2018–19 Phoenix Suns season


The 2018–19 Phoenix Suns season was the 51st season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association, as well as their 26th season at the Talking Stick Resort Arena. They finished with 19 wins to 63 losses, the franchise's worst regular season record since the inaugural season 1968–69.
The Suns started the season with a new head coach, signing former assistant coach Igor Kokoškov to a three-year deal on May 2, 2018. After winning the first overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft, the Suns picked Deandre Ayton, a Bahamian center from the University of Arizona. They also gained the draft rights of the tenth overall pick, Mikal Bridges, through a trade involving the Philadelphia 76ers, thus recovering the final pick they received from first trading Steve Nash to the Los Angeles Lakers. During the 2018 NBA free agency period, the Suns also acquired some key players from the Houston Rockets the previous season with Trevor Ariza on July 1 and Ryan Anderson and rookie De'Anthony Melton nearly two months later on August 31. But after failing to sign a starting-caliber point guard during free agency, general manager Ryan McDonough was fired before the regular season began on October 8. He was replaced by former Suns' player James Jones and Trevor Bukstein on an interim basis throughout the season; Jones was eventually named the permanent general manager after the end of the season.
The Suns were the first team eliminated from playoff contention on February 23, missing the playoffs for a franchise-record ninth straight season.

Key dates

Draft picks

RoundPickPlayerPositionNationalityCollege / Club
11Deandre AytonCArizona
110Mikal BridgesSFVillanova
231Élie OkoboPG Élan Béarnais Pau-Lacq-Orthez
259George KingSGColorado

Entering the draft, the Suns had just two first-round picks and two second-round picks. Their first pick would be their own pick, which became their first ever number one pick in franchise history after 50 seasons. It came as a result of having the second-worst record in franchise history, with only their inaugural season being worse. The Suns were guaranteed just the Miami Heat's first-round pick this year due to a 2015 trade involving the brothers Dragić, with both Zoran and Goran Dragić being traded to Miami in a three-way trade including the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for the rights to John Salmons, Danny Granger, the Heat's first-round pick this year, and Miami's completely unprotected 2021 first-round pick. Near the conclusion of the previous season, the Suns had a chance to also receive the Milwaukee Bucks' first-round pick as well, as that was projected to be included alongside Greg Monroe and a second-round pick in order to offload Eric Bledsoe, who no longer wanted to be with the Suns. However, despite Miami winning more games against Milwaukee that season, the Suns would not gain Milwaukee's first-round pick this season. However, the Suns still retained the 16th pick from the Heat, alongside their 1st pick, up until draft night.
Phoenix was also projected to have the Los Angeles Lakers' first-round pick from the Steve Nash trade of 2012, but the pick was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers to acquire Brandon Knight in 2015. The Suns regained that selection on draft night in exchange for the Miami Heat's first round selections that were previously acquired. In the second round, the Suns traded their own pick to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Troy Daniels and what would be the Charlotte Hornets' second-round pick, although their own pick was kept by Phoenix due to top 55 protections placed on their own second-round pick for the second year in a row. Phoenix also gained the penultimate pick to the draft, the Toronto Raptors' second-round pick this year, after also gaining last year's second-round pick and the rights to Jared Sullinger in exchange for them briefly acquiring P. J. Tucker. In other transactions around their projected second-round picks, the Hornets' second-round pick would be traded to the Orlando Magic in exchange for Elfrid Payton, and the Bucks' second-round pick would go to the Brooklyn Nets due to it being inside the top 47.
With the top pick of the 2018 NBA Draft, the Suns selected the Bahamian freshman center Deandre Ayton from the nearby University of Arizona. While he was reported to be the #1 pick for weeks before the draft, Ayton competed with a few other players such as former high school teammate Marvin Bagley III, international superstar Luka Dončić, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Mohamed Bamba during those weeks. In his sole season playing in 35 games for Arizona, Ayton averaged 20.1 points, 11.6 rebounds, 1.9 blocks, 1.6 assists, and 0.6 steals under 33.5 minutes per game while also being named a consensus All-American First Team, the Pac-12's Player of the Year, the Pac-12's Freshman of the Year, being a member of the All-Pac-12 First Team, winning the Pac-12 Tournament's Most Outstanding Player Award, and winning the Karl Malone Award for being considered the best power forward of the NCAA, even though he projects more as a center entering the NBA. Ayton became a standout player for the Suns almost immediately entering the season, being an immediate starter for the team and being the only rookie this season a double-double average in their rookie season, averaging 16.3 points and 10.3 rebounds throughout the season. He ended the season being a member of the NBA All-Rookie First Team.
With the 16th selection, the Suns picked Texas Tech University's Zhaire Smith, but immediately traded Smith and the Miami Heat's 2021 first round pick to the Philadelphia 76ers for the tenth overall pick, junior small forward Mikal Bridges from Villanova University. Bridges was considered a key member for Villanova when they won the NCAA Championship in two of his three seasons. As the starting small forward for all 40 games played the previous season, he averaged 17.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.1 blocks under 32.2 minutes per game. In addition to being a two-time NCAA Tournament Champion in 2016 and 2018, Bridges also was named a consensus All-American Third Team member, an All-Big East First Team member, a Big East Tournament MVP, and the winner of the Julius Erving Award, all of which were earned in 2018. This would mark the second season in three years where the Suns would have two top ten picks in the draft. The Suns also selected French All-Star point guard Élie Okobo of the Élan Béarnais Pau-Lacq-Orthez from France's LNB Pro A as the 31st pick and shooting guard George King from the University of Colorado Boulder with the 59th pick. Okobo was made part of the regular, 15-man roster, while King became one of the team's two-way contracts that season. Furthermore, they would later trade for another second-round pick in USC sophomore point guard De'Anthony Melton, the 46th pick of the NBA Draft, before the season began. Later in the season, the Suns signed Ray Spalding, the 56th pick of the NBA Draft, for the rest of the season, which left them with 6 total draft picks from this draft on the roster by the end of the season.

