3 Biggest Reasons Suns Fans Should Be Excited for 2026-27 Season

PHOENIX -- With training camp underway, the season is right around the corner for the Phoenix Suns, who are looking to build off last season's 45-37 record and playoff appearance.

Suns owner Mat Ishbia feels the team is only ascending heading into the season, with 12 of 15 players returning and new faces in Miles Bridges, Luke Kennard and Koa Peat.

With Phoenix Suns Fan Fest set for tonight, here are three reasons fans should be excited to watch the team this year:

1. Young Players Ready to Step Up

Suns players raved about the growth of Khaman Maluach this offseason as he gets set to take on a bigger role with Mark Williams sidelined due to a torn labrum.

Watch for Maluach to have a major leap this season, while Rasheer Fleming could also make a big impact off the bench as both players head into their second season.

Looking beyond these two players, Jalen Green and Oso Ighodaro, who are both 24, could also have career years. Green enters the year fully healthy after battling a hamstring injury last season and Ighodaro is going help fill the void of Williams after stepping up in key moments last year.

Rookie Koa Peat, Ryan Dunn and Koby Brea will all be other intriguing players to watch, especially in the preseason, as they look to establish roles for themselves.

2. Team Knows Each Other Well, What Needs to Improve

With so much continuity from last year's team, the Suns have had all summer to figure out what to build on from coach Jordan Ott's first season.

The team spent the majority of the summer together, so they are already ahead of where they should be, and their camaraderie will only continue to improve as they get closer and then into the season.

"We can use our experience that we had last year. We just don't want to make the same mistakes twice," Suns star Devin Booker said at media day Monday. "We have a reference point on things that worked and didn't work last year. Even though we got swept, we got playoff experience with a lot of young guys, so we could feel what that looked like and feel what it felt like. To start the season, we're going to be definitely ahead of where we were to start the season last year."

Phoenix's team chemistry last year was already fun to watch, but now they're even more connected.

3. Jordan Ott's System

Building off this previous point, Ott's system proved to be really fun with the tempo the team plays with offensively and the pressure they impose defensively.

With Green back healthy and the addition of Miles Bridges, the Suns now have some major athleticism to throw in the mix, and they said they want to play even faster and buld off the hard-nosed identity they set last season.

Everyone bought into Ott's system a year ago, and it will only continue to evolve, which could make for an exciting style of play in the 2026-27 season.

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