What Is Suns' Outlook for 2025-26 Season?

The Suns no longer have championship expectations, but a different goal for next season.

Mar 9, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) looks on during the second quarter against the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns head into the 2025-26 season with a lot of question marks on how the team will fit together and perform after moving on from Kevin Durant and Bradey Beal.

Almost every power ranking has the Suns missing the playoffs in a loaded Western Conference as they attempt to retool around Devin Booker.

There is a path to Phoenix exceeding these expectations if the team stays healthy and the Suns' young additions take big steps forward in their play, most notably Jalen Green and Mark Williams.

However, compared to most of the other teams in the league, the Suns do not have an easy path to even making the playoffs in their first year with a revamped roster.

Bleacher Report Grades Suns' Title Chances

Bleacher Report's Greg Swartz recently graded every team's title chances across the NBA and gave the Suns a D, which he described as hoping for a play-in spot at best.

Swartz wrote on the Suns:

"The Phoenix Suns have talent and certainly upgraded their center position this offseason. They may even be better defensively with the addition of Dillon Brooks and a bigger role for Ryan Dunn.

"There's just too many roster holes to ignore here, especially the lack of a true point guard.

"Devin Booker and Jalen Green will have to find the right balance between scoring and playmaking. Mark Williams needs to prove he can become a rim protector. There's not a lot of reliable depth on this roster, especially at guard.

"The Suns went 3-17 without Kevin Durant last season, which seems like a premonition of how this year could go."

Durant's Houston Rockets were given an A by Swartz for being among the top title contenders.

The Charlotte Hornets, Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors were the other teams to be graded with a D in terms of title hopes.

The Suns are going to have some work to do to prove themselves as they usher in this new era of their team.

Owner Mat Ishbia is hopeful that creating an established identity will spark some new life into the Suns, but understands it might take time.

"When you're building a culture and you're building a strategy and a vision, anything worthwhile takes a while," Ishbia told Arizona Sports' Burns and Gambo Show last month.

Ishbia continued later: "Do I expect it to take a couple years to really get to the point where you're like, 'Wow, I really see the vision?' Yes ... I do expect to be patient with it, to build it the right way, but I am also optimistic that we'll be a lot better than people think."