2024–25 Phoenix Suns season
| 2024–25 Phoenix Suns season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Mike Budenholzer |
| General manager | James Jones |
| Owners | Mat Ishbia & Justin Ishbia |
| Arena | Footprint Center |
| Results | |
| Record | 0–0 |
| Place | Division: 1st (Pacific) Conference: 1st (Western) |
| Playoff finish | TBD |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
| Local media | |
| Television | KTVK Arizona's Family Sports KOLD-TV Kiswe (Suns Live) |
| Radio | KTAR |
The 2024–25 Phoenix Suns season is the 57th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as well as their 32nd season at the Footprint Center.[1] It is also their second full season under the ownership group led by Mat Ishbia and Justin Ishbia after the brothers purchased the team on February 8, 2023, and their second season with their "Big Three" superteam of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Bradley Beal together. However, this will be their third season in a row with a new head coach taking over following the announcement of Frank Vogel's firing on May 9, 2024, this time having 2021 NBA Finals champion coach Mike Budenholzer taking over as the new head coach two days later.[2] Not only that, this is also their first season since the 2019–20 season where the Suns would properly utilize the NBA G League again with their own squad (this time, the yet to be named Phoenix NBA G League team) after previously selling the Northern Arizona Suns to the Detroit Pistons during that season's suspension/reinstatement period and subsequently shutting down that G League team for the following season afterward in a move unrelated to their sale,[3] thus marking the first time where every NBA team would utilize their own G League affiliate during a season.[4] Entering this season, the Suns are looking to improve upon their previous season's record of 49–33, which left them with a sixth-place finish in the Western Conference, as well as look to enter the playoffs for the fifth straight season in a row after previously missing out on the playoffs for a decade straight and improve upon their dismal first round performance from last season.
Off-season[edit]
Draft[edit]
| Round | Pick | Player | Position(s) | Nationality | College / Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 |
The Suns entered this draft period (which would last for two days instead of just one day like it was ever since the NBA draft was only two rounds long back in 1989) with only their own first-round pick (that was made 22nd after a tiebreaker with two other teams with the same record as them and that they also kept as their own pick following multiple trades revolving around a first-round pick swap that they made last season[5][6]) after also trading away their own second-round pick this year as a part of their massive Bradley Beal trade from last season.[5] They also originally had a second-round pick that was from the Denver Nuggets (which would have been made late into the second-round) that they acquired from the Orlando Magic the previous season,[7] but that pick was ultimately vacated from them early on into that season after the NBA discovered the Suns had engaged in conversations with then-Portland Trail Blazers center Drew Eubanks before that season's free agency period officially began.[8] They also held draft rights to the San Antonio Spurs' second-round pick as well had it fell into a certain condition due to a previous trade involving Cameron Payne, but that pick would not be conveyed to them due to the Spurs performing far below expectations of that draft pick's range limitations.[9]
Coaching changes[edit]
On April 16, 2024, assistant coach Kevin Young was hired as a head coach for Brigham Young University's men's basketball team (though he would stay for the team's brief 2024 playoff run) after their previous coach, Mark Pope, left BYU to be the new head coach for the University of Kentucky, replacing John Calipari there after he left them for the University of Arkansas. Young had previous hints of leaving for a head coaching position with him being considered a serious candidate for the head coach position for both the Brooklyn Nets and Charlotte Hornets before being hired by BYU.[10][11] He was also the highest paid assistant coach at the time of his departure.[12]
On May 9, following weeks of deliberation after a disappointing first round exit against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2024 NBA playoffs, the Suns decided to fire head coach Frank Vogel after finishing only one season of his five-year, $31 million deal that he had originally signed with the team. Unlike the previous season's coaching search where it was an extensive one, the Suns would only look at a select few candidates to replace Vogel's position, with Holbrook, Arizona native Mike Budenholzer (the head coach the won the 2021 NBA Finals over the Suns) being considered a prominent part of their new head coach search before ultimately getting the position two days later with a five-year deal worth $50 million.[13][2] Following Budenholzer's hiring, the Suns later announced that none of Vogel's assistant coaches from last season would be retained for the new coaching staff led by Budenholzer this season.[14] However, the Suns did offer one of their former assistant coaches, David Fizdale, a new role in the team's front office instead, though it was reported that Fizdale ultimately turned that offer down.[15]
