The Suns broke their 0-2 start on October 10, beating the Spurs 102-98 at home. Luke Kennard led with 20 points and Jalen Green added 18. The schedule then called for two games the following week, starting October 14 at the Spurs.
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That rematch went the other way. San Antonio beat Phoenix 103-123 on October 14, with Duop Reath scoring 8 points and Jamaree Bouyea 7. Two days later, on October 16, the Suns lost again, 116-119 to the Jazz at home. Dillon Brooks scored 18 and Jalen Green also had 18.
Mark Williams has still not played. He has been out since the September 11 shoulder and arm designation and reported surgery, and no return date has been given through October 17.
The day-to-day list kept turning over. Miles Bridges, listed day-to-day since October 8 with a right ankle and leg issue, was cleared October 16. Devin Booker, listed day-to-day for rest on October 10, was also cleared October 16. Dillon Brooks moved to day-to-day for rest on October 14 and was cleared October 16 as well, playing through his misdemeanor DUI charge from September 30, which still has no reported resolution. Collin Gillespie and Jalen Green were both listed day-to-day for rest on October 14 and both cleared October 16.
Two injury situations remain open. Luke Kennard was listed day-to-day with a left knee and leg issue on October 15, with no update since, after scoring 20 points in the Spurs win. Oso Ighodaro went day-to-day for rest on October 14, then on October 17 was updated to day-to-day with a hip and torso issue — still not cleared.
The roster changed for the first time this season on October 17, when the Suns waived Haywood Highsmith.
Open storylines
as of Sun, Oct 18They beat the Spurs 102-98 on October 10, Kennard 20 and Green 18, before losing the rematch 103-123 on October 14 and 116-119 to the Jazz on October 16.
He has been out since the September 11 shoulder and arm designation and reported surgery, with still no return date as of October 17.
He faces a misdemeanor DUI charge reported September 30, with no word yet on resolution, and he scored 18 in the October 16 loss to the Jazz after returning from a rest day-to-day listing.
He was listed day-to-day with a left knee and leg issue on October 15, with no update since, after scoring 20 in the Spurs win.
He went day-to-day for rest on October 14, then was updated October 17 to day-to-day with a hip and torso issue, still not cleared.
The projection
all 30 teams →The season depends most on Oso Ighodaro (8.4 wins without him), Collin Gillespie (8.1 wins without him), Devin Booker (7.6 wins without him), Jordan Goodwin (3.4 wins without him) and Luke Kennard (0.9 wins without him): on/off from 2025-26, details under Injuries. Computed Fri, Oct 23; the method is on the methods page.
The race
Western Conference · 81 games leftNext 5: vs Warriors0%at Thunder100%vs Nuggets0%at Warriors0%vs Trail Blazers100%opponents win 40% of their games on average
Standings and games back are from the official table; the pace is the current record carried over 82 games, nothing more.
Day by day
31 days on the recordEarlier on the record27 more days · back to Fri, Sep 11
The franchise
Every season since the start →Public record →Nowupdated 2026-10-19
Jordan Ott enters his first season as head coach, promoted from a Cleveland Cavaliers assistant job after Mike Budenholzer was fired once owner Mat Ishbia called the 2024-25 season a failure. General manager Brian Gregory replaced James Jones and pushed the organization toward a younger, more athletic build around Devin Booker, who signed a two-year, $145 million maximum extension through the 2029-30 season, the highest annual extension salary in NBA history. On July 6, 2025, the Suns sent Kevin Durant to Houston in a seven-team deal that brought back guards Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks, the draft rights to Khaman Maluach, forward Rasheer Fleming, guard Koby Brea, and a 2026 second-round pick; days later they bought out Bradley Beal to clear him to sign with the Clippers. Phoenix also added center Mark Williams in a separate trade with Charlotte. Last season the Suns went 45-37, with the offense ranking 17th in the league and the defense 9th, for a net rating of 1.4, 15th overall. The roster now runs 18 contracts deep at an average age of 25.6. Payroll sits at $216.2 million, above the $209.0 million first apron and the $200.4 million luxury tax line, with Booker ($57.1M), Green ($36.3M), Bridges ($22.8M) and Brooks ($20.0M) the biggest numbers. This month the team re-signed Oso Ighodaro to a three-year, $29 million extension and waived Haywood Highsmith.
