Well, we made it. August is in the rearview and we\u2019ve officially crossed into the \u201c-bers.\u201d September 1. The air feels different when a month ends with \u201c-ber\u201d, doesn\u2019t it? Basketball season creeps closer, life tilts toward the good stuff. August? Toss it. It\u2019s dead weight. We\u2019ve entered the final third of the calendar, baby, and the fun is about to begin.<\/p>\n
This is the stretch where things start to matter. One month until training camp. One month until media day. One month until the first whistles of preseason and the eventual curtain rise on the real thing. Now is when we dig in, when we start figuring out who and what this Phoenix Suns team really is.<\/p>\n
Our writing crew is locked and loaded with daily player previews, taking apart the roster one piece at a time. SunsRank will make its return, with our team and the Bright Side community stacking the roster from top to bottom.<\/p>\n
But before we dive into personalities and potential, let\u2019s talk odds. The betting kind. Per FanDuel, Vegas has laid out its expectations for the Suns this season. The last few years? Low odds, sky-high win totals, the kind of projections that made you believe. This year? The tone is different.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what the house thinks the Phoenix Suns will do.<\/p>\n
I go back and forth on this number, because in a strange way, it feels perfect.<\/p>\n
This Suns team has the legs to swipe a few wins they probably shouldn\u2019t, simply by leaning on their youth. I keep flashing back to last year, to games we dropped not because of talent, but because we didn\u2019t have the energy to close.<\/p>\n
Maybe that flips this year. Maybe Phoenix turns the tables, steals a couple from older, slower teams limping through the dog days. But will those stolen wins be enough to clear 31.5?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s early. It\u2019s September 1. I\u2019ve got a whole month to talk myself into something crazier. But right now? I\u2019m leaning over. I see 32, maybe 33 wins in the cards. Call it cautious optimism. Call it muscle memory. Call it me taking the over\u2026again.<\/p>\n
Pacific Division Winner: +8000<\/p>\n
That\u2019s right. The Phoenix Suns are projected to finish dead last in the Pacific Division. And it\u2019s not even close.<\/p>\n
The Los Angeles Clippers sit as favorites at +125, with the Lakers breathing down their necks at +155. Golden State lands in the middle. And Sacramento? The Kings are sitting at +4000 to win the division.<\/p>\n
The Suns? Double those odds. Worse than the Kings. Let that sink in. Vegas isn\u2019t just low on Phoenix, they\u2019re practically daring you to believe otherwise. And that, more than anything, sets the baseline for what this season is supposed to be. Low expectations. Low belief. A perfect setup for chaos.<\/p>\n
To win the [insert whatever corporate sponsor that will pay the most this year] NBA Cup: +12000<\/p>\n
Not that I lose sleep over the in-season tournament, which is a glorified science experiment happening while teams are still figuring out who and what they are, but the Suns\u2019 odds to win it are sky-high.<\/p>\n
Maybe it\u2019s the group they were dropped into alongside the Oklahoma City Thunder. Maybe it\u2019s Vegas looking at this roster and shrugging, projecting Phoenix to be middling at best.<\/p>\n
Either way, it feels less like confidence in the Suns and more like a quirk of scheduling and skepticism.<\/p>\n
To Make the Playoffs: +640<\/p>\n
Even the Portland Trail Blazers, sitting at +450, have better odds to make the playoffs than the Phoenix Suns this season. Let that one marinate.<\/p>\n
I guess it could be worse. We\u2019re not Utah. The Jazz are buried at +7000. So hey, small victories.<\/p>\n
To Make the Play-In: +320<\/p>\n
Ah, the Play-In. The thing the Suns couldn\u2019t even sniff last season. It\u2019s basketball\u2019s purgatory, reserved for teams stuck in the middle. Not good enough for Vegas to buy stock in a full playoff berth, not bad enough to bottom out entirely.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s exactly where the Suns find themselves. Vegas seems to think their final fate will be life on the fringe. A Play-In team.<\/p>\n
And honestly? That feels about right. Not because the fan base has abandoned the vision for what this team can be, but because the Western Conference tide has risen. Everyone around them has leveled up. The water\u2019s higher, the fight is harder, and Phoenix has to prove they can swim.<\/p>\n
To Win the Western Conference: +35000<\/p>\n
The NBA Finals? Can the Suns actually make the NBA Finals?! Somewhere deep in my cerebral cortex, I can hear Jim Mora screaming \u201cPlayoffs?!\u201d and it feels like a fever dream. I\u2019m hoping for the playoffs. But the Finals? The odds appropriately reflect the chances for Phoenix.<\/p>\n
A run to the Finals would be one of the wildest storylines in years. Well, since the 2021 Suns shocked the world and did it themselves. And yet, here we are again, staring at the board where Phoenix sits near the bottom. Only Portland and Utah have longer odds to win the West.<\/p>\n
Vegas is telling us loud and clear: don\u2019t expect a banner in PHX Arena this season. No confetti. No parade. Just a long grind and the chance, however slim, to prove the house wrong.<\/p>\n
To Win a Championship: +50000<\/p>\n
There are a handful of teams with the same odds as the Suns, or worse, so I guess we\u2019ve got that going for us, which is\u2026nice? Most of those, though, live in the Eastern Conference. The full list? The Pelicans, Bulls, Blazers, Nets, Hornets, Jazz, and Wizards are the only squads sitting below Phoenix in the eyes of Vegas.<\/p>\n
So, season 59 looks like another year where a championship isn\u2019t exactly on the table. Shocking? Hardly. This is a retooling year, and everyone knows it. No hurt feelings here. This is where the work gets done before the real climb begins.<\/p>\n
The odds haven\u2019t been kind to the Phoenix Suns in recent years, but this feels different. This is the first time since sports betting went legal in Arizona that you can look at the board and see the Suns with virtually no shot. And honestly? I\u2019m fine with that.<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t need lofty odds and inflated expectations. What this team needs is to win basketball games the right way. Let\u2019s see them compete their asses off, bring the energy every night, play with the kind of effort that builds a winning culture, even if the wins don\u2019t pile up.<\/p>\n
This is a retooling year. A development year. A reset year. The real intrigue will come next summer, when we see how this season\u2019s lessons, bumps, and bruises reshape the roster and the odds.<\/p>\n
How much money am I putting on the Suns this season? Zero. Not a dime. I\u2019ve been burned too many times to play that game again.<\/p>\n