A new NBA season is upon us tonight, and the Phoenix Suns are once again loaded with star power as they search for their first NBA championship.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The Suns, who finished as the No. 6 seed in the West and were swept in the first round of the playoffs last season, still have three of the premier offensive players in the NBA with Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. They kept the top-6 players from their rotation in Booker, Beal, Durant, Grayson Allen, Jusuf Nurkić and Royce O’Neale.
Phoenix is hoping this continuity helps it bond together more this season, as it is led by a new head coach in Mike Budenholzer and a new starting point guard in Tyus Jones. The Suns did not utilize a true point guard last season, so Jones and another new free-agency addition in Monté Morris will give the team a new look this year.
Budenholzer’s approach for his first season is “talk is cheap,” and stylistically, he wants the team to play with more pace and shoot a lot more 3-pointers. This was something Phoenix accomplished in the preseason, as the Suns were seventh in 3-pointers attempted per game (44) and sixth in makes (15.6). Last season, Phoenix ranked 25th in 3-pointers attempted (32.6) and 20th in makes (12.4), despite shooting 38.2% from 3 as a team (fifth in NBA).
Another positive for the Suns in the preseason was their rookies: No. 28 overall pick Ryan Dunn and No. 40 pick Oso Ighodaro. Dunn, a defensive standout, made more 3-pointers (13) in five games than he did his entire two-year collegiate career at Virginia. Ighodaro flashed his high-level basketball IQ and ability to defend almost every position even as a big man.
While NBA opening night is today, the Suns don’t play their first game until tomorrow night at the Los Angeles Clippers. So where do the Suns stack up in the NBA odds heading into the 2024-25 season?
All odds via FanDuel
NBA Finals Winner
Phoenix Suns +2000
The Suns have the ninth-best odds to win the 2025 NBA Finals heading into the year.
Top 10:
MVP
Kevin Durant +7500, Devin Booker +10000
Durant finished in ninth place in MVP voting last year and made the All-NBA Second Team. Booker did not receive any MVP votes, but did place on the All-NBA Third Team. The only way one of these two wins MVP this year is if the Suns have much more team success in the regular season.
Top 3:
- Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks (+330)
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder (+380)
- Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets (+450)
Rookie of the Year
Ryan Dunn +5000
Dunn will have to play a lot in order to get this award, which might hinder him compared to some of the other rookies. Dunn was ultra-impressive in the preseason, but it’s in no way a guarantee he will average the numbers he did (9.4 points, shot 43.3% from 3), while being usually the last or second-to-last offensive option when on the floor. His campaign would have to be based on how well he performs defensively.
Top 3:
- Zach Edey, Memphis Grizzlies (+290)
- Zaccharie Risacher, Atlanta Hawks (+750)
- Reed Sheppard, Houston Rockets (+850)
Defensive Player of the Year
Unsurprisingly, there are no Suns’ players listed in the odds for Defensive Player of the Year. The only player that would have a real shot is Dunn if he gets playing time. Kevin Durant had a case for making an All-Defensive team last season as well.
Top 3:
- Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs (-155)
- Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City Thunder (+1100)
- Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat (+1100)
Most Improved Player
Tyus Jones +20000
Usually, you have to score a lot to get this award which won’t be a major role for Jones on the Suns. However, if he leads or is close to the league leader in assists, he could at least be in the conversation for this award. Last year, he averaged 12.0 points and 7.3 assists for reference. I would have expected to see Bradley Beal on this list over him, but Beal is not on here.
Top 3:
- Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs (+650)
- Josh Giddey, Chicago Bulls (+1000)
- Jalen Williams, Oklahoma City Thunder (+1100)
Sixth Man of the Year
Grayson Allen +3500, Tyus Jones +10000
Out of all Suns players for any award, Allen has the best odds of winning Sixth Man of the Year, but is still pretty far down on the list compared to the rest of the NBA. After averaging a career-high 13.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists while shooting a league-best 46.1% from 3 in a full-time starter role last season, Allen said he only got better this summer and could have an increased opportunity for an even larger role when on the floor off the bench. Even more, he reunites with coach Mike Budenholzer, who he developed a great bond with in two seasons in Milwaukee and has preached shooting more 3-pointers as a team, so Allen could be in a prime position to win this award if everything goes right. One problem that might be overlooked is that Allen would likely be a fill-in starter for Booker, Bradley Beal or even Jones if they face injuries, as we saw with Eric Gordon last season.
Jones seems pretty unlikely to win this award, given that he is the team’s starting point guard. Unless they have a philosophy change early in the season and like Jones coming off the bench, it’s really hard to see him even close to in contention for this award.
Top 3:
- Malik Monk, Sacramento Kings (+650)
- Bennedict Mathurin, Indiana Pacers (+1000)
- Naz Reid, Minnesota Timberwolves (+1200)
Coach of the Year
Mike Budenholzer +1200 – tied for second-best odds
Budenholzer has a great track record for success in his career with a 484-317 career record as a head coach, the fifth-highest win percentage by a coach (min. 800 games). If he is able to translate this success to a 1 or 2 seed for the Suns in his first year after the way they finished last season, there’s no question he’ll be in the Coach of the Year conversation.
Top 5:
- Tom Thibodeau, New York Knicks (+700)
- Joe Mazzulla, Boston Celtics (+850)
- Mike Budenholzer, Phoenix Suns (+850)
- Taylor Jenkins, Memphis Grizzlies (+850)
- Ime Udoka, Houston Rockets (+1000)
Clutch Player of the Year
Devin Booker +2500, Kevin Durant +2500, Bradley Beal +15000
The Suns were one of the worst teams in the fourth quarter last season. If they want to change it around this year, it will be up to Booker, Durant and Beal to take the big shots, something all three have shown to be more than capable of doing in their careers.
Top 3:
- Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors (+1100)
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder (+1100)
- Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks (+1100)
NBA Finals MVP
Points Per Game Leader
Kevin Durant +9500, Devin Booker +10000
Durant and Booker ranked sixth and seventh in the NBA last season after both averaging 27.1 points per game, yet they are 15th and 16th in odds to lead the league in points per game this year. It is not as unlikely as it seems with a one-two scoring punch for one of them to at least come close to winning the scoring title this season, especially in Budenholzer’s new system and a point guard to set them up in Jones.
Top 3:
- Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks (+145)
- Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers (+390)
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder (+460)
Tyus Jones +4800, Devin Booker +25000
Jones could be a darkhorse to lead this category with all of the weapons he has around him. Last year, Jones was ninth in the NBA with 7.3 assists per game on a very lowly Wizards team in the first full-time starting role of his career. Booker was 11th with 6.9 per game last year, but won’t need to facilitate as much with Jones running the offense.
Top 8:
- Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks (+150)
- Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana Pacers (+175)
- Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks (+650)
- James Harden, Los Angeles Clippers (+900)
- Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets (+3100)
- Chris Paul, San Antonio Spurs (+3100)
- LaMelo Ball, Charlotte Hornets (+4000)
- Tyus Jones, Phoenix Suns (+4800)
