With a 30.5 season win total ... the departure of Kevin Durant ... draft picks for the next 3+ years no longer in the war chest after JUST truly horrible trades ... and Jalen Green, Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks as your big 3, the expectations for the Phoenix Suns were at an all-time low heading into this season. The offseason rumors of Devin Booker requesting to be traded were louder than ever, and as a Suns fan, it really felt like they could have gotten more in the KD trade. Shit was hitting the fan. 

But now here they are. 14-10 heading into the NBA Cup quarterfinals after upset road wins over the fully-healthy Timberwolves (+8.5) and Lakers (+5.5) without Jalen Green AND Devin Booker. They're now the best team in the league ATS (16-8). They've won 13 of their last 18 games. And they're doing it with a roster of pure misfits. I mean, listen to the lineup that went into Minnesota yesterday, won outright, and forced the TWolves to shoot 11/42 from 3:

PG: Collin Gillespie
SG: Grayson Allen
SF: Royce O'Neale
PF: Dillon Brooks
C: Mark Williams

Not a single superstar in sight on paper. This team should be straight taint. 

Instead, every single player is performing to their max potential. They're playing connected on defense, making the right reads in transition offense, and shooting the lights out of the ball. On top of that, they're having fun.

Collin Gillespie has turned into one of the most underrated players in the NBA. Dillon Brooks has finally been put into a situation where he can thrive as a scorer while keeping up his patented mentality on defense. Mark Williams is being talked about as the best center the Suns have had since Amar'e Stoudemire. So what can be attributed to such a culture shift in Phoenix? The team is playing like the smart teams in the NBA. 

These days, the name of the game in the NBA is simply having more oppurtunities to put the ball in the basket than the opposing team. Getting a few extra shots up can be the difference between winning and losing a game between the margins in the Association. That has put an emphasis on offensive rebounding (Suns rank 5th in NBA with 12.8/game) and creating turnovers (2nd in NBA with 17.2 opp TO/game). Phoenix in the 2024-25 season ranked 26th in offensive rebounding percentage and 28th for opposing turnover rate.

The Suns are connected and in-sync defensively, making the right reads in transition offense and fighting for boards on both ends of the floor. A complete shift from the shitshow that was the 2024 Phoenix Suns.

And that is all thanks to the new guy at the helm. Head Coach Jordan Ott.

Jordan Ott is currently sitting at +1300 to win NBA Coach of the Year, which is the 5th best odds in the NBA, behind Darko Rajakovic (TOR, +900), Erik Spolestra (MIA, +850), Mark Diagenault (OKC, +280), and JB Bickerstaff (DET, +260). Ott has his team connected and bought in to the new style of play that is pivotal for winning in the Association, while also maximizing the players that he has had available to him. He also will be getting back Jalen Green in the near future, who looked very impressive in the one game he played this season (29 PTS, 50% FG, 6/13 3PT, 3 REB, 3 AST, 2 STL) alongside Devin Booker. 

The Suns face off against the Thunder tonight in NBA Cup quarterfinals action, with their previous matchup in OKC coming down to the wire in the 4th only to lose by 4. Say they somehow pull off the upset and advance to Las Vegas for the semifinals ... they'd play the Spurs (already 2-0 this season vs SAS) or the Lakers (won 125-108 on Dec 1 to snap 7-game LAL winning streak) ... both winnable games, followed by the Eastern Conference NBA Cup Champ in the Final, which has been a weaker conference than the West for the last decade. This price will decrease, whether they beat the Thunder tonight or not. If I were you and you're bought into my selljob, I would get nice and lock in this future before the game tonight and ride the Suns with me the rest of the season.