Free agency[edit]
Entering free agency, Bol Bol, Royce O'Neale, Isaiah Thomas, and Thaddeus Young would all become unrestricted free agents, though O'Neale has the potential to earn a contract extension before June 29 in order to take himself off the market similar to that of Grayson Allen earlier in the year (albeit for less money due to him being traded to Phoenix in February last season). In addition to them, Drew Eubanks, Eric Gordon, Damion Lee, and Josh Okogie all have player options that they would need to pick up sometime before June 29 in order to avoid free agency. Also joining the other players in free agency are the team's two-way contracts from last season in Saben Lee, Udoka Azubuike, and Ish Wainright, though two of those three players would be ineligible for a new two-way contract due to them already being in the NBA for four seasons now. Starting on July 1, the Suns will be one of a select few teams to be fully restricted by the NBA's newer second tax apron limitations, which will implement greater restrictions on teams that had a payroll of over $190 million during the previous season.[16][17]
Roster[edit]
| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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|
Roster |
Standings[edit]
Division[edit]
Template:2024–25 NBA Pacific standings
Conference[edit]
Template:2024–25 NBA West standings
Game log[edit]
Regular season[edit]
In-Season Tournament[edit]
This is the second regular season where all the NBA teams competed in a mid-season tournament setting following the success of the 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament.
Awards, honors, and records[edit]
- On August 16–17, 2024, both long-time former Suns player Walter Davis and one-time former Suns player Vince Carter will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame for the Class of 2024 (Davis' induction being posthumous) alongside former Phoenix Mercury All-Star Michele Timms.[18]
Transactions[edit]
Free agency[edit]
Re-signed[edit]
| Player | Signed | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Grayson Allen[19] | Signed 4-year contract extension worth $70 Million | April 15, 2024 |
Additions[edit]
| Player | Signed | Former team(s) |
|---|
Subtractions[edit]
| Player | Reason left | New team(s) |
|---|
References[edit]
- ^ "2024-25 Phoenix Suns Roster and Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
- ^ a b "SUNS NAME TWO-TIME NBA COACH OF THE YEAR AND ARIZONA NATIVE MIKE BUDENHOLZER HEAD COACH". NBA.com. 11 May 2024. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
- ^ "NBA G League To Begin Play at Disney In February". NBA G League. January 8, 2021.
- ^ https://gleague.nba.com/news/phoenix-suns-nba-g-league
- ^ a b "Suns Acquire Beal, Goodwin, Todd". NBA.com.
- ^ "Grizzlies acquire rights to two future first-round pick swaps and Isaiah Todd from Suns". NBA.com. July 11, 2023. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
- ^ https://twitter.com/Magic_PR/status/1681001470118731778
- ^ "Phoenix Suns Lose 2nd-Round Pick for Drew Eubanks Tampering Ahead of Free Agency". Bleacher Report.
- ^ "San Antonio Completes Trade with Phoenix". NBA.com.
- ^ https://www.si.com/nba/suns/phoenix-suns-assistant-kevin-young-brooklyn-nets
- ^ https://www.si.com/nba/phoenix-suns-charlotte-hornets-kevin-young-permission
- ^ https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/37790058/sources-suns-make-kevin-young-highest-paid-assistant-coach
- ^ https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1789060298638307690
- ^ https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2024/5/12/24154778/remaining-coaching-assistants-will-not-be-retained-by-mike-budneholzer
- ^ https://theathletic.com/5484475/2024/05/10/mike-budenholzer-suns-head-coach/
- ^ https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2024/5/9/24150719/second-apron-phoenix-suns-a-review-of-what-restrictions-are-in-play-for-the-2024-25-season
- ^ https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba/nba-offseason-what-is-the-cba-s-second-apron-and-how-does-it-limit-high-spending-teams/ar-AA1nX0g0
- ^ https://www.abc15.com/sports/walter-davis-among-13-member-class-for-naismith-basketball-hall-of-fame
- ^ Wojnarowski, Adrian (April 15, 2024). "Grayson Allen agrees to 4-year, $70M extension with Suns". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 15, 2024.