2025–26 Phoenix Suns season

The 2025–26 Phoenix Suns season will be the 58th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as well as their 33rd season at the currently named PHX Arena.^[1] On April 14, 2025, one day after the conclusion of their very disappointing last season of play, the Suns fired head coach Mike Budenholzer after only one season with the team despite him signing a five-year contract worth $50 million.^[2] Following Budenholzer's firing, team owner Mat Ishbia expressed great disappointment with the results of the past season, but also expressed his word that great change would come during this season with Suns fans being more proud of the team's overall effort when compared to what was on display during the previous two seasons, especially the most recent season played by this time. On May 1, 2025, the Suns named Brian Gregory, a former college basketball coach and previously the team's vice president of player programming that prior season, as their new general manager, with James Jones moved down to a senior advisor role for at least the rest of his remaining contract that he had that lasted until July 1.^[3] On June 6, 2025, the Suns hired Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach Jordan Ott to be their newest head coach, with him signing a four-year contract instead of the previous five-year deals the previous two head coaches had here.^[4] On June 22, the Suns announced a trade involving Kevin Durant would be made official on July 6 as a record-breaking seven team trade with them acquiring not just rising star shooting guard Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks, but also gained back their first round pick in the 2025 NBA draft that they previously lost in the initial Kevin Durant trade that got him in Phoenix in the first place (which later became South Sudanese freshman center Khaman Maluach from Duke University) alongside multiple early 2025 second round picks (which became power forward Rasheer Fleming from Saint Joseph's University (who was the first pick in the second round) and American-Dominican shooting guard Koby Brea from the University of Kentucky (who was the 41st pick)) and a 2026 second round pick from Houston as well as Daeqwon Plowden (who later got waived by Phoenix) from the Atlanta Hawks.^[5] With the changes made to the team throughout their offseason period, Phoenix is entering the season with the hopes of at least having a better season when compared to their previous season they played.

One day after the previous season ended for the Suns in a disappointing manner, on April 14, it was announced that Mike Budenholzer was officially fired from the role of head coach with the Suns despite still being owed $40 million left after four years from his original year in a manner similar to the previous head coach Budenholzer replaced, Frank Vogel. The primary reason related to the firing above many others related to the team's general disappointment to where the talent they had on display had them feeling that they were a much better team than the 36 wins that last season indicated they were.^[6] Due to the nature of the previous head coaches they fired following Monty Williams' removal, they decided to not only go back to a more steady head coach searching process by stark contrast to the search they had before Mike Budenholzer was hired last season, but also focus more on a head coach that fit the needs of a young, first-time head coach that could connect more with the players on what the team's looking for over hiring a head coach that they felt could have helped get them the NBA Finals championship they were looking to get after last missing out on it in 2021. Head coaching candidates they looked into during the offseason period included former Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown, New Orleans Pelicans head coach (and former Suns assistant coach) Willie Green, Miami Heat assistant coach Chris Quinn, Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coaches Johnnie Bryant and Jordan Ott, Dallas Mavericks assistant coaches Sean Sweeney and Jared Dudley (the latter of whom also previously played for the Suns), Houston Rockets assistant coach (and South Sudan Bright Stars head coach) Royal Ivey, current assistant coach David Fizdale, current Brigham Young University head coach (and former Suns assistant coach) Kevin Young, Golden State Warriors assistant coach Jerry Stackhouse, Boston Celtics assistant coach (and former Suns player) Sam Cassell, Washington Wizards assistant coach (and Australia Boomers head coach) Adam Caporn, Charlotte Hornets assistant coach Josh Longstaff, New Orleans Pelicans assistant coach James Borrego, Brooklyn Nets assistant coach Steve Hetzel, Minnesota Timberwolves assistant coach Micah Nori, Oklahoma City Thunder assistant coach Dave Bliss, with the team saying they interviewed up to 20 potential candidates for the head coach position. Their second round of coaching interviews, which was announced on May 20, involved David Fizdale, Sean Sweeney, James Borrego, Johnnie Bryant, Jordan Ott, Steve Hetzel, Micah Nori, Dave Bliss, and Chris Quinn all making it through.^[7] A third round of interviews was announced a week later, which was slated to have just about everyone outside of James Borrego and Steve Hetzel make it there, despite it initially being claimed to have been a final four in mind at first. The team then finally entered the month of June (more precisely, by June 2) with the decision of either Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coaches Johnnie Bryant or Jordan Ott becoming their new head coach, with a final interview with team owner Mat Ishbia being involved there after previously having interviews with the team through Zoom.^[8] After the interviews were concluded, the Suns announced that Jordan Ott would be the new head coach for the Suns on June 4, with Ott signing a four-year deal two days later, as well as gaining approval from both Suns legends Devin Booker and Steve Nash (the latter of whom he worked with as an assistant coach while with the Nets).^[9]

