The Suns are ushering in the Mike Budenholzer era.
With the 2024-25 NBA season scheuled release, a lot of NBA eyes are going to be on the Phoenix Suns as the enter their first year under head coach Mike Budenholzer. With training camp set to open at the end of the month, we’ll be making our Suns bold predictions, including a big one about Kevin Durant.
The Suns struggled the start last season with Frank Vogel in his first year as head coach. They ultimately managed to string together a little consistency and finished with the sixth seed in the Western Conference, thus avoiding the play-in.
But they were utterly humiliated in the playoffs, losing in a first round sweep against the Minnesota Timberwolves that resulted in Vogel being let go after only one season.
But with Budenholzer at the helm now, there is a new sense of optimism in Suns land. Let’s move on to our Suns bold predictions for the 2024-25 season.
Kevin Durant will lead the NBA, Suns in scoring
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Last season, Durant finished sixth in the league among the top scoring leaders at 27.1 points, tied with his Suns teammate Devin Booker. The soon-to-be 36 year old is still among one of the world’s most prolific scorers. He showed that while helping lead Team USA to a gold medal at the Olympics.
Durant is one of those players that makes everything look so effortlessly when it comes to scoring. Playing for a coach like Budenholzer, who has been a good offensive coach in the NBA, could help Durant’s points per game surge. Budenholzer has done a good job throughout his career maximizing his players’ offensive production as per Kevin Hicks of Sports Illustrated.
The Suns have quite a few offensive options, but Durant is the best of them. Last season, Luka Doncic led the NBA in scoring at 33.9 points. This Suns prediction says that Durant will be up at 33-35 points per game and it will be good enough for tops in the league.
Tyus Jones will be in Suns starting lineup by end of season
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The Suns biggest offseason acquisition, aside from Budenholzer, was the free agent signing of Tyus Jones. Jones has long been one of the more underrated and productive point guards in the NBA.
Looking at the Suns’ current depth chart, the projected starting lineup is Durant, Booker, Bradley Beal, Jusuf Nurkic and Grayson Allen. Booker had handled point guard duties for the Suns and has done so at a solid level.
But since this core was formed, the team has not had a true point guard like Jones. Jones holds a career average of 4.3 assists, but dished out a career-high 7.3 assists in 66 games for the Washington Wizards last season. Jones is going to be a difference maker for the Suns this upcoming season and his play and efficiency running the offense is going to be too good to keep him on the bench.
That means Grayson Allen likely moves to the bench. A big move considering the contract extension he recently signed. But it will happen for the betterment of the team.
Suns will finish with a top-four record in the West this season
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During Budenholzer’s last stint as head coach with the Milwaukee Bucks, he finished with a top-four record in the Eastern Conference all five seasons. With the Atlanta Hawks, he had a top-five record in three of his five seasons at the helm.
Budenholzer is a proven coach and one with championship experience. Vogel had championship experience too but Budenholzer has always seemed to be held in higher regard. And again, he’s been a strong offensive coach in the NBA. He has tons of options at his disposal. He’s a more creative offensive coach than Vogel.
Expect a Suns offense that is clicking on all cylinders with the above predictions of Durant leading the league is scoring and Jones running the offense. That will be good enough for a top-four seed in the West for this team.