The Suns have spent the offseason adding pieces and keeping familiar faces, but the biggest hole on the roster is still staring them in the face: they still do not have a high-level point guard next to Devin Booker.
Phoenix can at least say it brought back Collin Gillespie, a floor general who was recently described as the second-best player on the team last season relative to expectations. That matters, but the role that makes the most sense for him is as the sixth man, not as the answer to the Suns’ biggest backcourt problem.
Jordan Goodwin is back too, and he can handle the offense in short stretches. Even so, the team already moved on from him once, and there is a clear reason for that.
He is at his best when he can focus on being a defensive nuisance without also having to organize everything on offense. Jamaree Bouyea fits in a similar lane, which means he does not really change the picture either.
Pat Spencer is the wild-card addition, but as a two-way player, his impact is naturally limited. He is nowhere close to the level of point guard Booker had during Phoenix’s run to the 2021 NBA Finals with Chris Paul.
And that is the issue. The Suns still have not replaced Paul since sending him away in the Bradley Beal deal, a move the franchise is still dealing with and will keep dealing with for the rest of the decade.
There was a chance to think bigger this summer. When the Portland Trail Blazers gave up so little to get Ja Morant, he looked like a player Phoenix could have chased. His off-court issues and injury history are obvious concerns, but those kinds of questions do not seem to carry the same weight in The Valley anymore.
Owner Mat Ishbia and the front office talked about continuity before abandoning that idea to trade for Miles Bridges, who has had his own problems away from the court. Bridges is also in line for an extension, so this was never a simple cost-saving move. If anything, Morant might have been easier to sell on taking less money on his next deal.
That may be part of why the Trail Blazers made their move, especially with owner Tom Dundon now in place and not eager to spend. However it shakes out, Phoenix’s refusal to solve the point guard position leaves Booker carrying more creation responsibility than he should. That is not a formula that has produced lasting success.
In Other News...
Bradley Beal Talk Is Reopening A Frustrating Suns Debate
Bradley Beals Suns tenure has become one of those files that seems settled until somebody opens it back up. Sam Vecenie of The Athletic recently argued that Phoenix got more out of Beal than the broader memory suggests, pointing to his shot-making and the effort he brought on defense even while he was never positioned as one of the teams top three options. For a fan base that watched the partnership unfold alongside Devin Booker, the debate is really about whether the on-paper disappointment matched the on-court value.
The frustration around Beal in Phoenix was always bigger than any one game or stretch, though, because the injuries and the fit never quite lined up the way the Suns needed. Vecenie even floated the idea that Beal could still help a contender in a different role, potentially as a bench piece for a team like the Miami Heat on a minimum deal. For the Suns, that kind of discussion keeps circling back to the same uncomfortable question: was the problem Beal himself, or the way the roster asked him to fit? [Read more 🡒]
Jordan Goodwin Meant More To The Suns Than Most Fans Realized
Jordan Goodwin spent much of the 2025-26 season becoming one of the Suns more quietly important pieces, the kind of player whose value shows up in the details before it shows up in the conversation. Over 70 games, he made real strides in scoring, shot the ball more efficiently and lifted his three-point percentage, all while fitting into the sort of role that can stabilize a team trying to find its footing.
His absence in the playoffs was harder to ignore. Goodwin was sidelined early by a calf injury and missed most of the first-round series against Oklahoma City, a matchup Phoenix lost in four straight, and the Suns never quite looked the same without the energy and dependability he had brought during their turnaround run. For a team that needed every usable rotation piece it could get, losing one of its most trusted contributors became a bigger deal than many fans seemed to realize. [Read more 🡒]
Mike DAntoni Just Reinforced Why Suns Fans Should Trust Jordan Ott
Mike DAntonis latest stop on the Suns After Dark podcast offered a reminder that Jordan Otts rise in the coaching ranks didnt happen in a vacuum. The former Phoenix coach talked about their time together on the Brooklyn Nets staff and came away sounding convinced that Ott already had the kind of offensive feel and preparation that teams want in a lead assistant, the sort of behind-the-scenes credibility that matters when a franchise is trying to build something durable.
For Suns fans, the endorsement lands at a useful moment. Ott has already started to look like a stabilizing presence as the organization works through recent roster changes and other moving parts, and hearing a coach with DAntonis background speak so confidently about him only adds to the sense that Phoenix has found someone equipped for the long haul. The bigger question now is how far that trust can carry once the Suns start putting the pieces together on the floor. [Read more 🡒]