Before the start of the 2025 NBA draft and during the 2025 NBA Finals, it was announced on June 11 that former NBA player and Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach DeMarre Carroll would be the first assistant coach to join Jordan Ott's new coaching staff.^[10]

During the same interview where owner Mat Ishbia talked about Mike Budenholzer's failures with coaching the team for the previous season, he also noted that changes involving the structure of the front office would be involved in the offseason as well, with it being the most notable change for them to do first before making their head coach change at hand.^[11] Early on in April, it was reported that the Suns were seriously interested and looking into having former Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers working with the team as their new general manager.^[12] Despite those reports, however, the Suns announced on May 1 that former college basketball head coach and last season's vice president of player programming for the team, Brian Gregory, would take on the general manager role of the Suns going forward, with the former general manager and team president, James Jones, taking on the role of senior advisor for the team for at least the remainder of his original contract (which would expire once the free agency period began), if not longer than that.^[13] Not only that, but it was also announced that the team's director of scouting, Oronde Taliaferro, was promoted to the role of the assistant general manager next to Brian Gregory, with the team's chief innovation officer, Paul Rivers, also having additional basketball responsibilities to go with the chief innovation officer role with the team.^[14] However, the notion of Michigan State University favoritism and Michigan bias following Mat Ishbia buying the Suns from Robert Sarver was brought into greater conversation due to the hiring of Brian Gregory, who had no prior front office experience either in the NBA or NCAA, and later with Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach Jordan Ott, who went to Michigan State University for his master's degree and previously worked for the men's basketball team from 2008 until 2013 before beginning his assistant coach career, exacerbating the notion of Mat Ishbia having a potential bias favoring people that are from the state of Michigan, if not attended Michigan State University.^[15][16] Gregory's notion of helping favoring Ishbia's potential favoritism for Michigan or Michigan State players would later be averted during the 2025 NBA draft with the selections the team made during that time, avoiding the selection of Jase Richardson from Michigan State following the return of the tenth pick for that draft in a planned Kevin Durant trade.

The Suns originally entered this draft period (which would last for two days, similar to the previous year's draft) holding one first-round pick and one second-round pick, though not with the selections at their own areas at hand at that time.^[17][18] For the first-round pick, they would acquire it last season by trading with the Utah Jazz, which resulted in them trading their 2031 first-round pick to Utah for the lesser first-round picks between the Jazz, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Cleveland Cavaliers in 2025, 2027, and 2029, with the Cavaliers being the team that the Suns got this year's first-round pick from.^[19] As for the second-round pick, the Suns would also get it by a trade from last season, though this trade would involve the Charlotte Hornets where in exchange for Josh Okogie and three different second-round picks, the Suns would acquire center Nick Richards and a second-round pick that came from the Denver Nuggets originally.^[20] As for the picks they lost this year, the first-round pick of theirs that they lost was related to their trade where they first acquired star player Kevin Durant onto their team from the Brooklyn Nets originally,^[21] while the second-round pick of theirs that they lost was related to the trade that got them star player Bradley Beal on their squad from the Washington Wizards in the first place.^[22] However, it was announced on June 22 that following Kevin Durant's impending trade to the Houston Rockets (which was later made official by July 6 due to stipulations involving Jalen Green's rookie contract extension that was done on Houston's end before eventually expanding into a record-breaking seven team trade that involved other key players and draft picks being traded as well), the Suns would not only regain the first round selection that they had initially lost in the Kevin Durant trade this year, but also were originally slated to gain the very last selection of the draft that came from the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder (alongside an originally planned four other second round picks, two of which would be picks coming in 2026) as well.^[5] Pick 59 that was held by Houston became the final selection of the draft due to the New York Knicks being the only team to violate free agency rules earlier on, which forced them to be the only team lose a second round pick for this draft after the previous three drafts each had two teams losing selections (two times happening to teams in a row), with one year including the Suns themselves due to free agency violations they made involving center Drew Eubanks.

