Inside The Suns

Suns Still In Lottery For Western Conference Power Rankings

The Phoenix Suns have some ground to make up in the Western Conference this season.
Jeremy Brener|
Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker drives to the basket as Memphis Grizzlies guard Scotty Pippen Jr. defends.
Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker drives to the basket as Memphis Grizzlies guard Scotty Pippen Jr. defends. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

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Phoenix Suns

The Phoenix Suns are going into the season hoping to improve after finishing outside of the playoff picture in 2025.

PHNX writer Gerald Bourguet doesn't believe the Suns will get better as he has them finishing No. 11 in the Western Conference again in the upcoming season.

"Realistically speaking, with so many new faces and so many of them being on the younger side, it’s going to take a season or two for Phoenix to right the ship, and that’s assuming they have the right pieces to begin with," Bourguet wrote.

"It’s not out of the realm of possibility that everything comes together in Year 1, but it’d take a Coach of the Year type of effort from Ott, a return to First Team All-NBA form from Book, and question marks like Green and Williams becoming exclamation points. More than likely, this group will be fighting for a play-in spot."

Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker dribbles against the San Antonio Spurs
Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker dribbles against the San Antonio Spurs. | Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

The teams behind the Suns in Bourguet's power rankings are the Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings, New Orleans Pelicans and Utah Jazz.

The Suns are competing for a spot in the Play-In Tournament and Bourguet thinks the teams in direct competition with Phoenix for that role are the Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs, Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors.

The top six teams are the Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets and defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Suns have a lot of work to do if they want to escape the lottery, but they are going to need to beat the low expectations placed upon them going into this season.

This means Devin Booker will have to play his best basketball to date. The same can be said for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and pretty much everyone else currently on the team's roster.

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Jeremy Brener
JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several On SI sites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid and resides in Central Florida. He graduated from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener.

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