Free agency

Before June 26, the only players that were confirmed free agents were Alex Len and Elfrid Payton. Former two-way contract players Alec Peters and Danuel House also had the option to enter free agency or stay for a second year under a two-way contract. House then signed to play for the Houston Rockets in the 2018 NBA Summer League, while Peters stuck with the team during the event. Tyler Ulis was waived from his contract on June 30 for the purpose of extra salary cap space. Two days later, the Suns waived Alan Williams' non-guaranteed deal and the exception rights on the two-way contracts of Alec Peters and Danuel House to create more salary cap space.
Near the start of free agency on July 1, the Suns agreed to terms with former Houston Rockets forward Trevor Ariza on a one-year deal worth $15,000,000 and signed officially on July 6. Ariza was considered their top free agent priority that season. Also on July 1, Suns' restricted free agent Elfrid Payton signed a one-year deal with the New Orleans Pelicans, his hometown team. On July 7, the Suns' star shooting guard Devin Booker agreed to a five-year maximum contract extension of around $158.3 million to remain with the team. It was the seventh highest valued contract of the NBA at the time of its signing. On July 20, they announced that they had retained both Davon Reed and Shaquille Harrison, and also completed two separate trades. Their first trade involved sending guard/forward Jared Dudley and their top-35 protected 2021 second round pick to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for power forward Darrell Arthur. Not long after the trade for Arthur, the Suns sent $1,000,000 in cash considerations to the Philadelphia 76ers in a trade for power forward/center Richaun Holmes. The next day, Alex Len signed a two-year deal with the Atlanta Hawks. Alec Peters then signed with PBC CSKA Moscow in Russia instead of retaining his two-way contract with the team. On July 25, their other former two-way contract, Danuel House Jr. signed a regular, one-year contract with the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors. Alan Williams later signed a two-way contract with the Brooklyn Nets on September 19, and Tyler Ulis signed a training camp deal with the Golden State Warriors two days later.
On August 3, the Suns announced they had re-signed a point guard from the previous season, Isaiah Canaan. The team later announced his deal was a non-guaranteed training camp deal, but it marked a return to play after his previous season ended with an ankle fracture on January 31, 2018. Before the month of August concluded, the Suns traded both projected starting point guard Brandon Knight and third-year power forward Marquese Chriss to the Houston Rockets in exchange for new starting power forward Ryan Anderson and rookie point guard De'Anthony Melton, who was previously drafted by Houston. In order to make the trade work, Anderson agreed to cut back on his salary for next season to the same amount that Brandon Knight would have been paid; the Suns also sent a $2.6 million traded player exception to the Rockets. Melton signed a rookie deal with the Suns on September 21 after waiting on trying to have a potential point guard trade. On October 15, they waived point guard Shaquille Harrison and power forward Darrell Arthur, with the Suns failing to get a disabled player exception for Arthur's roster spot before season starting rosters had to be finalized. Shooting guard Davon Reed was also waived the following day and replaced by veteran guard Jamal Crawford.
On November 4, center Tyson Chandler agreed to a buyout with the Suns, later playing the rest of the season with the Los Angeles Lakers. On November 23, Isaiah Canaan agreed to leave the team via waiver, eventually playing briefly for the Milwaukee Bucks and Minnesota Timberwolves. On December 7, Phoenix signed Northern Arizona Suns guard Jawun Evans as their second two-way contract, though he would be waived on March 23, 2019 to later play for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Three days after that signing, Phoenix signed power forward/center Eric Moreland to a one-year deal, though they would waive him on January 3, 2019, after playing only one game with them, eventually signing with future NBA Finals champions, the Toronto Raptors. A week after that, the Suns agreed to trade their biggest free agent acquisition, Trevor Ariza to the Washington Wizards for small forward Kelly Oubre Jr. and point guard Austin Rivers. In January 2019, the Suns started to sign 10-day contracts with various players. They first gave power forward Quincy Acy two 10-day contracts on January 7 and 17 before giving former Lincoln Memorial University power forward Emanuel Terry a 10-day contract on January 27. On the February 6 trade deadline, Phoenix traded away power forward Ryan Anderson to the Miami Heat for guards Tyler Johnson and Wayne Ellington, with the latter player also being waived the next day. Fourteen days after the trade, the Suns signed former Dallas Mavericks power forward Ray Spalding to a 10-day contract before getting a two-year, partially guaranteed deal on March 3. Finally, on March 22, the Suns signed guard Jimmer Fredette from China to a similar two-year, partially guaranteed deal to return to the NBA for the rest of the season to finish off their season.

