Bill Simmons may have meant it as a joke, but the Phoenix Suns have somehow walked right into one of the league’s spiciest labels.
On his annual over/under podcast at The Ringer, Simmons tossed the Suns into a tongue-in-cheek ranking of the five teams most likely to start a mass brawl this season, putting Phoenix at No. 2.
He was speaking about the Grizzlies’ edge when he veered off and laid it out bluntly: "Number one, Memphis. Number two, Phoenix.
Dillon Brooks just by himself makes them number two."
That’s the kind of line that sticks, especially when it lands on a team that has quietly built a reputation for being a miserable matchup night after night. Brooks is the obvious ignition point - and preseason action has already done nothing to change that - but the Suns’ identity goes well beyond one volatile personality.
Phoenix hasn’t drawn a ton of national attention since the Kevin Durant trade, and last season’s 45 wins have not exactly become a league-wide talking point. Still, after just one year under head coach Jordan Ott, the Suns are being described as a team you have to brace for physically if things get chippy.
Brooks deserves plenty of the credit for that image because of how easily he gets under opponents’ skin. But he’s not doing it alone. Jordan Goodwin has become the defensive secret sauce in The Valley, Collin Gillespie has never shied away from contact, and Khaman Maluach - still new to the group - brings a massive frame that makes any scrap look like a bad idea.
Even Pat Spencer, a two-way guard, acknowledged before the season that the fit made sense because the Suns’ style matched his own in-your-face approach. That’s the edge Phoenix is carrying now: the kind that can annoy, irritate, and wear teams down without necessarily crossing the line.
And if the “most likely to brawl” label tells only part of the story, it’s because this group is also building something sharper on the other end.
Simmons’ rough-and-tumble framing masks the fact that Phoenix is becoming a better offensive team too. Jalen Green being healthy and handling more point guard work helps, but the real jolt comes from the offseason addition of Miles Bridges.
Bridges can get his own shot and score from all three levels, and that gives the Suns another layer. Add in Maluach flashing a 3-pointer at Summer League and again in preseason with a jumper that looks more reliable, and there’s a case that he could be exactly what Booker needs to help shake his own slump from deep.
So yes, Phoenix is getting tagged as a team nobody wants to tangle with. But the bigger message may be that the Suns are more than just a hard-nosed group with an edge. They’re quietly assembling an offense that could surprise people, too - and they don’t appear inclined to take a step back for anyone, Simmons included.
In Other News...
Suns Are Facing A Brutal Question About Their Contender Status
The Western Conference has already started to feel like a sorting exercise, and John Hollinger is adding the Suns to a difficult tier. In his latest projection, he sees Phoenix among several familiar names that could end up with losing records, a stark reminder that reputation alone does not guarantee contender status in a conference where the margins can disappear fast.
The concern around Phoenix is less about one bad stretch and more about the broader shape of the roster, with aging players and injury risk looming over a group that still expects to matter. Hollingers read on the West also includes the Warriors as a possible transition team and the Mavericks facing uncertainty around Kyrie Irvings future, which only sharpens the question for the Suns: if this version of the roster cannot stay healthy and cohesive, what exactly is the path back into the race? [Read more 🡒]
Suns Suddenly Have A Luke Kennard Question Before The Opener
Luke Kennards preseason with the Suns took an unwelcome turn in the fourth exhibition game against the Spurs, when the veteran guard went down with a left knee injury and had to leave after limping off the floor. He did not return, and the timing adds a little extra uncertainty with Phoenix closing in on the opener and still trying to settle its rotation.
Jordan Ott called it a sore left knee and said Kennard was in good spirits afterward, which is at least a small measure of relief for a team that values his shooting and spacing. Even so, any knee issue this close to the start of the season is worth watching, especially for a Suns group that is still sorting out how its backcourt pieces fit once the games begin to count. [Read more 🡒]
How A Former Suns Coach Is Shaping The Wizards Top Pick
Kevin Youngs fingerprints are all over A.J. Dybantsas rise, and that matters to Suns followers because Young spent time on Phoenixs bench before taking the lessons he picked up there to BYU. Working with the top pick of the Washington Wizards, he leaned on Suns schemes and drills while putting a heavy emphasis on pick-and-roll decision-making, the sort of processing that usually separates a talented scorer from a player ready to handle NBA defenses.
Dybantsa has already drawn comparisons to Kevin Durant and Devin Booker for the way he can attack the floor, which only raises the intrigue around how his game will translate at the next level. The lingering question is the same one that follows many gifted wings coming out of college: his efficiency, especially from three-point range and at the free-throw line, still has to catch up if the rest of the package is going to play the way the Wizards hope. [Read more 🡒]