Phoenix Suns: 5 reasons they won’t make the playoffs in 2017-18

The Phoenix Suns are hoping to avoid a franchise-worst eighth straight season without the playoffs, but here’s why they won’t return to the postseason in 2017-18.

Coming off a 23-win season and their seventh straight trip to the NBA Draft Lottery, expectations for the Phoenix Suns aren’t particularly high — internally or externally.

The team is undergoing a full-scale youth movement, meaning most of the roster is composed of inexperienced young players who are still NBA projects or at-the-top-of-the-hill veterans whose biggest contributions might come in the form of wisdom and locker room lessons.

Still, it’s been nearly a decade since the Suns were last in the postseason, and with Devin Booker entering a potential breakout year, Eric Bledsoe healthy, top rookie Josh Jackson entering the mix and T.J. Warren serving as the forgotten man, another season at the bottom of the West would be unfortunate.

With that being said, as much as the Phoenix Suns would love to return to the playoffs, here are five important reasons why they won’t even sniff the postseason in 2017-18.