Coaching changes

In March 2018, the Suns confirmed they were searching for permanent head coach, although interim head coach Jay Triano was also stated as a candidate. Vice president of basketball operations, James Jones, revealed that as many as 20 potential candidates were looked into between March and May 2018. Some of their potential interests during this coaching search included former Suns and Utah Jazz assistant coach Igor Kokoškov, former Memphis Grizzlies head coach David Fizdale, European head coach David Blatt, then-current Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer, former Charlotte Hornets head coach Steve Clifford, former Orlando Magic head coach Frank Vogel, San Antonio Spurs assistant coach James Borrego, former Houston Rockets head coach Kevin McHale, Toronto Raptors assistant coaches Rex Kalamian and Nick Nurse, New Orleans Pelicans associate coach Chris Finch, and former Suns players Jason Kidd and Vinny Del Negro. On May 2, 2018, Triano was relieved of his coaching duties and Kokoškov was announced to sign a three-year contract as Phoenix's new head coach.
On the same day the Suns relieved Jay Triano of his coaching duties, Phoenix also released assistant coach Tyrone Corbin and then most of the old coaching staff, including former Northern Arizona Suns coach Tyrone Ellis. Triano became an associate head coach for the Charlotte Hornets, while Corbin became an assistant coach for the Orlando Magic, and Marlon Garnett joined the Atlanta Hawks' coaching staff. Former Orlando Magic assistant coach Corliss Williamson then joined Kokoškov's coaching staff in Phoenix. Williamson was familiar with Kokoškov as he played when Kokoškov was an assistant coach during the Detroit Pistons' 2003–04 championship season. On June 4, former Milwaukee Bucks interim head coach Joe Prunty became the team's leading assistant head coach. A week later, Jason Staudt, an assistant coach under Kokoškov during his coaching tenure with the Georgia national basketball team, became an assistant coach for Phoenix, while former player Devin Smith became a player development coach. On June 18, the Suns hired former Arizona State University point guard and New Orleans Pelicans assistant coach Jamelle McMillan as an assistant coach. On June 22, the Suns also promoted Northern Arizona Suns head coach Cody Toppert to the director of player development position in Phoenix. On July 25, assistant coach Bret Burchard, one of the few Suns' coaches retained from the previous season, was named the head coach for the Northern Arizona Suns. Former Northern Arizona Suns' head coach and Phoenix Suns assistant coach Tyrone Ellis also left the Suns organization to become the head coach of the Stockton Kings.

