The Suns got lucky by missing out on Jeremy Sochan.
Phoenix was connected to the forward last season after the San Antonio Spurs let him go, but Sochan chose the New York Knicks instead. At the time, that looked like a miss for the Suns, who seemed to lose out on a young wing for almost nothing. Now, after his latest waiver, the decision looks a lot better in hindsight.
Sochan, who is still only 23, was cut loose by the Portland Trail Blazers after they signed him to a camp deal over the summer. That’s a sharp drop for a player the Suns had circled, especially for a team with plenty of lead guards and obvious openings where Sochan, in theory, could have fit.
Instead of wondering what he might have become in Phoenix, the Suns got useful minutes from other players. Oso Ighodaro earned a bigger role and is now trending toward opening the season as the starting center. He’s also put himself in line for an early extension on his rookie contract, and if that happens, it would be well earned.
Ryan Dunn also benefited from Sochan not landing in The Valley. If Sochan had arrived, Dunn almost certainly would have been the one squeezed out by now.
Instead, he made a strong case in preseason that he can help Coach Jordan Ott’s rotation. Dunn still has plenty to clean up, and consistency remains the biggest issue, but the idea of pushing aside a former first-round pick for Sochan no longer looks wise, especially with Sochan back on the waiver wire.
Jordan Goodwin is another piece who found room to grow. He showed he can share the floor with other guards and handle bigger matchups, and that helped him secure a new contract to return to Phoenix this offseason. Sochan and Goodwin would not have been competing directly for the same minutes, but Goodwin’s versatility would have been harder to maximize in a different setup.
Phoenix has already cut its roster to 14 players, and Sochan could still be added later in theory. But the Suns have also shown they can uncover affordable help that actually fits, like Pat Spencer and Duop Reath.
Sochan is not really a major “what if?” for this team.
Right now, missing on him looks like a win.
In Other News...
Suns Face An Oso Ighodaro Decision With Bigger Rotation Stakes
Oso Ighodaro said his camp is in discussions with the Suns on a potential contract extension, adding another layer to a season in which his role has already grown more important. Drafted in 2024 and signed to a four-year deal, Ighodaro is now extension-eligible this league year, with the deadline nearing for Phoenix to decide whether to include his fourth-year option.
The timing matters because Ighodaro has been competing for a starting lineup spot after a teammates injury opened the door. A likely three-year extension has been mentioned as the framework, and for the Suns, the decision is about more than one contract, it folds into how they want to shape the rotation and who they trust to handle a larger piece of it going forward. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Moving On From Haywood Highsmith Says Plenty About This Roster
The Suns decision to waive Haywood Highsmith is another reminder of how quickly the edges of a roster can shift once the offseason movement is over and the counting games are about to begin. Highsmith had a small window in Phoenix, appearing in nine games and even getting some playoff run, but the front offices bigger-picture moves changed the shape of the roster and left less room for a player whose value was tied to filling in the margins.
Highsmith now heads into the market as a familiar sort of candidate for teams looking for defense, energy and depth without asking for a major commitment. For Phoenix, though, the move says plenty about where the Suns see their current rotation and how much confidence they have in the pieces they brought in this summer. A player can do enough to stick for a stretch, and still become expendable once the roster math starts to harden. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Win-Now Approach Just Pulled Kevin Durant Into A Blame Debate
When owner Matt Ishbia recently talked about the Suns win-now push, he seemed to be making a broader point about team building: loading up on elite talent alone does not automatically deliver a championship. In Phoenix, though, any discussion of that philosophy is going to land with extra weight because it inevitably circles back to Kevin Durant, the sort of star the Suns acquired to raise their ceiling and accelerate their timeline.
Durants response on Twitter showed how quickly those comments could be read as something more personal than they may have been intended. From the outside, Ishbia appeared to be reflecting on the limits of a roster-construction strategy rather than assigning blame to Durant specifically, but the exchange still underscores the pressure around a Suns team that has staked so much on star power and expectations. [Read more 🡒]