Phoenix Suns

Expansion money, 1968

The Suns entered the NBA in 1968 as an expansion franchise alongside the Milwaukee Bucks, bought in by Karl Eller's investment group for an entry fee of two million dollars. For the first 24 seasons they played at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, moving downtown in 1992 to the building that opened as America West Arena, became US Airways Center, and has carried the name Mortgage Matchup Center since 2022 — one of the first arenas in the league designed for basketball rather than adapted from hockey.

Ownership has changed hands three times. Jerry Colangelo took majority control in 1987, Robert Sarver bought the club in 2004, and Mat and Justin Ishbia hold it now, with Josh Bartelstein as chief executive. Twelve jersey numbers hang retired in the upper concourse: 5, 6, 7, 9, 13, 24, 31, 32, 33, 34, 42 and 44.

Three Finals, no banner

The record that defines Phoenix is the one thing missing from it. Three trips to the NBA Finals, three defeats, all in six games. In 1976 a side built around Paul Westphal and Alvan Adams lost to Boston. In 1993, with Charles Barkley arriving and the club winning 62 regular-season games, they lost to Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls. In 2021, with Chris Paul steering and Devin Booker scoring, they lost to Milwaukee.

Between those peaks sat the Steve Nash years, 2004 to 2012, two MVP awards and the fast-break system known as seven seconds or less — an offence that changed how the rest of the league counted possessions without ever producing a title. Eight Pacific Division championships have been won in all: 1981, 1993, 1995, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2021 and 2022.

Booker is the through-line of the modern club. Taken 13th in the 2015 draft, he has played his whole career in Phoenix, passed Walter Davis as the franchise's leading scorer on 3 February 2025, and moved past Nash into second on its all-time playoff scoring list during the 2026 post-season.

The teardown of 2025

The roster that reached the 2021 Finals was dismantled in the summer of 2025. Kevin Durant was moved to Houston in a seven-team trade, the largest by number of clubs in league history, with Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks coming back the other way. Bradley Beal was waived on 16 July 2025 under the stretch provision, spreading the remaining money across future cap sheets. Mark Williams was acquired from Charlotte to protect the rim.

The front office turned over at the same time. Brian Gregory was promoted to general manager on 1 May 2025; James Jones moved to a senior advisory role before taking an executive vice-president post at the league office. On 6 June 2025 the club hired Jordan Ott as head coach, his first job in charge of an NBA team.

Booker's response to the teardown was to sign on for longer. On 10 July 2025 he agreed a two-year maximum extension worth 145 million dollars, running through 2029-30 — roughly 72.5 million a year, the highest annual extension salary the league had recorded at the time, and reported as leaving him with five years and 316 million dollars on the books.

Ott's first year: 45-37, then a sweep

The 2025-26 season was better than the demolition suggested. Phoenix finished 45-37, second in the Pacific and seventh in the West, a nine-win improvement. The route into the post-season went through the play-in: a 114-110 defeat to Portland, then a 111-96 win over Golden State to take the final seed. The reward was Oklahoma City, and the series lasted four games.

The change was at the defensive end. The NBA's own season preview records the Suns climbing from 27th in defensive rating to ninth in a single year under Ott, built on ball pressure and forced mistakes rather than personnel spending. The same preview notes Phoenix improving its shot-opportunity differential by 7.4 per game, more than double the gain of any other team.

Booker averaged 26.1 points and 6.0 assists, and the gap with and without him was stark — 37-27 and a 115.9 offensive rating when he played, 8-10 and 110.0 when he did not. Collin Gillespie, undrafted and on the fringe two years earlier, set career highs of 12.7 points and 4.6 assists and made 232 three-pointers, a franchise record for a season. Home attendance sat at about 17,071 a night, the building's listed capacity. The club also played pre-season games in Macau and, for the first time since 2021-22, was left off the Christmas Day schedule.

Where they stand, October 2026

This summer was adjustment rather than upheaval. On 24 June 2026 the Suns took Arizona forward Koa Peat with the 30th pick and Vanderbilt's Tyler Nickel at 47, both via draft-day trades. Gillespie, Jordan Goodwin and Williams were re-signed to longer deals on 7 July. On 13 July, Miles Bridges arrived from Charlotte for Grayson Allen, Royce O'Neale and a 2033 first-round pick; Luke Kennard signed a two-year contract on 14 July to replace some of the shooting that left with Allen and O'Neale. Duop Reath joined on a veteran's minimum on 16 September, and the club picked up Ryan Dunn's fourth-year option, keeping him through 2027-28.

The complication is at centre. Williams injured his left shoulder on 11 September and required surgery, leaving Oso Ighodaro and Khaman Maluach competing for the starting job. Reporting out of training camp has Booker, Green, Brooks and Bridges set as four of the five starters, with Booker saying he wants to hold on to his playmaking while scoring more aggressively inside a more positionless offence.

The season opens on the road at Portland on 21 October 2026, with the home opener against Golden State on 24 October. Nine games are scheduled for national television across NBC, ESPN, Peacock and Amazon Prime, the first on 5 January at Denver. Emirates NBA Cup group play runs 4 to 11 December against Denver, Utah, Houston and Dallas. The longest homestand is seven games from 4 November; the longest trip is six games in March, Miami to the Lakers. In between, Phoenix hosts All-Star weekend from 19 to 21 February 2027, the game itself on Sunday 21 February — the city's fourth, after 1975, 1995 and 2009.

Game night downtown

The arena is among the smaller in the league and one of the steeper, an octagonal two-deck bowl that puts the upper rows closer to the floor than a 17,071 capacity implies. A recent renovation reworked the seating bowl, concourses and plazas without changing the basic geometry, and the sightlines from the corners still face the centre of the court.

The surrounding blocks do a lot of the work. The building sits in downtown Phoenix near Chase Field, served by the Valley Metro light rail, with bars and restaurants within a short walk and an atrium bar inside the main glass entrance for anyone arriving early.