[NTD News, Beijing time, January 20, 2026]Halfway through the season, the Suns have become one of the biggest surprises in the NBA this season. After the “Big Three” disintegrated, people originally thought that they would enter reconstruction, and “losing” was a good choice. What is surprising is that they did not give up and played “team basketball”. Their “offense” blossomed more and their “defense” was united, which is awe-inspiring.
The “Big Three” disintegrated and the Sun was seen as a loser
After the end of last season, the “biggest meme” that broke out in the NBA was that the Phoenix Suns disintegrated the “Big Three” of Durant, Beal, and Booker. Through an “eight-for-one” deal, the Suns sent two-time Finals MVP Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets. In this deal, the Suns received 23-year-old Jalen Green and 29-year-old “tough guy” Dillon Brooks as well as some draft picks.
Afterwards, the Suns reached a two-year, $145 million max-salary contract extension with their star star, 28-year-old Devin Booker, bringing his total salary to $316 million over the next five years, setting a new NBA average annual salary record. The Suns’ intention is quite obvious, which is to use Booker as the cornerstone of future team building. Next, the Suns settled Bill’s contract and bought out the remaining two years of his contract for approximately $97 million. This operation allows the Suns to save approximately $200 million this season.
This season, the Suns, led by “rookie” head coach Jordan Ott, did not attract much attention. Most people expect that Booker, as the only leader of the team, will have very good personal data after receiving unlimited firing rights. However, the team’s record is difficult to satisfy in the fiercely competitive Western Conference. Whether it can advance to the playoffs will be a big question mark.
This season, in terms of competition in the NBA Western Conference, the defending champion Thunder still stand out and are far ahead; followed by the Spurs and Nuggets, which belong to the second tier, are 5 games behind the Thunder and about 3 games ahead of other teams. The next “Third Group” currently consists of five teams, namely: Timberwolves, Rockets, Lakers, Suns and Warriors. The maximum winning difference between them is only 3 games. The Suns are beyond people’s expectations.
Currently, the Suns have a record of 25 wins and 17 losses, ranking seventh in the Western Conference, only 1.5 games away from the fourth-place Timberwolves. They have proven that they are no weaklings. Referring to BR Sports calculations, the Suns’ probability of advancing to the playoffs this season is as high as 91.7%, which is higher than the Lakers and Warriors. It is very likely to enter the “top six” in the Western Conference. That means they don’t need to play in the play-offs. You know, before the start of the season, most US media predicted that the Suns would end up ranking around 12th in the Western Conference.
Suns players play “team” basketball
How can a team that is considered “bad” get a new look? From the perspective of the lineup, the Suns sent away Durant in exchange for Dillon and Jaylen Green, and achieved a transformation, which is indeed not easy for people to understand.
The data doesn’t lie. The Suns’ offensive efficiency this season is 113.7, ranking 17th in the league; their defensive efficiency is 113.5, ranking 12th in the league; their net efficiency value is +2.5, ranking ninth in the league. Although they are not at the top level, there are almost no obvious shortcomings. They limit their opponents to 112.3 points per game, ranking sixth in the league, which is quite impressive.
In addition, they averaged 10.4 steals per game, ranking first in the league; they averaged 21.8 points per game using opponents’ mistakes, ranking second in the league; they averaged 13.1 offensive rebounds per game, ranking fifth in the league. It can be seen from these data that the overall state of the Suns has changed significantly from the “Big Three” era. The “offensive end” blossomed more and the “defensive end” was united, allowing people to see the potential and hope of this team.
Devin Booker, the team’s “first brother”, is indispensable for such changes. He took the lead and became “selfless” without the two “giants”. This season, his ball possession rate is only 30.9%, which is not much different from the previous two seasons. In other words, Booker distributed a large amount of ball rights to players in other roles, allowing the team to enter an offensive state of “everyone is a soldier”.
In addition, Dillon, who is known as the “evil man” in the league, brought tough defense and confrontation to the Suns. Last season, the Suns’ defensive efficiency was 119.3, ranking third from the bottom in the league; and this season, their defensive efficiency has entered the “top ten” in the league. Without much change in the lineup, the addition of Dillon has indeed brought a qualitative improvement to the team’s defense. In addition, Dillon also played the best performance of his career on offense, averaging 21.3 points per game, which can be said to be both offensive and defensive.
For Durant, who joined the Rockets, such a situation is indeed embarrassing. After all, the Rockets were firmly in the top two in the Western Conference last season, but since he joined, although the team’s offense has improved, its performance is not stable when facing strong teams, and it frequently overturns at critical moments.
Nowadays, NBA teams that hope to win the championship have become more and more aware. They know that relying on the accumulation of “giants” to form a team does not guarantee that they will get what they want. After all, basketball is a team sport. “One thing moves the whole body.” A perfect balance between defense and offense is the way for the team to win. This is also the reason why “Antetokounmpo” has been unable to leave the Bucks and go to a team that can help him win the championship.
(Reprinted from The Epoch Times/Editor: Ye Ping)
URL of this article: https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2026/01/20/a104058341.html
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