How much postseason basketball have you been watching?
I know once the Phoenix Suns season ends, plenty of fans pack away the jerseys, toss the hats in the closet, and decide they’ve had enough basketball for a while. The season didn’t end in a championship, so they check out until next October. Others become casual viewers. They’ll catch a game here and there because they enjoy basketball in general. Maybe they tune back in once the Finals arrive. After an entire season of emotionally investing in the Suns,
the postseason almost becomes a mental vacation.
Then there are the maniacs. The people watching every game like it’s a scouting report. I fall into that category. And after obsessively watching this postseason, one conclusion keeps smacking me in the face. Damn, the Suns are far away from a championship.
I know Mat Ishbia said during his postseason press conference that Phoenix will win a championship with Devin Booker. For some reason, people are taking that statement as the end-all, be-all beacon of the Suns’ direction, as if Ishbia saying it automatically means the organization is about to abandon every ounce of responsibility in pursuit of forcing that outcome immediately.
I love what Mat Ishbia has done with the Phoenix Suns organization lately. He’s made the team accessible. He values the fan experience. He’s actively trying to correct the mistakes that often come with new owner syndrome. That said, simply because Ishbia says the Suns will win a championship with Devin Booker doesn’t automatically make it a reality. There are too many variables involved, and some of the biggest variables are sitting at the top of the Western Conference right now. Their talent. Their youth. Their continuity. Their cohesiveness.
If you’ve been watching the postseason, you know the Oklahoma City Thunder are an absolute buzz saw. They shredded Phoenix like a wood chipper and turned around and did the same thing to the Los Angeles Lakers. They’re 8-0 heading into the Western Conference Finals.
Their opponent in the Western Conference Finals? The San Antonio Spurs, who just dismantled the Minnesota Timberwolves in six games. Sure, San Antonio is young and going through its first real postseason experience together. Even with all of that inexperience, they still found themselves with a shot at an NBA Finals appearance.
That’s the part that hits you when watching these playoffs. You realize how far away Phoenix still is from legitimately competing for a title. Both Oklahoma City and San Antonio are positioned to remain elite for years because they combine high-end talent with youth, depth, and asset flexibility.
The Suns, as competitive as they showed they could be last season, are still trying to exceed expectations while carrying $23.2 million in dead cap. The reality is the path to an NBA Finals appearance over the next five years feels incredibly narrow.
It’s interesting because we hear what we want to hear, right? Mat Ishbia said the Phoenix Suns will win a championship with Devin Booker, and some people immediately took that as gospel. In the same press conference, he also talked about continuity, development, and progression. That’s the part I’m taking as gospel because I truly believe that’s the direction Phoenix is headed. And realistically, it is the more probable outcome based on the statements provided.
I think winning a championship with Booker is going to be extremely difficult given the current roster construction and the limitations attached to it. I also think developing what you currently have and leaning into progression is the correct path forward. More importantly, it’s the realistic one because there simply aren’t a ton of options available.
I know there are still people who want to blow the whole thing up, trade Booker for draft capital, and fully reset the organization. Honestly, they might not even be wrong long term. I still don’t think now is the time to do it. This organization is still in the process of building a foundation. Year two of this retool becomes about seeing how the roster responds to the direction Phoenix is trying to establish, Booker included. Brian Gregory said everyone on this roster has to improve, and that absolutely includes Devin Booker.
That’s why next season becomes a massive evaluation year for him. Can he handle the expectations? Can he elevate with this version of the roster and culture around him? If the answer is no, then next summer becomes the time for a very serious conversation about potentially moving on from Booker.
Because right now, the timelines don’t fully align. The top of the Western Conference is loaded with juggernauts, and the Suns simply don’t have enough to realistically compete at that level. What they do have is direction. What they do have is a desire to stabilize the franchise, and they’re actively in the process of doing that. You don’t stabilize an organization by detonating everything, bottoming out, and losing games when you don’t even control your own draft picks to properly execute the rebuild.
Take some time. Watch the postseason. Really watch it. Realize how far the Phoenix Suns still are from their destination. The path to eventually getting there is going to take time, care, and a commitment to the direction the organization is trying to build toward. Stabilizing the franchise has been paramount, and if you want to create a winning culture like the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs have built, it requires patience.
It also takes some luck. Both organizations absolutely hit on transformational players in Victor Wembanyama and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. At the end of the day though, you still make your own luck.
And maybe that’s the hardest reality for people to accept, because patience feels boring when you’ve spent the last few years chasing shortcuts. Watching these playoffs, you can clearly see the difference between teams that were constructed and teams that were cultivated. Oklahoma City and San Antonio didn’t arrive here overnight. They built identities, developed talent internally, and allowed continuity to harden into culture.
The Suns are finally trying to move back in that direction after years of operating in fast forward. It might not produce immediate gratification, and it might never end in a championship. Although for the first time in a while, it at least feels like Phoenix is trying to build something sustainable instead of simply trying to survive its own expectations.
