The Phoenix Suns may have a better team than a season ago, but once again will need to climb out of the play-in tournament to make the playoffs.
That seems to be the thinking among NBA writers assessing how the Suns will do in 2026-27.
Phoenix ended the 82-game regular season seventh in the West last season, but needed two play-in games to advance to the playoffs as an eighth seed and face defending NBA champion Oklahoma City in the first round. The top overall seed swept the Suns.
The 7 through 10 teams in each conference compete for the seventh and eighth seed in the playoffs.
Here are predictions from four different publications that have the Suns finishing seventh or worse in the Western Conference standings this season. Sports Illustrated has
two writers predicting Phoenix will miss the playoffs.
ESPN
Writer Zach Kram lumped the Suns into a category of “potential play-in participants” along with the Charlotte Hornets, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Pelicans, Portland Trail Blazers, Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards.
“Phoenix and Portland both reached the playoffs last season, though neither seems to raise a very high ceiling.” Kram wrote.
Athlon Sports
From Athlon’s 2026-27 NBA preview magazine, the Suns are picked to finish seventh in the West behind the Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers.
Athlon predicted the Warriors, Blazers and Jazz will finish 8-10, respectively and have the Los Angeles Clippers, Grizzlies, Mavs, Pelicans and Sacramento Kings rounding out the conference standings.
SB Nation
Ricky O’Donnell has the Suns placing seventh in the West with the Spurs, Thunder, Lakers, Timberwolves, Rockets and Nuggets finishing 1-6.
“I thought the Suns were pretty screwed after they traded Kevin Durant, but they nailed multiple margin moves to become a legitimate playoff threat at the bottom end of the Western Conference,” O’Donnell wrote. “I’m buying Jordan Ott as a good head coach after a 45-win debut a year ago fueled by aggressive schemes to force turnovers defensively and crash the offensive glass. Devin Booker is surrounded by some pretty solid role players now, and a few of them should have even more to offer. I was sky high on Khaman Maluach coming out of Duke, and my optimism remains despite essentially getting redshirted as a rookie after a strong summer league showing.”
Maluach will compete with Oso Ighodaro for the starting role at center as Mark Williams will miss months with a left shoulder injury suffered in an offseason workout.
“Collin Gillespie is one of the league’s great hidden gem findings, and I fully expect him to out-play the $48 million deal he’s starting this season,” O’Donnell continued. “I hated the Miles Bridges trade, but I liked drafting Koa Peat and bringing back Jordan Goodwin to add toughness. Phoenix is going to play really hard every night and give their fanbase a team it can be proud of. That feels like the best they could have done climbing out of the Durant and Bradley Beal era.”
Sports Illustrated
SI NBA writers Chris Mannix, Liam McKeone and Blake Silverman each have the Suns finishing in the play-in.
Mannix: (1) Spurs, (2) Thunder, (3) Lakers, (4) Rockets, (5) Nuggets, (6) Timberwolves. (7) Jazz, (8) Suns, (9) Warriors and (10) Blazers.
McKeone: (1) Spurs, (2) Thunder, (3) Lakers, (4) Timberwolves, (5) Nuggets, (6) Rockets, (7) Suns, (8) Jazz, (9) Blazers and (10) Warriors.
Silverman: (1) Spurs, (2) Thunder, (3) Timberwolves, (4) Rockets, (5) Nuggets, (6) Lakers. (7) Jazz, (8) Mavs, (9) Warriors and (10) Suns.
Mannix and Silverman predicted the Suns will miss the playoffs when asked which team will miss the playoffs after making it last season.
"Coin flip between the Blazers and Suns, but I’m going to take Phoenix,” Mannix wrote. “Miles Bridges makes them more versatile on the perimeter but they are going to miss Grayson Allen’s shooting, and I don’t trust that front line. The Jazz and Pelicans figure to be vastly improved and I’m betting one (or both) sneaks into the postseason, knocking the Suns out.”
Silverman is calling this season a “transition” one for the Suns.
“I like Phoenix better than last year, but the Suns could be the victim of improved competition,” he wrote. “Miles Bridges came in via trade, but Phoenix lost considerable depth after dealing away Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale. Luke Kennard brings an elite shooting skill set, but there’s a worry that Phoenix’s offseason just wasn’t enough to move the needle. The Suns were frisky last year thanks to Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks’ career season, and Jalen Green was a hero in the play-in tournament to get the Suns into the playoffs. With Bridges a free agent next year and Green’s future in question ahead of a $36 million player option, I could see somewhat of a transition year in Phoenix.”
McKeone has the Blazers missing the postseason. Portland earned the seventh seed last season with a win over the Suns in the 7-8 play-in game in Phoenix.
San Antonio eliminated the Blazers in the first round.
“Technically, the Trail Blazers added more talent than they lost over the offseason but it’s hard to buy the vision,” McKeone wrote. “Deni Avdija is a little too reliant on a generous whistle to be seen as a No. 1 playoff option, Damian Lillard is 36 years old coming off a torn Achilles and the team’s gamble on Ja Morant could go any number of directions. It’s a very tricky roster to balance for a first-year head coach in Micah Nori — and any missed time from his competent perimeter defenders (Jrue Holiday and Toumani Camara) means they’ll struggle mightily to get stops when it matters. There are a lot more ways for Portland’s season to go wrong than right.”
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Play-In Suns? NBA writers predict Phoenix 7th or worse in West
