PHOENIX — Earlier this season, when the Phoenix Suns played their best basketball, coach Jordan Ott pointed out that when Devin Booker pulls up for a transition 3, you could feel the anticipation in the building.
This happened Monday night in Game 4 of their Western Conference first-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Booker wasn’t in transition, but he was open in the corner. The star guard fired, and the shot looked so good, team owner Mat Ishbia, seated behind Booker, started to raise his arms in celebration.
But the ball rattled out. The crowd groaned. A perfect snapshot of the Suns’ 131-122 elimination loss, their 10th playoff setback in a row dating to 2023.
The Suns improved as this series unfolded, battling into the fourth quarter, but it did not matter. The top-seeded Thunder are on a championship level. The Suns limped into the playoffs and discovered just how far they have to go. The distance is substantial.
How you view their season depends on which expectations you adopt. Back in October, the basketball media-verse did not expect much from the Suns, a team that had overhauled its roster, trading star power for grit.
“We were counted out,” said Dillon Brooks, who came to Phoenix along with teammate Jalen Green in last summer’s blockbuster Kevin Durant trade. “We were supposed to be a laughing-stock, losing team. And we proved a lot of people wrong.”
For three months, yes, they did. The Suns posted wins against San Antonio (twice), Minnesota (twice), the L.A. Lakers (twice), Oklahoma City, New York (twice), Detroit and Cleveland. On Feb. 1, they were 30-19 and waiting on Green, an explosive scorer who had missed nearly all of the season’s first half with a hamstring injury.
At the time, Ott credited Booker and his unselfishness, which he said empowered everybody else. He credited Brooks for providing an edge and a defensive identity that had contained Spurs star Victor Wembanyama as well as anyone. While reporters kept asking about Phoenix’s reversal, Ott said he was only focused on routine. Prepare, execute, evaluate.
From there, the Suns underachieved. Green returned to the lineup, but at different times (and sometimes at the same time) Booker, Brooks, guard Grayson Allen and big man Mark Williams suffered injuries. A top-five defense slipped. A strong second unit lost players to the first unit, making both less effective. Chemistry suffered.
Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks were the Suns’ headline additions in the offseason, but injuries kept the new core from getting much time together on the court. (Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
From Feb. 1, the Suns went 16-23, a mark that includes their performances in the Play-In Tournament and playoffs.
“We exceeded everybody else’s expectation, but not ours,” Booker said.
The Suns still called this a positive first step — something to build on — but sneaking into the playoffs as an eighth seed does not always serve as a springboard. Over the last 10 seasons, only nine of the 20 eighth-seeded teams improved their regular-season records the following season. Those that made the biggest jumps did so because of personnel.
— In 2023, the eighth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves lost in five games in the first round to the Denver Nuggets. The next year, the Timberwolves posted 14 more wins and advanced to the Western Conference finals. A major factor in the reversal: Karl-Anthony Towns went from playing 29 games (because of injury) to 62.
— In 2021, the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies lost in five games to the Utah Jazz. The next season, they posted 18 more wins and lost in the Western Conference semifinals. A major factor in the reversal: Jaren Jackson Jr. went from playing 11 games to 78. (The Grizzlies also added Steven Adams.)
— In 2016, the eighth-seeded Houston Rockets lost in five games to the Golden State Warriors. The next season, they posted 14 more wins and lost in the Western Conference semifinals. A major factor in the reversal: They hired Mike D’Antoni to coach.
The Suns could follow a similar path for similar reasons. Last week in Oklahoma City, forward Royce O’Neale was asked if he could remember the last time the Suns were completely healthy. “Was it like the second game of the season or something like that?” he said.
Per databallr, Booker, Green and Brooks — the team’s top scorers — played only 123 minutes together during the regular season. Green missed 50 regular-season games. Allen missed 31. Brooks missed 26. Williams missed 22. Booker missed 18.
“I just wish we could get 50 games healthy together before coming into this to learn in the fire and learn from mistakes,” Booker said. “But we kind of had to learn on the fly.”
And yet:
“We showed the upside is there and what it can be,” Green said.
Brian Gregory watched Game 4 on Monday night from his usual seat in Section 102 of Mortgage Matchup Center. In his first year as general manager, Gregory navigated last summer well, orchestrating the Durant trade and discarding Bradley Beal. Important decisions await him this summer as well.
Williams, 24, is set to become a restricted free agent, while Jordan Goodwin and Collin Gillespie will become unrestricted free agents. The injury-plagued Williams played in a career-high 60 games and once looked like a lock to return, but he faded over the second half and missed the playoffs with a left foot injury. The Suns also have a promising big man in Khaman Maluach, the 10th pick in last year’s NBA Draft.
Goodwin and Gillespie both had breakout seasons. Goodwin, 27, was the Suns’ best defensive player and an energizer off the bench. Gillespie, 26, was one of the NBA’s more improved players. Both have earned bigger paychecks.
In addition, Brooks, about to enter the final season of a four-year, $80 million contract signed in 2023, is due for an extension. With so much room to make up in the West, changes are likely, especially if the Suns want to add size, which they desperately need.
Late Monday night, Ott was asked about his first season and how he would remember it. The Suns coach said he had not had time to reflect. Entering Game 4, he and the coaching staff had told the team to “fight the urge” (to think ahead). Stay in the moment.
And, suddenly, it’s here, the offseason. Ott wasn’t ready. He wasn’t even prepared to discuss the season in the postgame locker room. But he’s sure of this.
“I do think there’s a sense of pride with this group,” Ott said in the media room. “We hear often with the city and the fans, I think that’s what hurts because this group, it ends. That team, it ends. And they should be proud of what they did this year.”