Front office changes

During the preseason on October 8, 2018, owner Robert Sarver made the abrupt decision to fire general manager Ryan McDonough. His decision was reflected upon the lack of a starting-caliber point guard being acquired by that point of the season. As a result, vice president of basketball operations James Jones and assistant general manager Trevor Bukstein were named the interim general managers. Later that same day, the team also fired assistant general manager Pat Connelly, director of scouting Courtney Witte, director of international scouting Emilio Kovačić, and Northern Arizona Suns general manager Louis Lehman.

Roster

Salaries

For this season, the minimum salary for two-way contracts is at $77,250, while the maximum salary is around $385,000, with potential to earn up to $506,215 in certain situations. As a result of the pre-season waiving of Darrell Arthur, Davon Reed, and Shaquille Harrison, both Arthur and Reed had their fully guaranteed respective salaries of $7,464,912 and $1,378,242 retained for the rest of the season, while Harrison only received the partial guarantee of $50,000 he acquired earlier in the season. When Tyson Chandler and Isaiah Canaan were bought out and waived on November 3 and 28 respectively, the Suns opened more salary for the remainder of the season. Phoenix also bought out Austin Rivers' contract the day after trading for him on December 18, 2018. Eric Moreland was then waived on January 3, 2019, leaving the Suns with $33 million of dead salary cap space. With the waiving of Wayne Ellington after previously acquiring him on February 6, his $6,270,000 was also added onto the dead salary of the team's season. This left them with the third-highest amount of dead money for the season behind only the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks.

Preseason

The Suns were one of the six NBA teams announced to take part in a series of preseason contests with the National Basketball League and scheduled to play the New Zealand Breakers in Phoenix. The official pre-season schedule was revealed on August 1 with their first game scheduled for October 1. This preseason period was also without Devin Booker, as he was recovering from pinkie surgery at the time, with the intent on returning before the regular season began. A week after the Suns started the pre-season, during which time they earned a 1–2 record, with their sole victory in a close game against the New Zealand Breakers, team owner Robert Sarver fired general manager Ryan McDonough and replaced them with both James Jones and Trevor Bukstein the morning of their penultimate preseason game against the Golden State Warriors. The team ended the preseason with a 2–3 record.

Standings

Game log

Player statistics

Awards and records

  • On May 15, 2018, the Suns won their first #1 pick in franchise history after having the best odds by finishing in last the previous season.
  • On July 17, 2018, top selection Deandre Ayton was named a member of the All-Summer League Second Team for consistent performances over four games played.
  • On September 7, 2018, former Suns players Charlie Scott, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, and Grant Hill were inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and the most players from one NBA team to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in a single year.
  • On April 6, 2019, former Suns player and coach Paul Westphal was one of twelve inductees announced as the next Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame members.

    Awards

  • On May 21, 2019, Deandre Ayton was named a member of the NBA All-Rookie First Team. Ayton was also named a nominee for the NBA Rookie of the Year Award for the 2019 NBA Awards show.

    Week/Month

All-Star

  • Deandre Ayton was named a member of the World Team, representing his home country of the Bahamas, for the Rising Stars Challenge on January 29, 2019.
  • Devin Booker was named one of ten players competing in the Three-Point Contest on February 5, 2019.

