From rags to riches: The incredible Phoenix Suns turnaround / News - Basketnews.com

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Just three years ago, Phoenix Suns won only 19 games in the entire NBA regular season. This year, they sit atop the league with 48 wins before the All-Star break. Let's take a look at the hottest team in the NBA and how it got here.

2-pointers this season

55%31,9Points made:31,9Accuracy:54,7%Place in standings:3Record max:42Record min:16Most made 2FGs:Deandre AytonTeamNBAStatisticsSchedule

The Suns' fan community has seen great times, they've also seen awful times. From Charles Barkley to Amar'e Stoudamire, from Steve Nash to Shawn Marion - the franchise has had all-time players on their roster, but the club hasn't reached the pinnacle of achievement in basketball - the Larry O'Brien trophy still hasn't landed in Phoenix.

The Suns have reached the NBA Finals 3 times in their franchise history so far, but neither of the times have been successful. First, it was 1976. Only 8 years after coming to the NBA, the Phoenix Suns arrived at the Finals to play against the Boston Celtics, who were considered heavy favorites before the series.

Ultimately, they lost the series 4-2 to the Celtics. Game 5 was a triple-overtime contest that is sometimes referred to as "the greatest game ever played" in NBA history. The Suns followed their unexpected run to the Finals with a losing season in 1976–77, going 34–48.

It was a long drought for the Suns until they reached the NBA Finals again. Everything changed when the team landed one of the greatest power forwards in the league's history - Charles Barkley. Trade with the Philadelphia 76ers altered the course of the club immediately.

Barkley became the third player ever to win league MVP honors in the season immediately after being traded, established multiple career-highs, and led Phoenix to their first NBA Finals appearance since 1976.

The team won the Western Conference championship against the Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp-led Seattle SuperSonics but ultimately fell to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.

Phoenix Suns / Schedule

Phoenix Suns Orlando Magic132-105 Phoenix Suns Los Angeles Clippers103-96 Phoenix Suns Houston Rockets124-121 Oklahoma City Thunder Phoenix Suns02-2501:00

It took 28 years for the Suns to reach the NBA Finals once again. How did they do it? There are multiple reasons. Let's take a look at each of them.

In 2012, superstar players like Stoudemire and Nash left the franchise. Fan favorites like Leandro Barbosa and Boris Diaw left town. There wasn’t much for Phoenix fans to hang their hat on.

On July 11, 2012, two-time MVP and Hall of Famer, Steve Nash was shipped to Los Angeles Lakers in a sign-and-trade deal. The blockbuster trade allowed the 38-year-old Nash to play alongside the Suns' worst enemy in Kobe Bryant.

There came the 2015 NBA draft, and the Suns decided to make a bold choice to turn their franchise around.

Phoenix made a bold move to draft Devin Booker in the lottery. He wasn’t even 19 years old yet, but it didn’t take much for him to burst onto the scene and bring new life to a demoralized franchise. While the Suns churned in sub-par records year after year, Booker was giving Phoenix fans a taste of what was on the horizon.

Booker became just the sixth player in NBA history to score 70 points in a game in 2017 and by far the youngest at 20 years old. Then, he won the NBA three-point contest in 2018.

However, the Suns earned their first no. 1 pick in the 2018 NBA draft lottery after ending the season with the league-worst record that year. With the first overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft, Phoenix selected Deandre Ayton.

The Suns would also trade up into the top-10 that year to take Mikal Bridges with the 10th overall pick from the Philadelphia 76ers, a draft pick the Suns already had from the Steve Nash trade.

The team had an exciting young core to build around, but the results did not come. The Suns ended the 2018-2019 season with a 19–63 record, the worst in the Western Conference, and missed the NBA Playoffs for the 9th consecutive season.

The 2019-2020 season marked the start of the better times in the franchise. Although the team finished the year with a 34-39 winning record, there were signs that led to believe that even greater times may be coming.

Then, the Suns front office decided to make one more bold move.In the 2019-2020 offseason, the Suns traded Kelly Oubre Jr., Ricky Rubio, Jalen Lecque, Ty Jerome, and a future first-round draft pick for a perennial superstar point guard Chris Paul from the Oklahoma City Thunder.

It changed everything. It was the final piece of the puzzle that allowed everyone to shine. The 'Point God' came to Phoenix and proved that winning is possible in Arizona.

The Suns became great instantly, improving on their previous record and finishing the 2020-2021 season with 51 wins and only 21 losses while reaching the NBA Finals for the first time in 28 years.

The Suns had just a .302 winning percentage in the previous five seasons entering the 2020–21 season, which is the worst winning percentage in the five years prior for a team advancing to the final playoff round in any of the four major American professional sports leagues.

The fairytale story did not end on a pleasant note though. Despite gargantuan efforts from Paul and Booker, the team ended up losing to Milwaukee Bucks led by Giannis Antetokounmpo.

This year, it seems the Suns are not going to stop. We are at the All-Star break now, and the team from Arizona now sits atop of the league. At 48-10, the Phoenix Suns are currently on pace for a 68 win season.

The New Orleans Pelicans are currently the 11th seed in the West with a 23-35 record. If they win all 24 of their remaining games and the Suns lose out, the Suns will finish with 1 more win. The Suns cannot fall further than the 10th seed, thus meaning the Suns have already secured a play-in game at the least.

To finish with the home court for the entire NBA playoffs and secure the first seed in the Western Conference regardless of the Golden State Warriors, the Suns must go 17-7. With the Warriors having an impressive 42-17 record (58-win pace), they can reach 65 wins by winning out. The Suns would reach that mark even if they lose up to 7 games.

At All-Star break, the Suns have an 82.8% win percentage. If the NBA season ended today, the Suns would be 0.1% behind the 68-win 1973 Celtics as the 7th highest win percentage in NBA history.

Out of the 13 teams in NBA history to win at least 67 games, only the 2016 Warriors (73 wins - finals loss), 1973 Celtics (68 wins - ECF loss), 2016 Spurs (67 wins - lost 2nd round), and 2007 Mavs (67 wins - lost first round) have not won the finals. The other 9 teams are widely considered within the 10 greatest teams in NBA history ('96, '97, '92 Bulls, '72 Lakers, '00 Lakers, '67 Sixers, '17 Warriors, '86 Celtics).

In NBA history, only the Michael Jordan's Bulls (3 times) have gone into All-Star break with a 6-game lead on the 2nd best record in the league. The Suns have a 6.5 game lead on the Warriors going into the All-Star break.

The Suns became a fan-favorite last year. This season, they are on the road to win it all and bring the first championship to Phoenix in NBA history. An exciting blend of talent and experience is coming for your favorite team, and we're here to witness it.

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