The NBA keeps getting younger, and the Suns are leaning the other way.
Phoenix heads into the 2026-27 season with a roster that still depends heavily on players in their 30s, even as the league around them tilts harder toward youth, speed and length. Devin Booker is about to turn 30 later this month, and he’ll join Dillon Brooks, Luke Kennard, Pat Spencer and Duop Reath in that age group. For the Suns, 30 is now the top end of the roster.
That stands out more and more in today’s NBA. LeBron James, now 41, is still pushing for another title run with the Philadelphia 76ers, but he’s becoming the exception that proves the rule. The broader league is moving fast in the opposite direction.
Kirk Goldsberry laid out the shift in a video posted to Instagram: nearly 55 percent of players in the NBA today are 25 or younger. Go back to 1999-00, and that number was 38 percent.
At the turn of the century, 34.2 percent of the league was 30 or older. A season ago, that figure had dropped to 17.5 percent.
The reasons are easy to see. The modern game rewards pace, athleticism and positionless versatility, and that tends to squeeze out older players unless they’re still stars. Deep bench veterans still matter, but the list of rotational difference-makers in their 30s keeps shrinking.
For Phoenix, that creates a very specific kind of pressure. Booker and Brooks are still the main offensive engines, even with Miles Bridges, 28, and a healthy Jalen Green, 24, expected to ease the load. But the Suns’ core still leans on the very age range the league is steadily leaving behind.
More than 80 percent of NBA players are 29 or younger now, which makes durability for older players the exception rather than the expectation. James is still defying that trend. Most others aren’t.
Mat Ishbia has made it clear he wants to keep building around Booker in The Valley. But the clock is real. Booker already reached the NBA Finals in 2021, when Phoenix lost to Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks in six games, and the Suns know the path back gets narrower as the league keeps getting younger.
Phoenix’s roster reflects that tension. Ten players are 25 or younger, five are in the 26-29 range, and five are older than 30, including Booker.
The Suns are hoping Khaman Maluach and rookie Koa Peat can raise the ceiling, along with Green. Even if that happens, though, the playoff push still depends on the veterans carrying the weight.
That’s the reality of the modern NBA: youth is the default, and older teams have less margin for error.
In Other News...
Duop Reath Is Giving The Suns A Tough Roster Decision
The Suns have spent preseason showing off more than just their stars, and one of the quieter developments has been the play of Duop Reath. Signed to a training camp deal, the third-string center has fit into a bench group that already looks deeper than expected, giving Phoenix something it can never quite have enough of: another capable big man who can hold his own while the regulars rest.
Reaths performance has also put the front office in an awkwardly familiar spot, because a strong camp can turn a low-cost addition into a roster debate. He could be a candidate for the final roster or a two-way contract, and the Suns will have to decide whether his value in Phoenix outweighs what he might have meant elsewhere, especially with other teams around the league dealing with their own frontcourt losses. [Read more 🡒]
Ryan Dunn Has A Real Suns Opening But One Problem Remains
Ryan Dunn has gotten an early look in the Suns preseason rotation, and that alone says plenty about where the team sees his opportunity right now. In the first two preseason games, he has been the preferred option over Rasheer Fleming in the early substitution pattern, checking in during the first quarter while head coach Jordan Ott takes a closer look at how Dunn might grow into a bench role built around defense and complementary shooting.
The appeal is clear: Dunns defensive ability has already stood out, and the Suns are evaluating whether he can become the kind of three-and-D piece that fits alongside the teams shooters. The lingering issue is just as clear, though, because his three-point shot has not yet taken the kind of preseason step the Suns need to see, which leaves Fleming as a possible alternative if Dunn does not separate himself. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Face One Huge Early Question Around Jalen Green And Booker
Devin Booker is already the obvious center of gravity for Phoenix, but the conversation around him this summer has shifted from simple star status to usage. Bill Simmons and Rob Mahoney of The Ringer pointed to Booker as the Suns player to watch entering the season, noting his stated desire to shoot more and just enjoy the game. For a team trying to find its footing around him, that is not a small detail.
Jalen Green adds another layer to the equation. As the Suns second-highest-paid player, he is expected to have a major say in how cleanly Booker can get to his spots and how much pressure the offense can put on defenses. The intrigue for Phoenix is not just whether Booker can handle a bigger scoring load, but how the rest of the roster, Green included, helps make that possible. [Read more 🡒]