By The Numbers: The Suns Before Tip-Off

$216.2 million payroll. Phoenix carries a $216.2 million payroll this season, above the $200.4 million luxury tax line and the league's first apron. That number does not move once camp opens — it only tells you how little room the front office has to add talent without subtracting salary first.

26.1 points, 33.5 minutes. Devin Booker averaged 26.1 points, 6.0 assists and a 33.0 percent clip from three across 64 games last season, at 33.5 minutes a night. He is still the only proven All-Star scorer on this roster, and last season's workload shows exactly how much Phoenix already leans on him.

45-37 and a +1.4 net rating. Last season Phoenix went 45-37, with a 114.2 offensive rating, a 112.9 defensive rating and a net rating of 1.4. That is a middle-of-the-pack margin, not a preview — this year's roster, coach and health picture are all different from the one that posted it.

One first-rounder owed outright. Of the picks Phoenix currently controls through 2029, the 2027 first-rounder is owed outright to Houston and the 2029 second-rounder to New York, with every other first and second in between tied up in a swap. There is little draft-day flexibility left to fix a mistake.

0-0, zero games played. The Suns' record still reads 0-0 because the 2026-27 season has not started. Every scoring, minutes and rating figure in this piece belongs to last season — the first real look at this roster together waits for preseason, starting October 5 at Detroit.

24.4 points down the stretch. Over the final five games of last season, Booker averaged 24.4 points and scored 20 or more in four of them. It is the most recent sign of what he still produces alone when a shorthanded Phoenix offense needs someone to create.