On June 25, the first night of the draft, the Houston Rockets (in agreement with prior trade talks involving Kevin Durant) would select South Sudanese freshman center Khaman Maluach from Duke University for the Phoenix Suns. Maluach would be named a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference's All-Freshman Team in 2025 for his work as a teammate for a Duke team that would reach the final four of the 2025 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, with the South Sudanese center also previously playing professionally for multiple African teams in the Basketball Africa League as well (even leading the league in rebounds for a season there as well). Around the time Maluach was announced to be the Rockets' selection for the Suns, Phoenix was also announced to have traded the 29th pick they held in the draft (which became freshman small forward Liam McNeeley from the University of Connecticut) alongside the 2029 first round pick they got from the Utah Jazz and Serbian point guard Vasilije Micić (effectively trading Micić back to the team that first traded him to Phoenix back in February 2025) for center Mark Williams and the return of Phoenix's own 2029 second-round pick they had first traded to Charlotte, with the trade later being made official on June 30.^[23] On the second night of the draft, the Suns made multiple trades involving the initial second round selection(s) they were slated to have at the time of the first announcements made that day (which became Australian small forward Alex Toohey from the Sydney Kings in Australia's National Basketball League as the 52th pick and senior shooting guard Jahmai Mashack from the University of Tennessee as the 59th and final pick respectively) alongside the 36th pick of the draft (which the Suns briefly acquired at the time before being swapped around to land with the Los Angeles Lakers, with the selection being junior small forward Adou Thiero from the Univerisity of Arkansas for the Lakers) being sent out in order to acquire the 31st and 41st picks of the draft as well. With the 31st pick starting the second round of the draft, the Minnesota Timberwolves would select junior power forward Rasheer Fleming from Saint Joseph's University for the Suns, while the 41st pick had the Golden State Warriors select super senior American-Dominican shooting guard Koby Brea from the University of Kentucky (previously the University of Dayton) for Phoenix. Fleming would be named an All-Atlantic 10 first team member in 2025 for his production with Saint Joseph's, while Brae was named a two-time Atlantic 10 Sixth Man of the Year winner in 2022 and 2024 for Dayton before being a two-time leader in three-point shooting for his final years played in both Dayton and Kentucky. After the draft ended, the Suns also agreed to pick up Appalachian State University's super senior power forward C. J. Huntley for a two-way contract.^[24][25]

