As part of a series of articles produced exclusively for Sky Sports by NBA superfans from across the UK and Ireland, we look at the state of play for every franchise with pre-season now under way ahead of the new campaign
Tuesday 18 October 2022 08:14, UK
Suns fanatic Matt Elvy assesses the 2021-22 season for his team, and then casts an eye ahead to the 2022-23 campaign for Phoenix.
My name is Matt and I am a Phoenix Suns fan. I have been a fan of the team since the early 2000s, back when they had Jason Kidd leading the team.
You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram - @SunsFansUK - and read my latest blog posts on www.sunsfansuk.com. My aim is to build a community for the Suns' relatively small UK fanbase as for years, like many other fellow fans, I thought there were only a couple of us. I share all the latest news from the Suns, start conversations about what's going on with the team, run polls on gamedays and post anything else Suns related that pops into my head. For example, I currently have an off-season free agency/trade tracker. Come get involved!
As to where my love came from, I was introduced to basketball when I was nine years old and the person that introduced me to it supported the Suns. Not knowing anything about the sport I simply followed suit. As I got to secondary school and had the internet at home, the Suns drafted Amare Stoudemire. I followed his rookie season, jumping on NBA.com at every opportunity I could. We then signed future two-time MVP Steve Nash and the 'seven seconds or less' Suns were born. Suddenly, I was a fan of the most exciting team in basketball.
Well, for me it's Devin Booker. Being a Suns draftee, it's been so fun watching him develop from a bench player to one of the best players in the league. I have always loved high-scoring tw-guards and Booker fits that mould perfectly. Though he comes across cocky at times, he has that superstar confidence that trickles down through to the rest of the team and this confidence is what has ushered much of the Suns' recent success.
Now, let's address the elephant in the room. Coming off their NBA Finals run in 2021, the Suns were expected to potentially get back there again in 2022, but ultimately flamed out against Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks in the second round. It was a painful loss for, not only us Suns fans but all NBA fans, as a Suns vs Warriors series in the Western Conference Finals would have been immense.
Although the season did end on that sour note, it was in fact a historically great season for Phoenix. They were far and away the most consistent team all season boasting a top-five offensive and defensive rating. This efficiency helped them win a franchise-record 64 games, leading the NBA, with the next closest team being the Grizzlies with 56 wins.
Along with those wins, the team was also able to boast some individual awards. Booker and Paul became All-Stars again, the second season in a row as a duo. Booker made an All-NBA team for the first time in his career, making it to the All-NBA First Team as CP3 made the Third Team for his 11th career All-NBA selection. Mikal Bridges, great defensively all season, was selected as a member of the All-Defensive First Team and finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting. Monty Williams finally got his hands on the Coach of the Year award after finishing second in 2021 and Cameron Johnson finished third in Sixth Man of the Year voting. As seasons go, it was good, but not a great one.
Going into this offseason, the biggest question mark that hung over the team was Deandre Ayton's contract situation. Ayton and the Suns were unable to come to an agreement on a contract extension last offseason. There was a ton of evidence suggesting that the Suns may trade the former No 1 draft pick, or that Ayton could look elsewhere to get the max contract he desired. That is exactly what transpired, as he signed an offer sheet with the Indiana Pacers. The Suns immediately matched the offer sheet, meaning that he is back with the team and the core remains intact.
The Suns haven't made any splashy moves so far this offseason. Apart from re-signing Ayton, all their moves have been to bolster the end of the bench. They've signed a great defender in Josh Okogie; an NBA champion in Damion Lee; re-signed back-up centre Bismack Biyombo and most importantly signed Devin Booker to a supermax contract extension. They also got involved in the Dejounte Murray to Atlanta trade, acquiring Australian big man Jock Landale. Finally, they filled their two two-way contract slots re-signing Ish Wainright and Duane Washington Jr, who spent last season with the Indiana Pacers.
In terms of continuity, the offseason is going quite well for the Suns, however they haven't addressed what I feel is the team's area of need and that's an additional playmaker to go alongside Chris Paul and Devin Booker.
Regardless, I'm still confident in the core the Suns have following the success over the last couple of seasons. Booker and Chris Paul remain the most important players and leaders of the team and it'll go as far as they're able to take it, which is hopefully a fight for the NBA Championship.
Another key is the development of Deandre Ayton. He's become one of the most reliable big man defenders in the league but has a tendency to go missing for stretches. With his new, big money contract the Suns will need him to become a legitimate third option.
An underrated point is that Dario Saric will return from the injury that kept him out all of last season. He is an important player off the Suns bench. Monty Williams has described him as a 'connector' within the team's offense, as he is a fantastic passer out of the high post. This part of the offense was hugely missed last year.
I'm really excited to see how the team continues to grow next season. With Paul another year older, more of the offensive and defensive responsibility will fall to the rest of the relatively young team.
