2019–20 Phoenix Suns season


The 2019–20 Phoenix Suns season is their 52nd season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association, as well as their 27th season at the Talking Stick Resort Arena. At the conclusion of their previous season, the Suns made James Jones the team's permanent general manager, with co-interim general manager Trevor Bukstein returning to his prior assistant general manager role. With a 19–63 season over, the entire coaching staff, including head coach Igor Kokoškov, was dismissed on April 23, 2019. The Suns hired former New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans head coach and Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach Monty Williams as the team's new head coach on May 3, and completed the new coaching staff on June 26. After the first seven games, the Suns had their best start to a season since 2013–14, and best point differential since the 2004–05 season.
The season was suspended by the league officials following the games of March 11 after it was reported that Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. During this time, the Suns put up their best record in the last five seasons at 26–39. The suspension will continue until July 30, with the NBA agreeing to reopen the league under a modified system for the best 22 teams this season through a 29-1 majority vote by the NBA and a unanimous vote by the NBPA. The Suns can advance to the playoffs for the first time since the 2009-10 NBA season if they reach the Western Conference’s 8th seed via this season’s play-in tournament. However, their chances were hurt with not only Kelly Oubre Jr. announcing he would no longer play for the rest of the season, but two other Suns players were confirmed to test positive for COVID-19.

Key dates

Front office changes

After the conclusion of the team's prior season, the Suns named James Jones the team's permanent general manager after serving as an interim co-general manager with Trevor Bukstein the previous season. Bukstein was moved back to his original assistant general manager role, while Jeff Bower became the senior vice president of basketball operations. On April 30, 2019, the Suns announced the departure of long-standing athletic trainer and senior vice president of athlete health and performance Aaron Nelson. Nelson left the Suns to be the new head athletic trainer for the New Orleans Pelicans, reuniting with David Griffin and Alvin Gentry. Starting with this season, Nelson's position will be replaced by a newly created sports medicine and performance team. The position is headlined by Brady Howe as the senior director of player health and performance, with David Crewe being the director of medical services and head athletic trainer. Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald also joined the front office as a partial owner, business and basketball adviser for the Suns, and player adviser for the Suns and Phoenix Mercury on January 22, 2020.

Coaching changes

On April 22, 2019, the Suns fired head coach Igor Kokoškov after only one season with the team, despite giving him a three-year deal, and fired the rest of the coaching staff the following day. The Suns interviewed former New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans head coach and Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach Monty Williams and Portland Trail Blazers assistant coaches Nate Tibbetts and David Vanterpool. Monty Williams agreed to a five-year deal to coach the Suns on May 3, which became effective on May 12 at the conclusion of the 76ers' playoff run against the eventual 2019 NBA Finals champions, the Toronto Raptors. The Suns announced their new coaching staff on June 26, with Willie Green of the Golden State Warriors, Darko Rajaković and Mark Bryant of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Brooklyn Nets scout Randy Ayers, Larry Greer of the Minnesota Timberwolves, and Portland Trail Blazers on-court assistant Steve Blake named assistant coaches; Gonzaga University's director of analysis Riccardo Fois and Philadelphia 76ers player development specialist Ben Strong were named player development coaches.
On July 16, 2020, during the team’s stay in Orlando, Florida for the resumed season, the Suns released an updated coaching staff for the franchise for not just the rest of the season, but entering the next season as well. In this updated coaching staff, the Suns confirmed the official firings of both Steve Blake and Larry Greer from the team. Both coaches were laid off sometime between the time where the NBA’s coaches made their stand on the death of George Floyd and their official trip out to Orlando for the rest of their season. Furthermore, the Suns also announced the promotion of Riccardo Fois to being the director of player development, as well as the hiring of both Ryan Frazier as head video coordinator and former Austin Spurs and San Antonio Spurs assistant coach William Donovan III as the assistant video coordinator.

Draft picks

RoundPickPlayerPositionNationalityCollege / Club
16Jarrett CulverShooting guard United StatesTexas Tech
232KZ OkpalaSmall forward United StatesStanford

