For the Phoenix Suns , the 2025-26 season arrives not as a reset button but as a referendum on the direction of the franchise. The end of the Kevin Durant-Bradley Beal-Devin Booker experiment is now official. Durant’s trade to the Houston Rockets brought back Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, and prized rookie Khaman Maluach, while Beal chose the Los Angeles Clippers in free agency. The once star-laden Suns have been stripped down to a new form, one far more dependent on Booker’s brilliance and the patience to develop youth.

Last year’s 36-46 record, capped by an 11th-place finish in the Western Conference, sent a clear message that Phoenix could no longer afford to patch holes with high-priced veterans while ignoring balance. The front office wisely pivoted to add defense, athleticism,

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