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ESPN panel predicts Suns to win 26 games in 2016-17

Jul 26, 2016, 7:45 PM | Updated: Jul 27, 2016, 4:40 pm

Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) reacts to a foul against him during the first half of an NBA ba...

Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) reacts to a foul against him during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Memphis Grizzlies, Monday, March 21, 2016, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

(AP Photo/Matt York)

Don’t get your hopes up, Suns fans — not if you believe ESPN Forecast’s NBA panel.

To preview the 2016-17 season, the panel picked Phoenix to finished 14th — that’s second-to-last — in the Western Conference and win 26 games. That would be just a three-game improvement from the Suns’ 23-59 campaign from last year.

The Suns walked away from the 2016 NBA Draft with two of the top eight picks in power forwards Dragan Bender (fourth overall) and Marquese Chriss (eighth overall). Throw in the 13th overall pick from 2015 in Devin Booker, and the Suns have a trio of players who will be no older than 20 by season’s end. The youthful talent is intriguing, and our panel expects improvement from Phoenix, but also knows that inexperience doesn’t lead to wins in the NBA.

The projections have the Suns finishing just a game ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference and four games behind the Sacramento Kings.

But for keeping the status quo and expecting mild development from Booker, not to mention the rookies, the ESPN panel also apparently doesn’t believe Phoenix can improve much if things go better on the injury front — or maybe they believe the injury bug could continue to bite.

Eric Bledsoe played just 31 games in 2015-16 and backcourt mate Brandon Knight appeared in just 52 games of the 82-game regular season.

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ESPN panel predicts Suns to win 26 games in 2016-17