ESPN does not have the same influence it once had; this is no secret. I am in the camp where I take most of what they put out with a grain of salt. That being said, it paints a picture of what the national media thinks about the team (and others) zooming out and looking big picture.
ESPN just released an NBA Future Power Rankings, ranking every team in the association based on five key categories. Players, money, draft, market, and management were the five selected. Phoenix, of course, finished dead
last at 30th overall.
“The NBA Future Power Rankings are ESPN’s projection of the on-court success expected for each team over the next three seasons: 2025-26, 2026-27, and 2027-28. To determine the rankings, we asked ESPN analysts Kevin Pelton, Bobby Marks, and Tim Bontemps to rate teams in five categories and rank them relative to the rest of the league.”
Our John Voita already beautifully broke it down here: Where the Suns stand in ESPN’s 3-year outlook
Phoenix’s rank: 30th
Previous rank: 19th
The Suns fell from the 19th-ranked team a year ago all the way down to dead last, which is a bit puzzling to me, and even I consider myself a skeptic, but not THIS much.
Here is where the Suns came in each category used to measure this exercise:
The “players” ranking at 26th overall irked me a bit. They ranked the New Orleans Pelicans, Charlotte Hornets, and Sacramento Kings above Phoenix. Are we sure about that? The HORNETS?!
This is the blurb given by ESPN on Phoenix:
Previous ranking: 19
It was only three years ago when Phoenix ranked third in the FPR and had a solid foundation of young players and future draft assets. That foundation no longer exists, thanks largely to the Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal trades. Both players are no longer on the roster, and though Phoenix isn’t in financial purgatory and still has All-Star Devin Booker, its path back to relevancy is unclear. The Suns have no tradable firsts in the next seven years and have $23 million in dead money on their books in the next five years. One positive is that Phoenix has shifted away from building around multiple high-priced veterans to trading for former first-round picks Jalen Green, Mark Williams and selecting Khaman Maluach in June’s draft. — Marks
Look, there’s nothing wrong with the logic here. The Suns remain fairly limited with what they can and can’t do, and have a rough draft capital situation. The lack of flexibility they have hurts them, no doubt about it. That said, I think they are greatly undervaluing Devin Booker as a player and a potential asset if you know what hits the fan.
I’m not going to pull an Ishbia and say 26 other GMs would trade spots with us… but at least like, four would? Maybe?
Rise like a Phoenix
How does Phoenix overcome this bleak-looking future and rise from the ashes?
I, for one, love a team with zero expectations. Those are the teams that always pleasantly surprise us in Arizona. Hype produces false hope and future heartbreak in the Valley. There will be very little of that entering this season.
There are a couple of paths. You may not like one of them, but it’s a reality if things play out a certain way.
- Phoenix is better than everyone estimates, and their young core looks like a force to be reckoned with down the road. That would be the ideal path where everything just… works out.
- The Suns enter an all-out rebuild and get back an absolute haul for Devin Booker and possibly Jalen Green, depending on how that experiment goes. Gutting the team would likely include getting draft capital or young players back for Dillon Brooks, Royce O’Neale, and Grayson Allen as well. That alone would pull them out of draft capital hell.
Mark Williams and Jalen Green are still just 23 years old. Phoenix has promising second-year players in Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro, who figure to be rotation staples for years to come. Devin Booker is still one of the top 20 players in the league. They are bringing in three intriguing prospects in Khaman Maluach, Rasheer Fleming, and Koby Brea. They have some grizzled vets in Dillon Brooks, Royce O’Neale and Grayson Allen.
It may not be perfect, but the pieces are there to turn this ship around. It just may not happen overnight.
The hope is for a clear direction to be established. They already started the rebuild process, but some may argue it’s a retool. Phoenix needs to quickly figure out exactly what they have and act accordingly.
They deserve to be ranked near the bottom, no doubt. But not all the way at the bottom, and I believe they will prove some folks wrong this season.
