodwin will likely get good rotation minutes, but their roles are still going to be limited unless Booker and/or Green can't stay healthy... and both are going to dominate the ball when they are playing.
Like I said, I think the Suns will do okay as long as they stay healthy but that's mostly just because Bridges bumps the starting lineup over what it would have been with last year's group. But in reality, the best thing for the development of the guys you mentioned would have been keeping the same group from last year and increasing the roles of all the youngsters you mention. The Suns clearly did not opt to do that, which tells me that they probably aren't intent on emphasizing the development of their younger players this season either.
My concern is do they have enough scoring. Booker usually gets injured and sits out a couple of weeks. Brooks tried the time machine back to his early days as a scorer. Then we have Green. Will he pass the ball if Booker is not on the floor? My hope is that Bridges can average 18+. Grayson averaged 16.5 and Royce 10. Not sure Goody and Collin can add that much more. How much of a leap can Maluach and Fleming make? Kennard averages about 10 over his career. Maybe it is enough in total.
Regardless I think we struggled getting good shots towards the end of the season. Anxious to see how that carries over. I pray the added Bridges changes a lot and that Mark Williams is well rested.
Regardless I think we struggled getting good shots towards the end of the season. Anxious to see how that carries over. I pray the added Bridges changes a lot and that Mark Williams is well rested.
I'm going to bet the over. But it could go south like the Cardinals. Bridges can score, I've seen him put up over 30 when ball hog Ball was hurt. When the Hornets needed a bucket Bridges had the ball.
Yuma
Suns are my Kryptonite!
Arguably Houston would have won more games if the PG was healthy. They should be tough this season.
Ouchie-Z-Clown
I'm better than Mulli!
Agreed. Van vleet is good. I don’t expect us to come anywhere close to them. But I do to the lakers.
OP
OP
no idea what to write about this morning - i'm just gonna free ball it but atleast people know what to half ass expect when it comes to my garble - can't say the same for the nba
i've seen so many so called predictions ranging from 30 to 55 games - some say the suns are taking a step back (wtf?) - others have us taking a giant leap forward
two topics keep dominating the conversation - how much have the suns improved and how much others have - namely the wolves and lukas
one of the most impressive features of last year's run was how quickly the suns found chemistry - the growing pains lasted less than 10 games - next thing you know we were on a roll
that's how it goes tho - when you're hot you're hot- when you're not you're not - the hot team always wins - temperature beats talent same way rock beats scissors - i don't make the rules it's science
what i'm saying is nobody knows how well melo will gel in minnesota or how great the great white hopes will be in los angeles - rebuilds of this magnitude are always an experiment
the lukas had no choice but the wolves just blew it all up - regardless that's two teams who were barely ahead of us
i don't see what the suns did as being a rebuild - our nucleus remains - we'll miss grayson but we were already used to that - we'll miss oneale but logic suggests we'll benefit more with miles
the suns big experiment is adding power forward(s) to their repertoire - that's basically it and ott can move away from it anytime he sits miles bridges - then we become the 2025-26 suns again
atleast that's my hypothesis - phoenix is deeper but not unrecognizable like the wolves or lukas
the kids might run wild in minnesota - those are some wild ass kids and los angeles could very well end up being hilarious
i think a couple teams behind us improved but i like our improvements better because again - i think the suns' chemistry will remain intact
if the suns get hot they have more than enough talent to run with anyone - it's all about getting and staying hot - bottling the lightning - keeping the killer instinct and maintaining the vibe
we were too young as a team last year - okc turned up the heat and we simply melted - good thing is the suns have now been heat treated and are now familiar with the pain of losing as a family - and watching the playoffs from home
that's a lot of tackling fuel for a team that cares
i've seen so many so called predictions ranging from 30 to 55 games - some say the suns are taking a step back (wtf?) - others have us taking a giant leap forward
two topics keep dominating the conversation - how much have the suns improved and how much others have - namely the wolves and lukas
one of the most impressive features of last year's run was how quickly the suns found chemistry - the growing pains lasted less than 10 games - next thing you know we were on a roll
that's how it goes tho - when you're hot you're hot- when you're not you're not - the hot team always wins - temperature beats talent same way rock beats scissors - i don't make the rules it's science
what i'm saying is nobody knows how well melo will gel in minnesota or how great the great white hopes will be in los angeles - rebuilds of this magnitude are always an experiment
the lukas had no choice but the wolves just blew it all up - regardless that's two teams who were barely ahead of us
i don't see what the suns did as being a rebuild - our nucleus remains - we'll miss grayson but we were already used to that - we'll miss oneale but logic suggests we'll benefit more with miles
the suns big experiment is adding power forward(s) to their repertoire - that's basically it and ott can move away from it anytime he sits miles bridges - then we become the 2025-26 suns again
atleast that's my hypothesis - phoenix is deeper but not unrecognizable like the wolves or lukas
the kids might run wild in minnesota - those are some wild ass kids and los angeles could very well end up being hilarious
i think a couple teams behind us improved but i like our improvements better because again - i think the suns' chemistry will remain intact
if the suns get hot they have more than enough talent to run with anyone - it's all about getting and staying hot - bottling the lightning - keeping the killer instinct and maintaining the vibe
we were too young as a team last year - okc turned up the heat and we simply melted - good thing is the suns have now been heat treated and are now familiar with the pain of losing as a family - and watching the playoffs from home
that's a lot of tackling fuel for a team that cares
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Lakers sill play bad defense. OKC will miss Dort. Sun need Booker to be a all-star. If he is not your counting on Dillon, Green and Bridges. I have faith in those three not so much in Book. Make or break year for Booker if he is average the Suns are F- UP
