The Phoenix Suns are heading into the 2026-27 season with plenty to prove, and the latest projections still aren’t giving them much credit.
After an offseason makeover, Phoenix remains stuck in the middle of the pack in the eyes of both The Athletic and ESPN. The message from the projections is pretty clear: the Suns have to show their edge again before the league starts buying in.
Law Murray of The Athletic placed Phoenix at No. 18 in his latest power rankings, slotting them into a tier he labeled “The Bubble.” The Suns dropped two spots from last month and landed in a group that also included the Denver Nuggets at No.
11, Toronto Raptors at No. 12, Atlanta Hawks at No.
13, Miami Heat at No. 14, Indiana Pacers at No.
15, Orlando Magic at No. 16 and Portland Trail Blazers at No. 17.
Murray wrote that, “The Suns exceeded expectations because they played harder than their opponents most of last season, with a Dillon Brooks-sized chip on their shoulder. They got zero playoff wins out of it. They’re the most vulnerable of last season’s playoff teams, though they’re in the right conference to see how that works out.
"Phoenix upgraded by acquiring Miles Bridges in exchange for Royce O’Neale and Grayson Allen. Kennard conveniently replaces Allen, but this deal only works if Bridges makes his 3s (he’s a worse shooter than O’Neale) and soaks up enough touches to allow Brooks to focus more energy on defending at a higher level with fewer touches (good luck with that). Drafting Koa Peat also gives Phoenix a size upgrade on Coffey.
"There are many ways the Suns could play, but many of them seem to lack efficiency offensively.”
Right behind Phoenix in Murray’s “Not the Tier to Fear” group were the Charlotte Hornets at No. 19, Golden State Warriors at No. 20 and LA Clippers at No. 21.
ESPN’s NBA Summer Forecast wasn’t much kinder. It projected the Suns to finish 42-40 and land as the No. 8 seed in the West.
That forecast didn’t shake up the top of the conference much at all. The same eight teams from last season filled the top eight spots, with only a few changes: the San Antonio Spurs moved ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder for No. 1, the LA Lakers slid from No. 4 to No. 6, and the Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves each climbed one slot.
Phoenix finished last regular season as the No. 7 seed before slipping to No. 8 for the playoffs after losing to the Portland Trail Blazers in the play-in. In ESPN’s forecast, Portland stayed at No. 7, while the Utah Jazz were the only new team in the play-in picture at No.
- The Los Angeles Clippers, slotted at No. 11, were left out.
Now the Suns are staring at a big Year 2 under Jordan Ott. If they can match or build on the surprising 45-37 record they posted in 2025-26, it would go a long way toward changing the conversation. But the rough finish to last season has clearly left a mark on how they’re being viewed.
Miles Bridges is going to be a major part of that equation, and Phoenix is also hoping for better health after what the article describes as the team being beat up for most of the past three seasons. The expectation is that Bridges should fit if the Suns’ system keeps working the way it did last year, but the team still needs steadiness and a cleaner finish this time around.
The outlook leaves Phoenix in a familiar spot: not quite trusted, not quite dismissed. The Suns are being projected as an eight- or nine-seed team right now, though there’s also a path to something better if the offseason changes click and the rest of the West shifts the right way.
In Other News...
Mat Ishbias Suns Future Looks Clearer After Ownership Questions
Recent chatter around Mat Ishbias long-term place in Phoenix has quieted down for now, even after his company reported a sizable second-quarter loss. The Suns owner has continued to operate like someone invested in making the franchise more competitive and more appealing to fans, from keeping key pieces in place to bringing in new talent as the organization tries to build on its current direction.
For a team that has spent plenty of time under a microscope, the stability matters. There had been questions about whether the financial hit elsewhere could create pressure around the Suns, but the latest reporting points the other way, with Ishbia not facing a real threat to give up control at this stage. For Phoenix, the more immediate takeaway is that the ownership picture looks steady enough to keep the focus where it has been - on basketball, roster building and the push to make the arena and the experience around it feel like a destination again. [Read more 🡒]
Oso Ighodaro Faces A Defining Suns Season For His Role
Oso Ighodaro enters this Suns season in a spot that says as much about opportunity as it does about depth. He is still trying to carve out a larger role, and the path is there if he can show he can handle more than one job, including time at forward. For a team constantly balancing fit and flexibility, that kind of versatility matters, especially when the frontcourt is still taking shape around him.
The evaluation is bigger than one players stat line. Phoenix is looking at Ighodaro as someone who could grow into a more meaningful piece if he keeps developing, and his long-term place with the club may come down to how much progress he makes now. The comparison to Ryan Dunn is part of that bigger picture too, since the Suns are sorting through which young pieces look like keepers and which ones may leave the roster looking different before long. [Read more 🡒]
Why The Suns Could Be Set Up For A Real Jump
Phoenix finished the 2025-26 season at 45-37 under Jordan Ott, and the roster looks built to take another step if the pieces mesh the way the front office expects. The Suns kept most of their core intact and added Miles Bridges, Luke Kennard and Koa Peat, giving the group more depth and a different look around its established scorers.
The bigger question is how smoothly those additions settle into the rotation and whether the new mix can cover what changed elsewhere on the roster. There are reasonable pathways for the Suns to move up in the Western Conference picture next season, but the margin will depend on how well the lineup balance comes together when the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]