Entering the night of the 2019 NBA draft, the Suns held just one first-round pick and one second-round pick. With the new lottery projections, the Suns were one of three teams with the best overall odds for a top-4 pick alongside the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers. Due to a tied record with the Cavaliers at the end of last season, a tiebreaker coin-flip to determine which team acquired the second-best odds for a top pick in the draft was held. The Suns lost the tiebreaker, resulting in the third-best odds and a chance to fall as far back as pick #7. The tiebreaker also flips for the second-round picks; Phoenix received the #32 pick while the Philadelphia 76ers via Cleveland received the #33 pick. At the night of the draft lottery, the Suns fell to #6, the furthest a team with the third-best odds had fallen in the NBA draft lottery, as well as the worst drop-off a team with less than 20 wins received after a season. Phoenix also held a chance to acquire the Milwaukee Bucks' first-round pick the prior season, though it would not be acquired via the Bucks having the best regular-season record that season.
On draft night, the Suns agreed to three separate trades, each involving different teams, which were all made official on July 6. The first trade involved trading small forward T. J. Warren to the Indiana Pacers and their second-round pick of the draft to the Miami Heat for cash considerations from Indiana involving their salary cap in free agency. Their second trade had the Suns trade the 6th pick of the draft to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for power forward Dario Šarić and Minnesota's own first-round pick at #11. That selection became forward Cameron Johnson from the University of North Carolina, who became an All-ACC First Team member in the 2018–19 season. With their final trade, the Suns agreed to trade away the Milwaukee Bucks' future first-round pick to the Boston Celtics in exchange for center Aron Baynes and the 24th pick of the draft, point guard Ty Jerome from the University of Virginia. Jerome was an All-ACC Third Team member in 2018 before being an All-ACC Second Team member in 2019 and winning the 2019 NCAA Tournament with Virginia.

Free agency

For this season, free agency began on June 30, 2019 at 6:00 P.M. EST instead of the previously typical July 1 at midnight EST period. Players Dragan Bender, Jamal Crawford, Troy Daniels, and Richaun Holmes all became unrestricted free agents as of the end of the 2018–19 NBA season, while Kelly Oubre Jr. became a restricted free agent. In addition, both Jimmer Fredette and Ray Spalding held non-guaranteed second seasons with the team, while Tyler Johnson held a player option for this season. Tyler Johnson exercised his player option on June 21, while Jimmer Fredette and Ray Spalding were not guaranteed a second year with the team on June 24 and 29, respectively, though Spalding played with the Suns during the 2019 NBA Summer League, while Fredette played for the Golden State Warriors there. George King also had a two-way contract that expired this season, though he played for the Utah Jazz's Summer League team instead.
On June 30, Utah Jazz point guard Ricky Rubio agreed to a three-year deal worth $51 million to become the Suns' newest starting point guard, which was signed on July 8. The next day, both Troy Daniels and Richaun Holmes agreed to new deals to join the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings, respectively. Charlotte Hornets power forward/center Frank Kaminsky also agreed to a two-year deal worth $10 million later that day, which was signed on July 17. On July 3, the Suns agreed to trade Josh Jackson, De'Anthony Melton, and two second-round picks to the Memphis Grizzlies for guards Kyle Korver and Jevon Carter, with Korver being waived on July 8. On July 6, the Suns signed undrafted Brewster Academy point guard Jalen Lecque to a partially guaranteed four-year deal. Four days later, Kelly Oubre Jr. agreed to a two-year extension worth $30 million to return with the team, which he signed on July 16. On July 15, Jimmer Fredette signed with the Panathinaikos B.C. in Greece. The next day, the Suns agreed to a two-year, $3.5 million deal with former New Orleans Pelicans power forward Cheick Diallo, which he signed on July 23, and a two-way contract spot with Auburn University point guard Jared Harper, which he signed on August 3. On July 21, George King signed a multi-year deal with the Dolomiti Energia Trento in Italy. Dragan Bender later agreed to a partially guaranteed two-year deal with the Milwaukee Bucks on July 25, officially signing with the Bucks on July 30. Ray Spalding also agreed to a non-guaranteed deal with the Atlanta Hawks a day later on July 31, though he was waived before the pre-season concluded on October 8. Spalding then signed with the Houston Rockets on October 10 before being waived on the 19th and playing for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the NBA G League. The only player that did not sign a new deal in the initial season was Jamal Crawford; he did not sign with any NBA team before the COVID-19 pandemic, but he did sign with the Brooklyn Nets in Orlando as a replacement player for Spencer Dinwiddie on July 9, 2020 under the resumed season despite his signing being after the brief signing period of June 22-July 1, 2020.
On September 27, 2019, the Phoenix Suns announced the signing of Auburn point guard Jared Harper on a two-way contract, as well as the training camp signings of Texas Tech forwards Tariq Owens and Norense Odiase and ratiopharm Ulm guard David Krämer, a born Slovak raised in Austria that competitively represents Germany. They later waived Owens, Odiase, and Krämer from the team after the conclusion of their preseason on October 15. The Suns also signed and waived forwards Aaron Epps and Troy Williams on October 19. Every player except for Williams would play for the Northern Arizona Suns afterward, with Troy playing for the U.S. Victoria Libertas Pallacanestro in Italy's Lega Basket Serie A. Owens eventually signed a two-way contract with the Phoenix Suns on January 15, 2020. After failing to find a trade for Tyler Johnson, he was waived from the team on February 10. Johnson was replaced by former Philadelphia 76ers power forward Jonah Bolden on a 10-day contract two days later. Jonah Bolden was not renewed for another 10-day contract on February 24. During the 2019–20 NBA season suspension caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Suns waived Jared Harper’s two-way contract on March 14, noting the eventual cancellation of the 2019–20 NBA G League season as a consideration for him. However, because his waiver was announced the day after the season’s suspension, his waiver would not be regarded as official until June 23.
When the NBA announced their plans to resume the 2019–20 season, they opened up a brief period from June 22 to July 1, 2020 where teams can expand their rosters to 17 players if they don’t have enough players to play with during their stay in Orlando, though even teams that aren’t competing in Orlando will be able to make similar moves as well. Players signing in the resumed season during this period will only receive either short-term deals for the rest of the season, two-year deals with a minimum salary of $183,115 for this season, or a two-way contract if eligible, with teams eligible to waive players during this period, if necessary. With Tyler Johnson being waived after the trade deadline combined with Jared Harper being waived on June 23 officially, the Suns had a chance to fill up both a regular open spot and an open two-way contract spot during the resumption period. While it was reported that the Suns had two of their own players test positive for the COVID-19 virus, which would make them eligible for substitute players for this season, these players were ultimately not affected for the resumed season due to them being discovered early in that period of time. On June 30, 2020, the Suns signed point guard Cameron Payne, who last played for the Texas Legends in the NBA G League earlier this season, to a two-year deal worth the veteran’s minimum. He was the only contract signed for the Suns during that period.

