Suns’ Biggest Key to Success in 2025-26 Season

The Phoenix Suns don't have much expectations heading into the 2025-26 season, but do have a lot of young players who could lead to them becoming a surprise team in the Western Conference.

New coach Jordan Ott will look to utilize this young talent to best fit a new system the Suns want to have that will likely emphasize tough-nose defense and fast-paced offense to adapt to the modern NBA.

Phoenix brought in several new faces this offseason, but one player in particular stands out in how successful the Suns can be in a new era without Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal.

Suns' Biggest Determining Factor of Success in 2025-26 Season

The Suns took a big swing on trading for Jalen Green from the Houston Rockets as part of the return for Durant, and he immediately becomes their No. 2 option behind Devin Booker after a disappointing end to his Houston career where he struggled mightily in his first playoff appearance.

After being Houston's leading scorer in the regular season, Green only scored more than 12 points one time in the Rockets' first-round series loss to the Houston Rockets, shooting below 30% from 3 in the seven games.

The Suns will need Green to get back on track offensively next season.

Outside of Green and Booker, the Suns don't have any players who are known to create their own shot, so a lot of the scoring, as well as the offense in general, will run through this new backcourt.

There is one glaring problem in teaming up Green and Booker in the fact that they both are shooting guards, especially given that a backcourt of Booker and Beal did not end up working out the past two seasons.

How Green and Booker fit together will ultimately determine how far Phoenix can go next season.

The Suns added plenty of defense to compliment them, highlighted by Dillon Brooks and Ryan Dunn, and also suddenly are very deep at the center position with Mark Williams, No. 10 pick Khaman Maluach and Nick Richards, so there are not many other positional questions for the team.

Still, the wonky fit of Green and Booker on paper has left plenty of people skeptical on how well the Suns will do next season.

After a down year last season from Booker, especially in terms of efficiency, the Suns will need him to once again be their leading scorer and continue his impressive development as a playmaker.

Even with his struggles last season, Booker has proven himself in the league as an elite player, something Green is still striving to do.

In order for Booker not to stunt Green's growth because of the overlap, Green has to greatly improve in his consistency and efficiency, as well as show growth in his playmaking ability.

Ott will have to be creative in how he best utilized the two shooting guards, who will likely share primary ball-handling duties, but a fast-paced system would really benefit Green who is known to be one of the most explosive athletes in the NBA.

Even though the Suns are primarily focusing on developing a new identity and building for the future in the 2025-26 season, their record will ultimately only go as far as Booker and Green go.

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