The official first-half of the 2024-25 NBA season is now complete – and the Phoenix Suns have been confronted by issues that the previous rendition didn’t even face.
Phoenix sits at 11th in the conference with a 26-28 record, despite posting one of the highest payrolls in NBA history. Despite bringing in a title-winning head coach. Despite making roster moves along the margins that were designed to fit the context of this roster better compared to last season.
None of this has worked in a consistent manner – as Phoenix has taken a step back in nearly every major statistical category and is a paltry 11-19 against teams that are posting a .500 or better record.
There are many reasons for this unconvincing and even concerning start to the season – few of them can be attributed to head coach Mike Budenholzer.
Budenholzer has done a great job of creating an identity for the Suns, as his philosophy has given Phoenix a desired shot chart on both ends. Marked growth by Ryan Dunn and Bol Bol are obvious points of pride for the coaching staff as well.
As for a point of contention – the move for Tyus Jones has somewhat backfired in the grand scheme of this season.
Jones got off to a blazing start as the starting PG of the team, but his general lack of physicality on defense makes him an unfortunate casualty on that end – the Suns’ dip from nearly league average to bottom third is extremely conspicuous.
That dip has tanked Phoenix from solid playoff squad to a team that is battling to just make the play-in.
While the Suns’ offense has improved in specific aspects – three-point volume and turnovers in particular – it is less efficienct as a whole. It has been unable to hold up with the dip in defensive production.
The moves that have been made at the center position is another point of deep reflection moving forward.
The Suns held onto Jusuf Nurkic for too long. The Mason Plumlee signing gave the franchise a defined floor at the backup spot, but the veteran has clear limitations at this stage that makes it difficult to gift him consistent minutes.
Nick Richards has flashed moments of brilliance as a member of the franchise – as has rookie Oso Ighodaro – but neither appears ready to handle heavy minutes on a strong team.
It feels as if the Suns have wasted another year of Kevin Durant and Devin Booker as a pairing – that is just an unfortunate result of a two-plus year experiment where the franchise had difficulty finding the right coach/roster while also working around the second apron restrictions.
In totality, this season has been a massive disappointment. All of the moves that were made in the past off-season were with the grand design of Phoenix being able to rectify the mistakes that were made in the previous season – and unfortunately none of it has worked.
The Suns now move into the final 28 games of the season with what is widely described as the toughest remaining schedule across the league – and they must finish 23-5 to match last season’s 49-win total.