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\n\t\t\tThe Suns have made major changes each of the past three offseasons under owner Mat Ishbia . However, unlike last year, when Ishbia\u2019s buzzword was \u201calignment,\u201d he was preaching \u201ccontinuity\u201d at Thursday\u2019s end-of-season media availability, writes Doug Haller of The Athletic.
\nPhoenix exceeded external expectations in 2025\/26, winning 45 games and making the playoffs one year after finishing 36-46 with the most expensive roster in the league. The Suns were only projected to win 31.5 games entering the season, and they were swept in the first round by Oklahoma City, Ishbia viewed \u201925\/26 as a building block for the future.
\n\u201cCan we win more games?\u201d he said. \u201cCan we win a playoff series? That\u2019s what we\u2019re going to focus on. \u2026 I like the culture that we\u2019ve built. We\u2019re not going to do anything silly to mess that up.\u201d
\nPlayer development was another talking point for both Ishbia and general manager Brian Gregory, who replaced James Jones last year, Haller notes.
\n\u201cWe have a young, ascending team,\u201d Ishbia said. \u201cWhere in years past we had players that were maybe on the decline, we have players that are getting better, and they\u2019re going to continue to get better.\u201d
\n\u201cThis is an ongoing process for sure,\u201d Gregory said (subscriber-only story via Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic). \u201cMat talked about it. Our continuity, our development, our internal development is so critical for us right now and that\u2019s just the players and we\u2019re going to demand the best out of them.\u201d
\nHere\u2019s more from Ishbia and Gregory:<\/p>\n
According to Haller, Gregory is confident Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green will look better together in \u201926\/27 after injuries limited their opportunities to share the court this season. \u201cOne hundred percent,\u201d the GM said. \u201cYou\u2019re talking about three guys who are driven to become better, to do what is asked of them and help the team be successful to win. When you have that baseline, it puts you in a pretty effective spot to move forward.\u201d
\nGregory spoke in general terms about the team\u2019s approach to the offseason, according to Rankin. \u201cWhere are the gaps we need to fill?\u201d Gregory said. \u201cYou can\u2019t fill them all to the top, but what are the critical ones that we have control over? Does that mean tighten up systems, schemes, or whatever the case might be? Was there one thing that led to the other that if you eliminate the first, now you can get better at the second? All those things are done at this time and if it has to be a personnel issue, then we\u2019ll have to address it at that time, but a lot of times, you see dramatic improvement from Year 1 to Year 2 simply because of the understanding and the ability to execute automatically where it comes who we are every single day.\u201d
\nGregory mentioned the Suns plan to have their players back in the gym in a couple weeks rather than taking extended time off, Rankin writes. Gregory also praised the roster for buying into the team\u2019s identity of \u201cgrit, toughness and unselfishness\u201d while stressing that maintaining that culture is an ongoing process.
\nIshbia, who lauded head coach Jordan Ott\u2018s work ethic, stressed the team isn\u2019t satisfied despite the positive steps that were taken this season. \u201cI\u2019m really proud of where we are and hopefully you realize that although I\u2019m proud of where we are, we have a long way to go to where we\u2019re going,\u201d Ishbia said, per Rankin. \u201cI\u2019ve got the right people and the right vision and the right organization here with me and we\u2019re going to do it together.\u201d
\nIn case you missed it, we passed along several more items of interest from Phoenix in the past few days. You can find those stories here and here.<\/p>\n