Valley Heat Check: Six Numbers That Define the Suns Before Tip-Off

Net rating 1.4. Last season Phoenix posted a 114.2 offensive rating and a 112.9 defensive rating, for a net of 1.4 over 45 wins. That is the profile of a team slightly better than average on both ends, not a contender. It also predates a full season under Jordan Ott.

Booker's 26.1. Devin Booker averaged 26.1 points and 6.0 assists last season, and he is paid $57.1M to do it again. His 33.0 percent from deep is the soft spot. The volume still reads like a star's. The shooting says he carried more than the spacing around him could support.

Green's 32 games. Jalen Green appeared in 32 games last season at 17.8 points a night, and he holds the second-biggest contract at $36.3M. The scoring rate earns the money. A 32-game sample does not prove he can hold that output across a full season.

Gillespie at 40.1. Collin Gillespie played 80 games and hit 40.1 percent from three, the best mark among Phoenix's top scorers last season. That makes him the most reliable shooter Booker has. It does not turn a 12.7-point guard into a second option.

Payroll of $213.8M. Payroll sits at $213.8M, over the $200.4M luxury tax line, and Booker, Green, Miles Bridges and Dillon Brooks hold the four largest deals. Brooks scored 20.2 a night across 56 games last season on $20.0M, a fair return. The cost shows up in flexibility, not in the standings.

Picks mostly spoken for. Houston owns the Suns' 2027 first-rounder, and the 2028, 2029 and 2030 firsts are all swaps. Phoenix has little draft capital to trade for help in midseason. That limits the front office. It does not settle whether this roster is good enough now.