Ranking Most Disappointing Suns Seasons

PHOENIX -- A merciful ending to what has been a massively disappointing season for the Phoenix Suns came last night.

The Suns came into the league year with sky-high expectations - a new coach that was expected to better fit the roster in place, a pair of point guards that were expected to organize the offense in key moments, among other moves raised the stakes for what became the most expensive roster in the history of the NBA.

The start to the season was promising, as they sat at second in the Western Conference just 10 games into the season - but everything unraveled in short order.

Head coach Mike Budenholzer could never get a firm grasp on rotations. Tyus Jones - among others - became liabilities on defense, which resulted in a bottom five defense this season. The messy roster construction that was a major inflection point in 2023-24 was magnified even more this season.

Without further ado, we will explore the most disappointing iterations in the history of the franchise - and some of the reasons behind why these squads will be remembered for the wrong reasons.

(Dis)Honorable Mentions: 1995-96, 2010-11

The 95-96 iteration of the Suns were largely average for the duration of the season - they finished 41-41 just three years after coming within striking distance of winning an NBA title. Paul Westphal was fired mid-season. Tensions rose between Charles Barkley and the front office. An early playoff exit sealed Barkley's exit and nearly a decade of having no direction pre Steve Nash.

2010-11 was much of the same - the Suns finished 40-42 after the moves that were made to "re-tool" the roster around Nash largely fell flat. Phoenix started a decade-long playoff drought a year after nearly making it back to the NBA Finals, and it signified the beginning of the end of a great era for the franchise.

3. 2021-22

This one is still fresh in the minds of many.

The Suns entered the 21-22 season among the upper-echelon of title favorites after falling just short of securing the first title in franchise history.

Many phenomenal things happened over the course of this season - a franchise-record win streak (18 games), a single season win record (64), and a pair of All-NBA selections in Chris Paul and Devin Booker.

It unfortunately came crashing down once the infamous meltdown against the Dallas Mavericks unfolded - everything the team had fought for over the course of seven months fell apart in the course of a week.

This forced key decision makers within the organization to re-evaluate the ceiling of the current roster - which resulted in the situation the franchise currently is in.

2. 2008-09

Nash. Amar'e Stoudemire. Shaquille O'Neal. A new coach.

Nothing could possibly go wrong... right?

Phoenix fired first-year head coach Terry Porter midway through the season and missed the playoffs despite winning 46 games.

They rebounded nicely the next season, but this particular season was the one that started showing cracks in the infrastructure of the Nash era.

1. 2024-25

The current season isn't only the most disappointing in Suns history - it's simply one of the most humiliating in the history of the NBA.

As previously mentioned, Mat Ishbia invested in the most expensive roster on record. Moves were made that should have directly resulted in improvement across the board. Budenholzer was supposed to be the right coach for the franchise after over a decade of uncertainty on the sideline.

Basically every single thing that could have gone on the wayside did - and now the second apron will restrict any flexibility the franchise would have previously had.

Being swept in the first round of the playoffs is one thing - not even securing a winning record is another.

The Phoenix fan-base will be looking at this season with ire for many years - there's simply no way around it.