Rewind to the first portion of last season, and you'll find a much different Suns team than the one that finished the 2015-16 campaign. That edition boasted a healthy roster and a 7-5 record, which occurred without the eventual contributions of standout rookie Devin Booker.
Then a slip in chemistry and a stumble of injuries occurred in December, leaving Phoenix lurching the wrong way the rest of the season. Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough believes those problems have been addressed, however, after an offseason's worth of internal healing and external additions of rookies and veterans.
In a video interview with The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski, McDonough voiced his excitement to see what this rebuilt team can do under the radar.
“I know externally the expectations for the Suns are low, but we have high hopes for this team and how good we’re going to be... We embrace that challenge as an underdog role.”
— Ryan McDonough
"I know externally the expectations for the Suns are low," he said, "but we have high hopes for this team and how good we’re going to be... We embrace that challenge as an underdog role."
Phoenix has done as much in the past, including its famed 1976 "Sunderella" run as well as the team's more recent 2010 trip to the Western Conference Finals. In the interview, McDonough also referenced Phoenix's 2013-14 season, which saw the Suns go 48-34 after being projected to finish among the bottom-feeders of the league.
That optimism extends beyond the 2016-17 campaign. The Suns boast a stable-full of young athletes still coming into their own, but they are also primed to possibly add elite talent next summer without losing any of their current talent.
"Potentially it’s a very strong free agent class next year," McDonough said. "One of the things we’ve done with our contracts is we’ve lined them up to have max cap space next year without really touching the core of our roster.
"I think and I hope at this time next year, we’re major players in free agency."