NBA Execs Say Suns Had One of Worst Offseasons

The Phoenix Suns officially begin training camp this week with a team that looks completely different from years past.

Phoenix has no true star players around Devin Booker after trading away Kevin Durant and buying out Bradley Beal this summer, but will instead instead bank on player development and a new defensive identity to build off of for the future.

After finishing 36-46 last season, the Suns are predicted to do even worse in the 2025-26 season, although it remains unknown how new acquisitions such as Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and Mark Williams will fit in on the team.

With the big shift of going from stars to now stacking young players who have yet to show their full NBA potential, the Suns were rated as having the second-worst offseason in the league behind the New Orleans Pelicans after receiving four votes in this category in ESPN's NBA offseason survey that polled 20 coaches, scouts and executives.

"Whatever chance they may have had is gone now," one East executive said of Phoenix in the survey.

The Houston Rockets trading for Durant from the Suns received 11 votes and led the way as the best move of the offseason.

"Their deficiency in the playoffs was not having a go-to scorer," a West scout said, "and now they have Kevin Durant."

What Were Phoenix's Worst Offseason Moves?

This ranking of Phoenix having the worst offseason, especially after having such a down year already last season, begs the question of what moves were viewed as bad for Phoenix.

The waiving and stretching of Beal received three votes as the worst move of the offseason in the survey, while the trade for Williams got one vote.

Beal's buyout seemed inevitable after a very disappointing two-year campaign in Phoenix, although it is hard to stomach the Suns paying Beal $19.4 million in each of the next five seasons because of the stretch provision that will also continue to count toward their cap space.

The Suns gave up the No. 29 pick in this year's draft, as well as a 2029 least favorable pick between the Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves and Utah Jazz to the Charlotte Hornets for Williams.

This move is hard to critique, as both first-round picks are very late, and the Suns can hope that Williams solves the injury concerns that have followed him through his first three years in the league.

If Williams stays healthy, he is a very capable starting center, and if not, Phoenix has insurance with No. 10 pick Khaman Maluach and last year's starting center Nick Richards

Phoenix went all out on upgrading its center rotation after the struggles in that area over the last several seasons, and it will look forward to having several options throughout the year.

The Suns also added a ton of depth at the forward positions, which was also missing last year, but do have a clear lack of stars around Booker.

On paper, it's easy to say the Suns downgraded in overall talent, but they also severely underperformed the past two seasons and will try to reverse these results with this new iteration of the team.

Latest Phoenix Suns News