Before the start of the season, the Suns sought to get themselves off of Bradley Beal's remaining two years of his contract, as well as looked at the interest in what they could get out of Kevin Durant in an effort on reorganizing the team after two failed seasons in a failed superteam effort of sorts with Devin Booker being around from the very start of it all. On June 22, it was announced that a deal with Kevin Durant would be made official on July 6 (which later became a record-breaking seven team trade) with them sending Durant to the Houston Rockets in exchange for rising star shooting guard Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the return of their own first round pick that they had initially lost in order to acquire Kevin Durant in the first place a few seasons ago, and multiple second round draft picks (including two selections from other teams for this year's draft and one pick in 2026) from Houston and two-way contract guard/forward Daeqwon Plowden from the Atlanta Hawks.^[5] However, in addition to Durant's trade that was announced before the 2025 NBA draft began and Bradley Beal from earlier on, both Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale have also been brought up into consideration for trade talks during the offseason period as well (with Nick Richards being mentioned as well following the conclusion of the draft), which further adds on to the notion of Phoenix looking to revamp their roster for this season. Outside of those trade efforts, the Suns also had free agency decisions on what to do with the non-guaranteed contracts of former Charlotte Hornets players Nick Richards, Cody Martin, and Vasilije Micić (the last of whom had this current season being held as a team option by the Suns instead of as a non-guaranteed deal due to the original deal he signed back when he was with the Oklahoma City Thunder during the 2023–24 season) before the 2025 NBA draft began; Micić would not only end up having his team option be picked up, but also be agreed to be involved in a trade alongside Phoenix's 29th pick in the draft (which became freshman small forward Liam McNeeley from the University of Connecticut) and the 2029 first round pick they acquired from the Utah Jazz all going (back) to the Hornets for center Mark Williams and the Suns' own 2029 second round pick coming (back) to Phoenix, which was first announced during the first round of the 2025 NBA draft before being made official on June 30.^[23] The Micić trade done on the first night of the draft combined with the intended selection of South Sudanese center Khaman Maluach left new questions on the status of Richards (after previously being considered a guaranteed contract extension for the team) and Martin staying on the Suns before June 30, but Richards would get his upcoming season fully guaranteed on his deadline on June 29, while Martin got his final year waived by Phoenix a day after that.^[26] Not only that, but they're also seeing the likes of Bol Bol, Tyus Jones, Damion Lee, Monté Morris, and Mason Plumlee all become unrestricted free agents, with two-way contracts Collin Gillespie, Jalen Bridges, and TyTy Washington Jr. all being restricted free agents for the Suns once free agency begins on June 30.

At the start of free agency, on June 30, Collin Gillespie would agree to sign a one-year deal (likely worth the veteran's minimum due to Phoenix's financial standings against the second-tax apron) for the Suns, getting a proper promotion for the team after previously signing a two-way contract last season, as well as agree to sign forward Nigel Hayes-Davis from Fenerbaçhe Beko out in Turkey to a one-year deal, while Tyus Jones would agree to sign a one-year deal with the Orlando Magic and Mason Plumlee would agree to sign a one-year deal to return to the Charlotte Hornets. Two days later, on July 2, Jalen Bridges would agree to sign a training camp deal with the Boston Celtics.^[27] A day after that, power forward C. J. Huntley would officially sign a two year two-way contract with the Suns after going undrafted from Appalachian State University in the 2025 NBA draft.^[28][29] On July 6, the Suns' trade involving superstar power forward Kevin Durant going to the Houston Rockets would be made official as a record-breaking seven team trade that also saw the Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, and Minnesota Timberwolves get involved also (mostly for second round selection swapping purposes), with the Suns also acquiring a second two-way contract player in guard/forward Daeqwon Plowden from the Hawks joining the Suns' original haul they got from Houston (and later other teams) as well, though Plowden got waived from the team later on following the trade's completion.^[30]

During the previous season, it was announced that the Suns and Brooklyn Nets would play two of their preseason games at the Venetian Arena in Macau, with the Suns being named the home team in those games.^[31] These games would represent a return to the Chinese mainland area for the NBA itself for the first time since the 2019 preseason period back when the Nets played against the Los Angeles Lakers before China boycotted the NBA for a few seasons due to comments that Daryl Morey (the Houston Rockets' general manager at the time) made involving the nation regarding the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests at the time.^[32][33] In addition to that, in early June 2025, the Los Angeles Lakers announced that their first preseason game would be at the Acrisure Arena against the Suns on October 3.^[34]