Suns media day takeaways: New identity questions arise entering 2026-27

PHOENIX — The Suns expressed a noticeable urgency at their annual media day Monday, one that came across without them acknowledging that people don’t expect them to improve much from their play-in standing last season.

On paper, they have the continuity of 12 returning players and the same coaching staff as a year ago, down to the video coordinators.

But they are not relying on last year’s surprising wins to take them anywhere in 2026-27.

“We know what it feels like, so it’s not just words,” head coach Jordan Ott said, “but (we’re) also understanding how fragile it is.

“It’s understanding what our … base defense and offense is, but also our system … Definitely feel like we’re in a good spot, but nothing’s ever taken for granted with any of us, knowing how hard it is in this league to go repeat success or to even build on it.”

Phoenix is already down starting center Mark Williams for “several months” due to a shoulder injury. All eyes are on Khaman Maluach and Oso Ighodaro to replace him.

Here’s what else stood out about how the Suns hope to take the next step as a playoff team in 2026-27.

How do Devin Booker, Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks take the next step?

General manager Brian Gregory and owner Mat Ishbia believe that young players emerging and veterans seeking improvement will take Phoenix places this season.

To start with the latter: If Devin Booker returns to All-NBA status after his 30th birthday next month, it’s easily believable that the Suns will win more than 45 games.

For what it’s worth, Booker said he hasn’t felt better entering a training camp than he does before Year 12.

“Every time I go to the gym, he’s in the gym,” guard Jordan Goodwin said. “I feel like I guard him the most in the open run. So I … get a chance to see the difference. Definitely got stronger than last year. Shooting the ball better than last year.

“Already leading us more. So I’m just impressed with him, our leader, doing his thing. We’re just going to follow him.”

After that, the Suns will lean on Dillon Brooks, newcomer Miles Bridges and Goodwin to set a punishing defensive tone that helped them surpass expectations a year ago.

Brooks, for what it’s worth, has an understanding that his career-best offensive season (20.2 points per game) might not parlay into the 2026-27 campaign if Booker and Green are healthier this year. That, he says, is not his most important job.

“If I feel like the guys are tired after a long road trip or, you know, back-to-back is coming, I got to set the tone to get that energy going,” Brooks said.

“So I feel like those things are going to be the things … that’s what I got to bring every single night. So could be scoring, could be defense, could be you know, loud-mouthin’ somebody, but just whatever it does to create the energy within our group, that’s what I’m going to do.”

Then there’s Green, who appeared in just 32 games during the regular season due to a lingering hamstring issue.

His comfort while playing next to Booker began to find traction by the time Phoenix was entering the play-in tournament, but his injury also left him second-guessing — if not being physically limited. The Suns think time spent in the gym means he understands what Ott wants from him, but Green is also simply healthy again.

“I can definitely see it, just in his burst, his speed, the athleticism,” Collin Gillespie said. “I feel like it’s back to a point where he was in Houston when I was playing against him.”

Who can get up the shots from deep?

There’s the reality that Phoenix’s offense could be capped if they can’t space the court.

The Suns lost 29% of their 3-point shooting volume by trading away Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale for Bridges, leaving Gillespie and free-agent addition Luke Kennard to pick up the pieces.

After that, Booker is probably the only player on the roster who has a career history as an “average” NBA shooter from deep.

Kennard led the NBA in 3-point percentage (44.8%) a season ago but was ranked 10th on his own team in terms of 3-point attempts per 36 minutes (4.7).

As a fun reference point, Lakers teammate Bronny James was ranked eighth at 5.5 attempts per 36, a sign of how selective Kennard was in 2025-26 with Los Angeles.

“I remember I was talking to Coach Ott, he was like, ‘Hey, I know you’ve led the league in 3-point percentage,'” Kennard said. “He’s like, ‘I don’t know if we’ll get that this year, because I want you to take more difficult shots,’ and for me as a player, (that) kind of builds confidence in you.”

Gillespie set a franchise record for 3-point makes last year before re-signing. Expect that record to fall if he remains relatively healthy.

Continuity and positionless offense could make up for the defects

Call it a whoop-dee-doo that the Suns hang out with one another in the offseason for the second year in a row, but it’s also about continuity that they can actually build on already-established coaching points in the second year of Ott.

Half the team or so was invited by Brooks to Toronto this offseason. Booker hosted the full team in Flagstaff. The team also huddled together in Las Vegas, presumably during Summer League play.

Where will that show up?

This team is built to move the ball and play a more positionless style around Booker, with Bridges’ play-making chops from the power forward position (3.2 assists per game) taking on-ball duties away from the often-targeted Phoenix star.

“Our emphasis was playmaking in general across the roster to help him,” Ott said. “(Booker) creates such gravity and such advantages. That’s why he has the ball every possession, because we know we can create an advantage every time it touches his hand.

“So we’ll continue to get better with him in that blitz, but we also are going to be ready for the other coverages, the multiple coverages that he sees every night.”

Green spending time with two-time MVP Steve Nash is a sign he wants to take the next step as a creator, where a near 1-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio in the playoffs showed signs that he has the playmaking to help out — if he can overcome bad decisions.

“The pacing and just being able to read the game a little bit better,” was the goal, Green said of working out with Nash. “Just being able to hear him, how he breaks the game down, how he sees it, helps.”

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