Mat Ishbia wants the Phoenix Suns framed as a team on the rise, and he said as much recently when he described them as “an ascending young team, getting better every day”. The problem is that the roster doesn’t really match the sales pitch.
The Suns do rank 14th in average roster age at 26.4 years old, but that number smooths over the reality at the top of the lineup. Devin Booker turns 30 later this month, and Dillon Brooks is already 30. Those are the team’s two best players.
The newest major addition, Miles Bridges, is 28. Jalen Green is 24, and Oso Ighodaro is the same age. Khaman Maluach is just 20, but leaning on him to make the roster look younger is a bit of a stretch when he is being used to lower the average age more than to define the team’s core.
The bench picture pushes the age up, too. Luke Kennard is 30, Jordan Goodwin is 27, and Collin Gillespie is in that same range.
Jamaree Bouyea is also the same age as those two, while Duop Reap and two-way addition Pat Spencer are both 30. Rookie Koa Peat, along with C.J.
Huntley, Rasheer Fleming, and even Ryan Dunn, help bring the average down, but those are fringe pieces for now, even if Dunn is making a push in preseason.
Outside of Maluach, there really isn’t a player under 24 on this roster who projects as a star. And even with Maluach, that label feels like a reach at this stage, given how raw he can look on many nights.
That’s why the next couple of seasons matter so much for this group. The Suns have a window to do real damage before the roster starts forcing harder decisions.
Brooks was extended this offseason, which means he could later become a trade chip if the team decides it needs a younger piece. The bigger reset button would be moving Booker, and Ishbia has made it clear he does not want to go there.
So the Suns may be trying to sell hope, but this is not a young team waiting to blossom. It’s an older core trying to win now, and that distinction matters.
In Other News...
Devin Booker Sees One Huge Change For These Suns
After a season that was thinned out by injuries, the Suns are heading into 2026-27 with a far different kind of problem: keeping everybody on the floor healthy enough to build something early. Devin Booker and Jordan Ott have both pointed to the teams overall health as a major shift from a year ago, and with preseason work underway, the group has looked closer to the version Phoenix hoped it would have when camp opened.
Luke Kennard and Oso Ighodaro are expected to be ready for the opener, which gives the Suns a better chance to get rolling with the rotation they want instead of patching things together on the fly. The real test arrives right away on the road against the Trail Blazers, where Phoenix will find out quickly whether that healthier roster can translate into a cleaner start and a steadier early-season rhythm. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Just Sent A Clear Message About Their Roster Priorities
The Suns made an early roster choice that says plenty about where their focus is heading, parting ways with Haywood Highsmith and keeping Jamaree Bouyea on a non-guaranteed deal. It is the kind of move teams make when they are weighing not just current depth, but also the shape of the roster a few months down the line, with both contracts set to become fully guaranteed in January.
Bouyeas retention points to Phoenix leaning into youth, development and flexibility while also taking Highsmiths injury history into account. For a team still sorting out the edges of its roster, that is a meaningful signal about which paths it wants to preserve as the season moves forward. [Read more 🡒]
Miles Bridges Could Decide How Far The Suns Really Go
Miles Bridges is already drawing attention in Phoenix before the regular season even begins, and not just because of the change of scenery from Charlotte. Former NBA head coach Tyrone Corbin said he believes Bridges can become a key player for the Suns in the 2026-27 season, a view that adds another layer to an offseason acquisition the team hopes will pay off as it tries to build on last years playoff trip under new coach Jordan Ott.
The timing matters because the Suns are heading into their opener after a 1-4 preseason, leaving plenty of room for questions about how quickly the pieces will fit together. Corbin also pointed to Devin Bookers maturity and offensive talent, a reminder that Phoenix still has top-end firepower, but the broader question is whether Bridges can become part of the answer when the games start to count and the Suns are judged on how far this group can really go. [Read more 🡒]