    Records

  • The Suns scored 19 three-pointers in their 121–100 win over the Dallas Mavericks on October 17, 2018, tying an NBA record for most three-pointers made on a team's opening night game.
  • Devin Booker scored 35 points and 7 assists game in the team's season opener, joining Michael Jordan and LeBron James as the only players 21 and younger to record five or more games with those numbers or greater.
  • Through the first 11 games of the regular season, Deandre Ayton became the first rookie since Terry Cummings to record averages of at least 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists per game. In addition, Ayton recorded the highest number of rebounds for a rookie since Tim Duncan with 119 and the most assists for a rookie center since former Suns center Alvan Adams with 35.
  • On January 24, 2019, Devin Booker became the fifth youngest player in league history to reach over 5,000 points throughout their careers, being behind only LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwight Howard.
  • On March 6, 2019, Devin Booker became the youngest player in league history to record 500 three-pointers, breaking a record previously set by D'Angelo Russell earlier this season.
  • Devin Booker was the seventh player in NBA history to record consecutive 50+ points accomplished in games on March 25 and 27.
  • At the season finale, Jamal Crawford at 39 years of age became the oldest player in NBA history to record 50 or more points in a game, breaking a record previously held by Michael Jordan at 38 years old. He also became the highest scoring bench player in a single NBA game, breaking a record previously set by Nick Anderson, as well as became the first player in league history to record 50-point games with four different teams.

    Team records

  • Devin Booker was the youngest player in franchise history to reach 5,000 career points with the team, breaking through that mark in only his fourth season on January 24, 2019 against the Portland Trail Blazers. However, he was actually the second-fastest player in the franchise to reach that mark at 245, being behind only Walter Davis at 215 games.
  • On March 16, 2019, Devin Booker broke Gail Goodrich's team record for most games where 35+ points, 5+ rebounds, and 5+ assists were recorded for the franchise with 9 total games.
  • On March 25, 2019, Devin Booker broke Connie Hawkins' franchise record of 12 games scoring 35 or more points in a season, earning his thirteenth in a loss to the Utah Jazz where he scored 59 points.
  • *He also became the only Suns player to record consecutive 50+ point games on March 27. Furthermore, he also leads all players in franchise history to record 50+ point games with the Suns.
  • On March 27, 2019, Deandre Ayton broke Alvan Adams' franchise record for the most double-doubles recorded in a rookie season.

    Milestones

  • Trevor Ariza overtook Ryan Anderson with five three-pointers for 41st place in career three-point scoring in a 121–100 win over the Dallas Mavericks on October 17, 2018.
  • Tyson Chandler overtook former Suns player Shawn Marion for 37th highest number of career rebounds with eight rebounds in a loss to the Denver Nuggets on October 20, 2018.

    Team milestones

  • After finishing their second-worst season in franchise history, the Suns won their first #1 pick in franchise history.
  • In the season-opening game, Devin Booker overtook Hall of Fame guard Dennis Johnson to become the Suns' 26th best all-time scorer by making a three-pointer at 3:32 near the end of the game in a 121–100 win over the Dallas Mavericks on October 17, 2018. Booker finished the night with 35 points, the highest amount for a Suns player in the team's season opener since Kevin Johnson in 1995. He also placed 9th in the franchise's history for most three-point shots made for the team, besting Goran Dragić’s spot on the team.
  • In the next game, Booker tied former point guard Kyle Macy for the 25th best all-time scorer for the Suns with 25 points scored in a loss to the Denver Nuggets. He later overtook Macy two days later against the Golden State Warriors in the first two minutes of the game. Booker also overtook former point guard Stephon Marbury to become the franchise's 25th best all-time scorer and finished the game with 28 points in a 123–103 loss to the Warriors. Booker then overtook Eric Bledsoe to become the 24th best all-time scorer for the Suns in the next game.
  • On October 24, 2018, Booker became the team’s 8th highest three-point scorer in franchise history, beating out Wesley Person’s time with the franchise.
  • For Deandre Ayton's first 11 games of the regular season, the 35 assists were the highest by a rookie center for any player since former Suns center Alvan Adams.
  • On November 14, 2018, Booker overtook Hall of Fame guard Grant Hill to become the 23rd best all-time scorer for the Suns, scoring 13 points alongside a career-high 12 assists in a 116–96 win over the San Antonio Spurs.
  • On January 24, 2019, Booker became the 18th player in franchise history to reach the 5,000 point barrier with the Suns.

    Injuries/personal games missed

Transactions

Trades

Free agents

Re-signed

Additions

Subtractions