If there’s anything you can say with certainty about the Phoenix Suns through the first month-plus of the 2025-26 season, it’s that they’re defying expectations.
As NBA Analyst for The Ringer Kirk Goldsberry pointed out in his Thanksgiving Index, only the Detroit Pistons were ahead of Phoenix this year in terms of winning percentage vs. their preseason expectations at the Thanksgiving holiday.
The Thanksgiving Index. Which teams are doing the best and worst relative to preseason over/unders. pic.twitter.com/2BxKy23cFA
— Kirk Goldsberry (@kirkgoldsberry) November 25, 2025
No single factor is the end-all for why the Suns are overperforming what analysts, betting markets and fans expected from them early in the post-Kevin Durant era.