The Phoenix Suns made their name on defense a season ago. Three games into 2026-27, that identity looks shaky.
After a surprising 45-win run under first-year head coach Jordan Ott, Phoenix took a massive leap on the defensive end, climbing from 28th in defensive rating the season before to 10th and turning that improvement into a playoff berth. Early this year, though, the numbers have gone the wrong direction fast.
Through three games, the Suns are giving up 123.7 points per game, which leaves them 26th in the NBA after finishing sixth in that category a season ago. Only the Brooklyn Nets, Sacramento Kings, New Orleans Pelicans, and Chicago Bulls have been worse so far, and those four teams are a combined 1-12.
The opening-week warning sign came in the season opener, when Phoenix was blown out by the Portland Trail Blazers, 41 points on the wrong end of a 43-12 first-quarter hole. That kind of start is a tough place to build anything from, and it fit the larger theme: the Suns’ defensive edge has been hard to find.
Steals were a big part of last season’s turnaround. Phoenix finished fourth in steals per game, but this season the Suns are averaging nearly one fewer steal per game early on and sit 19th in the league in that category.
The problems don’t stop there. Opponents are shooting 48 percent from the field against Phoenix, a number that only five teams in the league have been worse at allowing.
From the arc, it’s been even uglier. The Suns are giving up 40.7 percent on 3-pointers, and only the San Antonio Spurs, at 41.7 percent, have been worse defending the perimeter.
That number isn’t going to stay that high forever, but it’s still a brutal place to start. And Phoenix has given up those looks while also struggling on the defensive glass. The Suns are averaging just 27.7 defensive rebounds per game, which puts them ahead of only the Golden State Warriors in that area.
That’s a troubling combination, especially if the trade-off was supposed to be extra bodies crashing the boards in exchange for perimeter protection. Instead, the Suns are getting beat in multiple ways.
They’re not forcing as many turnovers as they did a year ago, they’re having trouble finishing defensive possessions, and the injury absences of Mark Williams and Oso Ighodaro haven’t helped matters on the glass.
Meanwhile, the offense has had its own issues, with Devin Booker’s roller coaster scoring and ice-cold shooting from Gillespie early on. But the defense is the bigger red flag right now. If Ott and his staff can’t pull the Suns back toward league-average in several key areas, last season’s success could start to look less like a foundation and more like a one-year spike.
In Other News...
Suns Suddenly Have Real Trade Leverage With West Contender
Oklahoma Citys 4-0 start has done little to ease the strain of losing Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace for the long haul, and that reality has quietly created an opening for Phoenix. The Thunder have the kind of depth and ambition that usually keeps them in the market for help, and from the Suns point of view, that makes a couple of their rotation pieces suddenly look more valuable than they did a week ago.
Ryan Dunn and Jordan Goodwin fit the sort of profile a contender can talk itself into when injuries start to squeeze the margins, especially if Oklahoma City wants to patch specific holes without reshaping its core. For Phoenix, the bigger point is not that a deal is close, but that a team with clear needs and an obvious timeline has given the Suns real leverage if those conversations keep moving. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Are Already Wasting Devin Bookers Best Work
Through three games, the Suns have already leaned hard on Devin Bookers scoring to keep themselves afloat, and that has become its own early-season storyline in Phoenix. At 1-2, the bigger issue is not Bookers output, but how often the team seems to be asking him to cover for a roster and rotation that do not always make his job easier.
The criticism around the Suns has quickly turned toward roster construction and coaching choices, with outside voices pointing to recent trades and lineup tweaks that appear to have pulled them away from the formula that worked better last season. For a team built around Bookers prime years, the concern is obvious: if this is the way the opening stretch looks, it raises the question of whether Phoenix is making the most of its best player at the very moment it can least afford to waste him. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Are Feeling Oso Ighodaros Absence More Than Expected
Oso Ighodaros oblique injury has become more than a temporary lineup note for the Suns. The second-round pick has been out with no clear return date, and the effects have shown up in ways that go beyond the box score, with Phoenix losing some of the extra ball movement and defensive activity he helped provide. His value has been tied as much to organization and versatility as to any scoring output, which is part of why his absence has been noticeable.
What has stood out is how much the Suns leaned on Ighodaro as a connective piece on both ends. His absence has come with drops in assist and steal percentages, a sign that Phoenix has missed his ability to facilitate offense and switch defensively across different matchups. For a team that wants flexible, reliable minutes from every spot on the floor, replacing that kind of presence is not as simple as plugging in another body. [Read more 🡒]