The Phoenix Suns have pushed all their chips in around Devin Booker, and that makes the coming season feel like a turning point they can’t afford to miss. After a 45-win season that ended in a first-round exit, anything less than a real step forward could force the kind of conversation nobody in The Valley wants to have: whether Booker’s time with the franchise has reached its end.
That’s the uncomfortable reality hanging over Phoenix. The Suns have spent aggressively in pursuit of immediate success, and with so many first-round picks already gone, the path out of a stalled situation may eventually run through Booker himself. If things go south, the return would need to be massive - future first-round picks and young players with upside, the kind of package a team like the Warriors could theoretically put together.
Golden State’s interest in Booker only adds another layer to the unease. The Warriors have long seemed to admire him, and Steve Kerr’s experience working with Booker on Team USA clearly left an impression. Tim Kawakami recently said on the Warriors Plus/Minus Podcast that the feeling appears to have been mutual.
Phoenix is still hoping the roster around Booker can hold together long enough to make all of this irrelevant. Miles Bridges could end up looking like the missing piece, even if the price tag was steep: a 2033 unprotected first-round pick. He’s an upgrade at the four from last season, but he’s also 28, comes with baggage away from the court, and will be eligible to seek an extension quickly.
Dillon Brooks gave the Suns exactly the kind of edge they needed next to Booker last time out, and his 20.2 points per game may already be close to his ceiling. Even so, he opens up new lineup options now that Mark Williams needs shoulder surgery. The problem is that Phoenix looks like a team built to squeeze whatever remains out of a veteran-heavy core, not one with much runway left.
There are useful pieces here. The Suns have competent veterans and strong bargain additions like Collin Gillespie and Jordan Goodwin.
But that sort of depth only carries a team so far, especially when opponents are no longer likely to be caught sleeping the way they were before. And with Williams out, pushing 19-year-old center prospect Khaman Maluach into a bigger role could go badly in a hurry.
No one in Phoenix wants to imagine Booker in another uniform, and Booker himself seems to feel the same way. Still, if the Suns fail to reach at least the second round, this could be the season that closes the book on this version of the team. Booker would get a shot to chase a title elsewhere, and the Suns could recoup some of the future they’ve spent so freely.
That’s what makes this year feel so stark: it may be do-or-die for Booker as the face of the franchise. And looking at the roster built around him, it’s hard not to worry about what the 2026-27 season might look like if this one goes sideways.
In Other News...
Suns Suddenly Have A Real Center Debate They Cant Ignore
Mark Williams absence has turned the Suns center spot into a real roster question, and it is one they will have to answer without a lot of time to spare. With the big man sidelined by a torn labrum, Phoenix is left to sort through Oso Ighodaro and Khaman Maluach as its remaining options in the middle, a spot that suddenly matters a lot more for a team trying to settle its rotation and keep its front line functional.
Ighodaro brings one set of strengths, Maluach another, and the Suns now have to decide which direction best fits the way they want to play while Williams recovers. Even before the injury, the center room looked like a place where development and fit would matter as much as raw size, and now that discussion has become unavoidable for Phoenix as it looks to keep pace in the weeks ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Look Tougher Now But One Roster Concern Still Looms
The Suns spent the offseason trying to make the roster tougher, and the moves show it. Trading for Miles Bridges added another physical wing, while Collin Gillespie and Jordan Goodwin were brought back on long-term deals to stabilize the group around a perimeter-heavy core. From the outside, Phoenix looks built to lean on toughness and versatility, with Dillon Brooks, Devin Booker and Jalen Green carrying a lot of the shot-making load.
Still, there is a real issue sitting in the middle of the roster, and it is one that could shape how far this group can go. Phoenixs center depth is already under scrutiny after Mark Williams injury, leaving the Suns thinner than they would like in a spot that is hard to patch over once the season starts. An anonymous NBA scout pointed to Bridges physical style as a plus, but the broader question is whether the Suns have enough size and balance to hold up over time. [Read more 🡒]