Can the Suns recapture the Valley Boyz energy in 2025?

Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

PHOENIX – At last season’s end-of-season press conference, Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia made plenty of promises on what the team will become next season. Ishbia claimed that he will build a team with the identity similar to the people of Phoenix: hard-working and gritty. The offseason that followed saw him hire a new general manager, head coach and completely retool the roster with 11 new players.

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However, how does the new personnel fulfill Ishbia’s promise? Trading players helps wipe out the stains of mediocrity of last year, but a new cast of characters doesn’t guarantee much better results.

“I want to put a team out there on the court that everyone is proud of,” Ishbia said during last year’s end-of-season press conference. “It has to have an identity — an identity similar to Phoenix. Some grit, some determination, some work ethic, some grind, some joy. We just haven’t had that.”

 Suns eyeing to make fans proud again:

Many experts and fans view the 2025-2026 season as a rebuilding year for the franchise, but it doesn’t make next year worthless. Ishbia wants to build a team that represents Phoenix, he doesn’t need to look far to see a Suns team that did that well in the “Valley Boyz.” The term was coined by wing Kelly Oubre Jr. and represented the 2019-2020 team that was headlined by Devin Booker, Mikal Bridges, DeAndre Ayton, Cameron Johnson and more.

“It’s love,” Oubre back in 2019 on what “Valley Boyz” means. “It means everything. I give my heart and my soul to the city every time I step onto the court with Phoenix Suns across my chest and they reciprocate the same energy. You can’t ask for a better partnership.

“I just want to create a dynasty and a legacy here in Phoenix with [Deandre Ayton], [Devin Booker], [Mikal Bridges], all the guys in the locker room. It’s beautiful.”

The roster was filled with rookies and second-year players that played with a chip on their shoulders and was led by first-year head coach Monty Williams. Phoenix would have an 15-game improvement from the year before, capped off by a perfect 8-0 NBA Bubble record.

That “rebuild” year led to next season the Suns making the Finals for the first time in nearly three decades, and then a franchise record 64 regular season wins the subsequent year.

The reason for the “Valley Boyz” success was their defensive intensity. The roster had a 111.4 defensive rating and recorded 15.2 deflections per game, each stats around league average. The number don’t look impressive until compared to the 2024-2025 Suns team that had a 119.3 defensive rating and 14.1 deflections, which were both 28th in the league.

Last year’s team struggled to control the glass and get into passing lanes. Phoenix allowed the 10th most offensive rebounds (11.5) that led to the 14th most opponent second chance points (14.0). The “Valley Boyz” were fifth and ninth in those respective categories.

The 2025-2026 Suns has many similarities with the 2019-2020 team. The mouthpiece of Oubre can be fulfilled by Dillon Brooks, who arrived from the Houston Rockets via the Kevin Durant trade. Brooks oozes toughness and grit, all the same characteristics Ishbia claims he wanted for the team. The 29-year-old is physical and vocal on the court, while not taking well to getting punked by opponents, which was a problem from last year’s team.

Wing Ryan Dunn is eerily similar archetype to Bridges. Each are second-year 6’6 defensive wings that have shined signs of becoming more a defensive wing. The “Valley Boyz” had five rookies on the roster, while next year’s team is projected to have five as well, headlined by 10th overall pick Khaman Maluach.

Maluach will surely help the team’s attack on the defensive glass and limit opponents second chance opportunities. Fellow big man newcomer Mark Williams will fill in nicely to the Ayton role of being a double double machine. Williams is an athletic lob threat that can help increase the team’s pace, which was 25th last year.

All the comparisons from the new players to the old leads to the single connection between the two teams: Devin Booker. Even in 2019-2020, Booker was the leader and the veteran of the team, a title he still holds to this day. The four-time All-Star before the “Valley Boyz” run was seen as an empty-calories stat padder on a losing team.

In one bubble run, Booker was able to turn that narrative around and propel himself into a household name. Almost poetically, guard Jalen Green is going through the same identity crisis. Green is entering his fifth-year and is coming off an embarrassing playoff debut, averaging 13.3 points on 37.2% shooting.

Experts and fans alike are crucifying the 23-year-old for his playoff failure and not being a winning player. Entering next year, Green will be the same age as Booker during the 2019-2020 season. Booker can mentor and morph Green into the being a two-time All-NBA member himself.

The former number two overall pick was drafted into a situation where he was expected to contribute right away at 19 years old. The Green experiment in Houston will be seen as a failure, but it is up to the new Suns guard to prove the Rockets and experts wrong, much like Booker did in the Bubble.

Ishbia first two years as owner has been a disaster with the championships aspirations he set when first arriving in the Valley. The UWM CEO is hoping that fellow Michigan State Alum head coach Jordan Ott can follow in the footsteps of Monty Williams in being the perfect voice and leader to lead this new, young iteration of the Suns that can make Phoenix proud.

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Reporter Tanner Tortorella covers general assignment for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @TannerTSports