Training camp is here, Media Day quotes have drifted down like confetti, and with them comes the moment of truth: our final preseason SunsRank. Votes were tallied, debates waged, egos bruised, and somewhere
in the chaos, we arrived at a list that feels like both lines in the sand and guesswork.
That’s the charm of it, isn’t it? Every season sneaks up with a twist we didn’t see coming. Someone rises, someone falls, and by April we’re all pointing back at these rankings with a mix of laughter and disbelief. That unpredictability is the lifeblood of sport, the thing that keeps us coming back for more.
So here it is, the roster in its full unfiltered glory, as ranked by our community. This is how you see them, how the collective hive mind stacks the Suns heading into the grind. I’ve put these alongside the consensus rankings for our Bright Side writing team.
Cue the graphic, let’s see where the chips fell.
The biggest discrepancy between our SunsRank and the community’s? Nick Richards. The Bright Side crew has him pegged as a clear rotation piece, sitting 9th overall, while the broader hive mind slots him way down at 14.
Flip it around with Rasheer Fleming, and you see the opposite. Our writers are cautious, planting him at 14, but the community shows a surprising swell of belief, lifting him all the way to 11. These are the fractures that make SunsRank fascinating. It’s not the top names that stir the pot; it’s the margins, the gray area where potential and skepticism collide.
Where do our individual writers have players ranked? Once again, roll the graphic.
I asked them to open up, to explain why they planted their flags where they did. It’s messy, it’s passionate, it’s subjective basketball in its purest form.
Luke, you have Mark Williams ranked as the 2nd-best Sun, ahead of Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks. Why?
Luke Dacre Tynan: He is likely to be the only guy that could average a double-double here….top 6 center in the West here we come!!
Holden, you have Oso Ighodaro ranked as the 12th-best Sun, the lowest ranking of any Bright Side writer. What caused you to rank him so low?
Holden Sherman: Oso had ample opportunities to prove himself and he couldn’t do so on a consistent basis. Additionally, he’s a tweener (not a perfect 4 or 5) and isn’t a threat from deep. I expect his role to be minimal this season with the Valley bringing in Mark Williams and Khaman Maluach.
Kevin, you have NHD ranked the highest among Bright Side writers. Why do you see in him that has him ranked as the 9th-best Sun?
Kevin Humphreys: The Phoenix Suns lack proven wing players above 6’5” who can shoot the ball effectively and are reliable scorers. Nigel Hayes Davis has proven himself to be an efficient scorer and shooter in Europe, having won the Euroleague MVP award. While Ryan Dunn and Rasheer Fleming will look to improve in that department, the Suns will need players immediately to come in and be comfortable in scoring, especially when Devin Booker is off the floor. Hayes-Davis will be a key contributor off the bench this season because of his size, ability to score, and veteran experience.
Bruce, you ranked Jared Butler as the 13th-best Sun, higher than any other Bright Sider. What stood out to you that made him land so high on your list?
Bruce Veliz: Butler has shown me on multiple teams that he can be a rotational piece if given the playing time, and I think Phoenix has one of the best opportunities for him this year. We also saw someone in Collin Gillespie similarly thrive in this role last year as a tertiary guard, and I feel Butler is that for this team.
Matthew, you have Collin Gillespie as the 6th-best Sun. Why do you have him so high?
Matthew Lissy: He has to be the 6th man on this team if they want to have any success. I think that is his ceiling.
What did we nail, and where did we completely whiff? Which of our writers do you find yourself nodding along with, and which ones make you want to throw your phone across the room? Drop your thoughts in the comments, because this is the kind of conversation that makes SunsRank more than a list. It’s a living, breathing snapshot of how we see this team before reality comes crashing in.
And we will be back to hold ourselves accountable. Come April, when the regular season ends, we’ll dig these rankings back up and see what aged like wine and what curdled in the sun. Maybe later if, by some miracle, this squad claws its way into the postseason. Either way, the receipts are here. Let’s see how the story unfolds.
