Season Wrap: The 2024-25 Phoenix Suns

  • By Keston Paul

    Last Updated on June 2, 2025 2:49 pm by Keston Paul | Published: June 2, 2025

    “This is fine.”

    You know the meme of a dog sitting in a house on fire and saying that? Yes, so, that is the Suns.

    How’d It Go?

    The Suns flew out to an 8-1 start but then Kevin Durant missed seven games due to a left calf strain and they went 1-6 in that period. They then went 3-1 with KD, followed by 0-3 while Durant was sidelined with a left ankle sprain. There were also some Bradley Beal absences mixed in but the pattern was fairly obvious that the Suns were good when KD played and not-so-good when KD was out. However, the sailing got a little rough through the rest of December even with Durant. On January 6, the Suns opted to start Mason Plumlee and Ryan Dunn over Jusuf Nurkic and Beal and things picked back up again initially.  Nurkic actually became a DNP on January 9 and was frozen out of the rotation until his trade to the Hornets in February. 

    Here is a question for you. Even if Nurkic had declined, was the solution really players who weren’t starting-level centers themselves? Well, neither Plumlee nor the rookie Oso Ighodaro was the answer, and despite a spectacular Nick Richards debut after they traded for him, it turns out that he was not the consistent answer either. Beal was also officially reintroduced as a full-time starter over Tyus Jones on February 22, besides some injury-related absences that allowed Jones to step back into the top unit. That is until mid-March when the Suns began trying the 25-year-old Collin Gillespie as a fill-in starter at point guard. Even with the Mavs struggling due to “pick a player, any player” being injured and the Kings being the Kings, the Suns remained on the outside looking in for a Play-In spot. 

    We even got brief stints of Bol Bol starting as the Suns seemed to lack composure through adversity during the 2024-25 season, making rash decisions that likely affected lineup stability and chemistry. The Suns finished with a 36-46 record, which was the joint-ninth-worst in the league with the Blazers, but that was compounded by the Rockets having full control over the Suns’ first-round pick thanks to the Nets, who exchanged some Suns assets for control of their own firsts in the offseason. So the Suns are slated to pick at No. 29 and No. 52 in the 2025 NBA Draft to “satiate their troubles” after a nightmare season, while a Western Conference “rival” (that description might be generous) gets to benefit with the No. 10 pick after their struggles. 

    Wait. How could I forget the entire fiasco of the Suns wanting to trade for Jimmy Butler and Beal astutely mentioning that he holds the power? Or the Warriors trying to trade for Durant as well? A lot happened.

    Coaching

    Hello and goodbye Mike Budenholzer.

    On May 9, 2024, the Suns moved on from Frank Vogel, a coach with more of a reputation for the defensive end, after a 49-33 season yielded the No. 6 seed, followed by losing to the Wolves in an embarrassing first-round series sweep. His replacement, Budenholzer, was meant to unlock the offensive ceiling of the Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal trio. Coach Bud led the Suns to an offensive rating of 114.7 (13th), a defensive rating of 117.7 (27th) and an overall net rating of -3.0 (23rd) in the 2024-25 season. Comparing seasons is obviously an inexact science due to personnel changes but in 2023-24, the Suns had an offensive rating of 116.8 (10th), a defensive rating of 113.7 (13th) and a net rating of 3.1 (8th) under Vogel.

    Budenholzer has already been relieved of his duties as the Suns look for different leadership to reinvigorate their group in 2025-26. The Suns’ mentality of “let’s try this, no, let’s try that” has not fared well as I will again cite a lack of stability being an issue besides the more obvious faults related to roster construction. Although, to be fair, any coach would have had a tough time keeping their job after such an underwhelming season and Bud can certainly be criticized for some of his rotations as well. 

    The Players

    Kevin Durant
    PF, Houston Rockets
    SeasonTeamGPGSMPG FGMFGAFG% FTMFTAFT% 3PTM3PTA3PT% PTSREBAST STLBLKTO
    24-25 PHO 62 62 36.5 9.5 18.1 52.7 4.9 5.8 83.9 2.6 6.0 43.0 26.6 6.0 4.2 0.8 1.2 3.1
    23-24 PHO 75 75 37.2 10.0 19.1 52.3 4.8 5.6 85.6 2.2 5.4 41.3 27.1 6.6 5.0 0.9 1.2 3.3
    22-23 PHO 47 47 35.6 10.3 18.3 56.0 6.5 7.1 91.9 2.0 4.9 40.4 29.1 6.7 5.0 0.7 1.4 3.3

    ADP: 18.4/18.9 (Yahoo/ESPN) | Total Value: 19/25 (8/9-cat) | Per-Game Value: 10/11 (8/9-cat)

    Durant is still good. What’s new? The only notable difference from 2023-24 to 2024-25 is a slight dip in his assists per game, likely due to the Suns trying to utilize a true point guard more this season. That and the fact that KD missed 20 games in this campaign compared to seven games in 2023-24. He wakes up, goes to work and gives us elite numbers. There is truly little else to say.

    The only interesting thing related to KD is where he will be playing next season as a trade away from Phoenix is the overwhelming expectation. Durant is very good at just “getting his” within the flow of the game though, so unless there is age-related decline, we can likely expect the usual elite per-game value and then it is just up to him staying on the floor.

    Devin Booker
    SG, Phoenix Suns
    SeasonTeamGPGSMPG FGMFGAFG% FTMFTAFT% 3PTM3PTA3PT% PTSREBAST STLBLKTO
    24-25 PHO 75 75 37.3 8.7 18.9 46.1 5.8 6.4 89.4 2.4 7.3 33.2 25.6 4.1 7.1 0.9 0.2 2.9
    23-24 PHO 68 68 36.0 9.4 19.2 49.2 6.0 6.7 88.6 2.2 6.1 36.4 27.1 4.5 6.9 0.9 0.4 2.6
    22-23 PHO 53 53 34.6 9.9 20.1 49.4 5.8 6.8 85.5 2.1 6.0 35.1 27.8 4.5 5.5 1.0 0.3 2.7

    ADP: 20.3/19.4 (Yahoo/ESPN) | Total Value: 14/18 (8/9-cat) | Per-Game Value: 22/33 (8/9-cat)

    Booker seemed to lose a little in the assists department initially but his playmaking ticked up as the season progressed. The “Suns need a table-setter” narrative was a bit complex as sure, maybe having a traditional PG to set things up would help sometimes. However, having the ball in your best players’ (yes plural, because that extends beyond Booker) is also imperative, because they are the guys who slant defenses and Booker can certainly find an open man as his 7.1 assists per game would tell you. His FG% also took a dip, although it cannot be described as bad. That is something to monitor if Kevin Durant is traded and a star-level player does not return in the deal, as Booker would have a tremendous load to carry. Perhaps in theory that could push him up from the second-round line to actual first-round value, but in actuality, it is the lack of defensive stats that have held him back more than anything usage-related when it comes to the top-12 of fantasy upside.

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    June 2, 2025, 12:05 am