Roster

Salaries

The Suns were also left with the dead salary cap space of $3,440,000 from Kyle Korver to start the season, as well as removed Tyler Johnson's $19.245,370 on February 10, 2020. They also waived Jared Harper’s two-way contract from the team after the season was suspended, as well as signed Cameron Payne to a modified veteran’s minimum salary for the resumed season.

Preseason

The preseason schedule was announced on July 29, 2019. The preseason schedule was the second-shortest preseason in franchise history, behind the lockout shortened 2011–12 season. The Suns ended their preseason with a 2–2 record.

Scrimmage games

On June 16, 2020, the NBA provided a six phase plan for each team competing at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex nearby Walt Disney World. For the fifth phase, the 22 teams left competing in Orlando will play three scrimmage games behind closed doors against teams living in hotels nearby each other. For the Suns, they’ll compete in games against other teams staying in Disney's Coronado Springs Resort for the month of July, which were the Utah Jazz, Boston Celtics, and the defending champion Toronto Raptors. Unlike in the preseason, it was confirmed the three scrimmage games the Suns played in would air live on Fox Sports Arizona as well as local radio stations alongside the rest of the resumed games for the regular season. They would also begin wearing cloth face masks to protect themselves from catching COVID-19 for safety purposes. Each team’s first game in the scrimmage had only 10-minute quarters for 40-minute games instead of the usual 12-minute quarters for 48 minutes due to a combination of easing players back into action and how teams like the Suns did not have everyone arrive initially on their respective dates. Phoenix finished their scrimmage games with a 2–1 record, winning their 40-minute game against the Utah Jazz, but losing to Boston and winning against Toronto in their regular, 48-minute matches.

Regular season

On June 7, 2019, the NBA announced that the Suns would play against the San Antonio Spurs on December 14, 2019 at the Mexico City Arena in Mexico City. The NBA announced the rest of the league's schedule on August 12. Under the initial schedule, the Suns put up a 26–39 record for the season, which already was their best record in over five seasons.
On March 11, 2020, the NBA postponed the rest of the regular season, effective after the end of most of the league’s games played that night. This period left most of the regular season games scheduled throughout March and April in jeopardy of cancellation. The Suns ended their season being six games out of the playoffs from that period. On June 4, the NBA agreed to resume the regular season for 22 teams, including the Suns. Each team only receives eight new regular season games in either late July or early August before either a potential play-in tournament begins or the already qualified teams go straight into the 2020 NBA Playoffs, depending on whether the competition for Seed 8 gets closer by four games or not. The NBA revealed every team’s remaining schedules on June 26, with the Suns having a shuffled period of the initial 8 games they originally had against bubble qualified teams from March 14-April 1, 2020 rescheduled for July 31-August 13, 2020. Every scheduled game the Suns play in this period will still air on Fox Sports Arizona, though their broadcasting crew will be working remotely during these games. The team will also start wearing special cloth face masks during the remaining games played this season. Every game these 22 teams compete in during this stretch will count for their regular season records. They will also provide a potential jump up with playoff and draft placements in the 2020 NBA draft if the Suns make it to the playoffs properly, though they do not count for any potential impact in the NBA draft lottery for that upcoming draft, save for the Washington Wizards making a potential jump up in the playoffs themselves.

Game log

Standings

Player statistics

Before season suspension

Awards and records

All-Star

* - Officially returned during the post-COVID-19 pandemic part of the season.
† - Original scheduled games lost during the COVID-19 pandemic.
‡ - Waived before returning to health.
° - Voluntarily out for the rest of the season, regardless of either personal or other medical reasons.
≈ - Infected with COVID-19 during the season’s resumption.

Transactions

Trades

Free agents

Re-Signed

Additions

Subtractions