Phoenix Suns: 5 big goals for 2018-19 NBA season
By Luke Swiatek
4. Compete into March
Making the playoffs would be a pleasant surprise, but the Phoenix Suns shouldn’t be banking on it. Odds Shark projects that the Suns will have the second-worst record in the West, ahead of only the Sacramento Kings.
If the Suns can notably improve over last season, that is still a good thing though.
They can follow in the footsteps of other young, rebuilding teams; the Los Angeles Lakers won 35 wins last year before adding LeBron James in free agency and the Philadelphia 76ers won 28 games two years ago before shooting up to 52 last year.
If the Suns end up somewhere between those two numbers, they’ll be in good shape. They were worst in the league with only 21 wins last year, and contenders aren’t built overnight.
Improving by 10-15 wins into the early to mid-30s would put them right on pace for another big leap next year.
Staying close in the standings will also give the players something to play for later in the season, instead of having the team just tanking and losing left and right. It certainly beats being mathematically eliminated from the playoffs in January.