Suns' Starting Lineup Falls Too Low in NBA Rankings

PHOENIX — It appears the national media is once again way too low on the Phoenix Suns.

That's been a fairly common theme throughout recent NBA seasons, especially now that stars such as Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal are out of the picture. While the Suns are nowhere near NBA Finals competitors, the team still projects as a tough out in the Western Conference.

Thanks to their positioning in the luxury tax and lack of serious trade ammo, Phoenix wasn't quite afforded ample wiggle room to improve the team this offseason. The Suns opted to handle in-house business, bringing back a slow of impact rotation players in Collin Gillespie/Jordan Goodwin on top of returning center Mark Williams.

The most notable additions were made via the draft and trade market, as Phoenix welcomed forwards Koa Peat (No. 30 overall selection this draft class) and Miles Bridges (trade from the Charlotte Hornets) to the Valley this summer.

Dramatic improvements? Not quite, though a healthy Suns team should take a step forward in the 2026-27 season.

Bleacher Report doesn't really see it that way, ranking Phoenix's starting lineup of Booker, Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, Bridges and Williams No. 20 out of the entire NBA.

"The Phoenix Suns will look slightly different this season, headlined by the addition of Bridges who was acquired via trade from the Charlotte Hornets," wrote Greg Swartz.

"Bridges and Brooks are fairly interchangeable at the forward positions and Williams is back at center following a three-year, $38 million deal. The Suns have one All-Star in Booker and a lot of high-level starters and role players filling out their starting five. Is that enough to make any real noise in the West?"

The Suns ranked just ahead of the New Orleans Pelicans and just behind the Golden State Warriors.

Will they actually make any noise in the West? Probably not, as contenders in the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder are still prominent.

However, a Suns team that struggled to stay healthy but still won 45 games stands to have some sort of improvement entering the new season. It's notable Jordan Ott will be moving into his second year as Phoenix's head coach, too.

A large part of that will be their starting lineup, which surely has flaws but deserves a higher ranking than 20th.