Identity and rivalries137 words
Phoenix has long been a scoring team built around its backcourt, from the Steve Nash years through Chris Paul and Booker's run to the 2021 NBA Finals. Even without Durant, the roster is still built to score first, with Booker, Green and Brooks all able to carry an offense. The defining rivalries trace through the playoffs: the Suns beat the defending-champion Lakers in the 2021 first round and swept Denver that same postseason, then lost playoff series to the Nuggets in 2023 and the Mavericks in 2022 after leading both 2-0, and were swept by Minnesota in 2024. Milwaukee beat them in the 2021 Finals behind Giannis Antetokounmpo. With Durant and Beal gone, the question hanging over every one of those matchups now is whether this younger, retooled group can even be competitive against the same contenders.
Home, owners and numbers98 words
The Suns play in Phoenix, in an arena that opened as America West Arena in 1992 after the team spent its first 24 years at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum; the building was renovated in partnership with the city, completed in 2021. Ownership passed from Robert Sarver, who sold the Suns and the Mercury for a then-record $4 billion, to Mat Ishbia and his brother Justin, with the sale finalized February 7, 2023; at 43, Mat Ishbia became the second-youngest owner in league history. Former NFL receiver Larry Fitzgerald bought a minority ownership stake on January 22, 2020.
What they are chasing108 words
With Durant gone, the concrete target is simply getting back to the playoffs after the 2024-25 season ended at 36-46 and cost Budenholzer his job. Keeping Booker was the one certainty the front office locked down with his extension through 2029-30; what's unproven is whether the Green-Brooks-Williams-Bridges supporting cast can hold up, especially with Phoenix sitting above the $209.0 million first apron at $216.2 million in payroll. Fans are also arguing about Mark Williams, who still hadn't played into mid-October while recovering from a September shoulder and arm procedure, and about whether a team that opened 0-2 before beating San Antonio on October 10 can find any consistency.
The long view411 words
The Phoenix Suns joined the NBA in 1968 as an expansion team alongside the Milwaukee Bucks, the first major professional sports franchise in Arizona. An ownership group led by Karl Eller, with Donald Pitt, Don Diamond, Bhavik Darji, Marvin Meyer and Richard L. Bloch, paid a $2 million entry fee. The Arizona Republic ran a name-the-team contest that produced "Suns." Jerry Colangelo, 28, became the first general manager, with Johnny "Red" Kerr as coach; the team went 16-66 in its debut season. The Suns played 24 seasons at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the "Madhouse on McDowell," before moving to America West Arena, the "Purple Palace," in 1992. Colangelo later led a group that bought the franchise for $44 million in 1987-88.
Dick Van Arsdale, Alvan Adams and Paul Westphal carried the Suns to the 1976 NBA Finals, where Garfield Heard's buzzer-beating shot forced a third overtime in Game 5 before Boston won the series in six. Walter Davis anchored the roster through much of the 1980s, a decade also marked by a 1987 drug scandal involving players James Edwards, Jay Humphries and Grant Gondrezick.
The 1988 trade for Kevin Johnson, Mark West and Tyrone Corbin, sent by Cleveland for Larry Nance and Mike Sanders, turned the franchise around. With Tom Chambers, Dan Majerle and Jeff Hornacek, the Suns reached the playoffs a franchise-record thirteen straight seasons.
In 1992, Charles Barkley arrived from Philadelphia for Hornacek, Andrew Lang and Tim Perry, and won MVP in 1992-93 as Phoenix set a franchise record with 62 wins. The Suns reached the 1993 NBA Finals but lost to Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen's Chicago Bulls in six games.
Steve Nash returned as a free agent in 2004, teaming with Shawn Marion and Amar'e Stoudemire under coach Mike D'Antoni to tie the franchise's single-season win record in 2004-05. After a ten-year playoff drought, Chris Paul joined Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges to reach the 2021 NBA Finals, losing to the Milwaukee Bucks in six games. In 2023, the Suns added Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal.
Phoenix holds the NBA's fifth-best all-time winning percentage and the highest winning percentage among teams without a championship, with three Finals appearances and no title. Thirteen Hall of Famers have played for the Suns, and two, Barkley and Nash, won MVP in a Suns uniform. Broadcaster Al McCoy, hired in 1972 and a Gowdy Award winner, called all three Finals runs and remains the longest-tenured announcer in NBA history.