Suns 2025-2026 Season Discussion

Hoop Head

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Love Chuck.
Love that question too, if he's mad at facts.
I’m like, ‘Wait a minute, they didn’t throw you away. We traded five or six number one draft picks. Then you wanted Bradley Beal. We went out and got Bradley Beal. We lost in the first round the first year. The next year with you, we got swept. And then this year, we got a better record than the Rockets, and you still mad? What are you mad at? Facts? We’re better without you. Don’t get mad. Those are just facts,” Barkley added.
 

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Hoop Head

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you know what's also bad for defenses.... offensive rebounds. Im done with Oneal, he is a chucker and his defense is terrible and he don't board. and to top it off, he is a TO waiting to happen

Odd take. He turns it over less than Grayson, Collin, Dillon, or Book and is our #2 rebounder on the defensive side behind Mark Williams. He isn't a traditional big but he plays a stretch 4 shooter on offense and rebounds well for his size on D, with a solid defensive rating also. It's better than Brooks and Grayson's. He doesnt do a lot but if you watch him exclusively he's almost always doing something positive or playing within the system.
 

Adrian

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With all that said, the Suns now have an opportunity to really show who they are. They’ve been cruising, and, despite losing back-to-back games, are still eight games over .500.

But Phoenix also has a pretty busy week ahead, with three games in between now and the next Booker update. Two of those games will come against quality opponents — with the Pistons Thursday and Cavs Friday (sorry, Nets).
 
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An interesting look at how valuable Collin Gillespie has been to the Suns.

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Chaplin

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Or fighting with superstars.

Actually, I'll give Brooks this: at least since he joined the Suns, he doesn't give opponents low blows like Draymond Green does.
For me the only thing he doesn't handle well is his temper. Every time I see him yell at the ref after a missed shot I think he's going to get a T. Doesn't happen as much as I though considering how demonstrative he is.

He's not a cheap shot artist like Draymond. Brooks doesn't start much with guys not named Lebron, but he damned sure tries to finish it.
 

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How come they never call you Maluach and Brea? Are they really that bad?

Maluach has been progressing in the G-League. They don't need him on the main roster and can take their time bringing him along. Best for all involved.

Brea is raw and a shooter without the ability to create his own shot, even in the GLeague. He needs another skill to make it.
 

Covert Rain

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Well, thinking of Draymond Green gave me a trade idea. Because Draymond Green is now old and he has been known to fight with his own teammates to the detriment of his team, I have heard rumors that he is on the decline. Therefore, I propose that the Suns try to acquire Green, offering Grayson Allen, Ryan Dunn, and Nick Richards. I don't know if the Warriors would want the trade, but my rationale is that Draymond Green fits the culture the Suns are building. On offense, he's Dennis Rodman; but on defense he is a much smarter, more experienced, and more accomplished version of Dillon Brooks. I would certainly give up Allen, Dunn and Richards for him. The salaries fit; Green makes slightly more than they do put together.

And perhaps the Warriors might be convinced to give up Green for the youth and defensive potential of Dunn, because face it--the Warriors won't win a championship this season and probably won't win one again with their aging stars. They were probably finished as a contender when they traded Klay Thompson.

Don't I care that yes, he's a cheap-shot artist, a groin puncher? Not that much, since he would be doing it to Suns opponents. What about his propensity for assaulting teammates? I'm reasonably confident that he's not stupid enough to do it again. He knows he harmed his team by assaulting Jordan Poole.
Hell to the no. Green isn't the player he once was and that would be giving up two key players off the bench that bring energy and timely 3 point shooting. Grayson has hit so many clutch and timley 3's for the Suns this year. If this was Green from 5 years ago OK. He turns 36 this year and comes with a 25 million cap hit by himself. Not to mention if he continues on the decline, he has a 2026-2027 player option which escalates to 27 million. Which means you could be stuck with a declining player, a 27-million-dollar cap hit and a shortened bench.

At this stage of his career, this would be an epically bad trade.
 

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Warms my heart seeing Barkley saying "we" when talking about the Suns. Ishbia bringing former players back into the fold has been great to see.

Cant agree enough. Felt like a child of divorce back when Sarver was serving Chuck cold nachos with pickles. It's great to see the relationship mended with him and other old school guys.
 

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Ehh, because it took DeAndre Ayton off the Suns' hands?

I was thinking that Ayton is absolutely antithetical to the spirit of this team. Surely it would be worse, not better, it it had him.

They took Ayton but gave us Nurkic in return, which ended up as a different sort of headache. Nassir Little was also in that deal and his dead money is still on our payroll. The Portland deal with Ayton was a wash for the most part. They ended up with Camara so Id say they ended up slightly ahead in the end.

One of my best friends lives in Oregon and is a diehard Blazer fan. We have talked about Jerami Grant a lot and I think he'd ultimately frustrate us. He's an overpaid and older version of Kuminga in Golden State. He has talent but unless he's bought in then he's not worth his salary. He has bought in before but ultimately he really needs to be a in a perfect situation to thrive. I don't think that's here given the amount of shots and role he'd demand.
 

Adrian

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The world of sports is fueled by surprise. Indiana won a championship in college football. Sam Darnold is in the Super Bowl. Novak Djokovic reached the Australian Open final at age 38.

The Suns are in a different category. They are more shock than surprise.

 

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Let us discuss playoff opponents, just for fun. If you don't yet accept that this team will make the playoffs, you look ridiculous and I don't know what to say to you. Anyway, who would you hope the Suns' first-round opponent is? I believe it will be either the Nougats or the Rocks, neither of which the Suns have had any success against. I have no reason yet to suppose the Suns are good enough to upset the Nougats or Rocks in the playoffs. That's the only thing holding me back from expecting a "we believe" playoff run.
Basketball reference has the Suns' most likely positioning as the 6th seed (though it's pretty close) and the most likely opponent as Houston. https://www.basketball-reference.com/friv/playoff_prob.html

They have it as 96% to make the playoffs, with almost 80% as a top 6.

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Adrian

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First I’ve got to thank the team… I’ve had statistically some better years where I didn’t make the game… it all comes back to team success,” Booker said during the Suns broadcast on Sunday.
 

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Adrian

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PHOENIX – Devin Booker has been the face of the Phoenix Suns for nearly a decade, but his league-wide accolades haven’t always followed due to the team’s spotty success.
 

Adrian

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“It’s so different. It’s not really comparable to last year’s team. I was a part of it. So I can’t just say last year’s team was wrong and this one is right. I was obviously part of the problem, but I feel like the group that we found, the connectiveness that we found, the system JO (coach Jordan Ott) has with the personnel that we have, everything has just clicked so far and feels like everything is going to get better,” Allen said.
 
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