NBA basketball is back tonight, and the Phoenix Suns tip off their 2024-25 campaign tomorrow night against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The Suns are coming off a first-round sweep at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves after finishing last season with a 49-33 record, good for sixth in the Western Conference. This season will mark the second year of Phoenix’s star trio of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal together in the Valley after they only played in 41 games together last season due to various injuries.
Phoenix preached a continuity approach heading into this year and was able to do exactly that, retaining its top-six rotation players, while also adding a new head coach in Mike Budenholzer and a true point guard in Tyus Jones. Under Budenholzer, the Suns will try to play with more pace and be near the league lead in 3-pointers attempted, following a trend that played a big role in the Boston Celtics winning the NBA championship last season. Jones and new addition Monté Morris will give Phoenix a position it did not utilize last season at the 1 spot.
The Suns’ rookies, No. 28 overall pick Ryan Dunn and No. 40 pick Oso Ighodaro, really impressed this preseason. 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.
Do the Suns have enough to keep up in this day and age of the NBA after a disappointing year last season?
Here are the Burn City Sports predictions for this upcoming season for the Suns and who will come out on top with the 2024-25 NBA championship.
Brendan Mau (@brendan_mau/ X) – Suns and Cardinals Reporter
Record: 53-29, 4th in Western Conference
Playoffs: Lose in second round to Oklahoma City Thunder
NBA Finals: Celtics defeat Thunder
Predictions have been all over the board for the Suns leading up to the season because of the situation they’re in. Health did not go right at all last season and nobody knows how much different they will look under Budenholzer and how a true point guard will affect the team on both sides of the ball. I think it’s pretty obvious offensively that they’re in a better spot than last season with these factors, but will continue to struggle defensively and physicality-wise against some of the younger and bigger teams in the West, such as the Thunder and Timberwolves.
In my opinion, the Suns depth only got better and Budenholzer has a pretty good track record in the regular season as a head coach, so there would be little excuses, other than major injuries, for the Suns to take a step back in the regular season. With that said, last season showed that you can’t discount the impact health will have on this team. Another underlooked aspect is that Phoenix has a few trade pieces it could deal by the time the deadline rolls around depending on how the season is going to strengthen itself for a hopeful title run.
For these reasons, I have the Suns improving by a few games in the regular season, leading them to the fourth seed in the Western Conference, and winning their first-round series against the fifth seed, but falling in the second round to the Thunder, who go on to lose the NBA Finals against the Celtics. I think the Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks, Timberwolves and Suns will occupy seeds 2-5 in any combination, and it could come down to the very end of the season to figure out who gets what spot, but based on last season, a 53-29 record would put Phoenix in fourth, and I don’t see it having enough to beat the Thunder, no matter when the two teams square off in the playoffs.
Alec Cipollini (@AlecCipollini/ X) – Arizona State, Suns and Mercury Reporter
Record: 52-30, 4th in Western Conference
Playoffs: Lose in second round to Timberwolves
NBA Finals: Celtics defeat Thunder
The Western Conference is going to be an absolute gauntlet and the Suns are going to be in the thick of it with many teams vying for the top spot. in the standing. Minus the Portland Trail Blazers and the Utah Jazz who don’t have as much star power or depth as the rest, the other 13 teams can make the case for why they can earn play-in or playoff spots, making this one of the most unpredictable seasons to date.
For the Suns, the additions of Tyus Jones and Monte Morris give the team two true point guards who are smart playmakers and defenders, something they didn’t have last season. Since the formation of the “Big 3” of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, the success of Phoenix will always come down to health and how many games they play. If they all get to play together for a majority of the season as a trio, the sky is the limit. If not, the trajectory of the team is unknown. Hiring Mike Budenholzer, who has a championship pedigree and a different coaching philosophy than Frank Vogel, could be a game-changer because of how he gets the most out of his players.
With the depth of the Suns improving even more in the offseason and a new voice in the locker room, I see the Suns improving if everything goes right. Injuries are inevitable, so I am holding back on predicting them finishing higher. I see the Suns matching up with the Timberwolves once again in the playoffs and falling. Minnesota would then be eliminated by the Thunder and Oklahoma City would come out of the Western Conference.
Jacob Hardin (@JacobHardin_/X)– Diamondbacks and Suns Reporter
Record: 54-28, 2nd in Western Conference
Playoffs: Lose in Western Conference Finals to Thunder
NBA Finals: Knicks defeat Thunder
Mike Budenholzer wasted no time making an impact when he took over as head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks six years ago. In his first season, he led the team from a seventh seed in the Eastern Conference the previous year to the top overall seed. Now, he faces a similar challenge with the Phoenix Suns, aiming to elevate a sixth-seed Western Conference team into one of the NBA’s best. However, this time, Budenholzer has the luxury of coaching multiple stars rather than relying solely on a singular talent like Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Suns had a quiet but highly effective offseason, choosing not to overhaul their starting lineup but instead focusing on bolstering the part of the team that struggled the most last season—the bench. Phoenix’s bench ranked among the bottom five in points per game, which hampered their ability to maintain leads and control games when Devin Booker or Kevin Durant were not on the floor. To address this, the Suns made key acquisitions, including veteran center Mason Plumlee to replace Drew Eubanks, adding more experience and reliability to their second unit. They also signed Tyus Jones, who finished in the top 12 for Sixth Man of the Year voting in each of the last two seasons. Then you have Ryan Dunn, the Suns 1st round pick of the 2024 draft who proved himself in preseason to be an unexpected deep ball threat, something that Budenholzer will make sure to emphasize all season long.Â
While the Western Conference remains just as competitive as ever, the Suns’ big three—Booker, Durant, and Bradley Beal—now have a year of experience playing together. If they can avoid the injury woes that plagued them last season, Phoenix has the potential to be a top-three team in the league.
*Get the BEST Phoenix sports insider information, exclusive content, and access to our seasonal magazines! SIGN UP HERE to unlock our premium content!*
