The 2023 Phoenix Suns will look a lot different than the team that lost in the NBA Finals just three seasons ago. Cornerstone players Chris Paul, Mikal Bridges, and Cam Johnson are all on other teams as Phoenix is taking on a superstar-heavy approach with Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal now in-house. On paper it’s working, as the Suns odds to win their first-ever championship are listed third-highest at +650. Only the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, and Denver Nuggets are more heavily favored.
Devin Booker, Beal and Durant form a coveted Big 3 in Phoenix. The Suns also landed 6-foot-11 Jusuf Nurkic and additional bench players as part of a three-team trade with the Bucks and Trail Blazers that sent former No. 1 overall pick Deandre Ayton to Portland. If the Suns’ stars and brand new role players gel early, Phoenix should find itself near or atop the West for most of the season.
PHOENIX SUNS ODDS
View updated Phoenix Suns odds below, including moneyline, point spreads, and totals for their next game.
View Suns NBA title odds below.
Suns ROSTER
Additions: Keita Bates-Diop (signed), Bradley Beal (trade), Jusuf Nurkic (trade), Nassir Little (trade), Grayson Allen (trade), Bol Bol (signed), Drew Eubanks (signed), Eric Gordon (signed), Chimezie Metu (signed), Yuta Watanabe (signed)
Subtractions: Chris Paul (trade), Cam Payne (trade), Darius Bazley (free agent), Deandre Ayton (trade), Bismack Biyambo (free agent), Torrey Craig (free agent), Jock Landale (free agent), Terrence Ross (free agent), Landry Shamet (traded), T.J. Warren (free agent), Toumani Camara (trade)
Here is the current roster for the Phoenix Suns.
Suns 2023-24 Schedule
The Suns have opened the 2023-2024 regular season. Here is Phoenix’s complete schedule, including a Christmas Day matchup versus the Dallas Mavericks.
Who Are The Best Players On The Suns?
Kevin Durant is quite easily the best player on the Suns, though he’s also the shortest-tenured and has made among the smallest impacts of anyone currently on the team. Still, he’s a Hall of Fame lock and an all-time great who has a chance to finish as the second all-time scorer in NBA history. He has also stepped up his defense considerably in recent years. A two-way monster, few if any players have a greater impact on winning than Durant.
As Durant ages in the coming years, Devin Booker may at some point overtake him, if indeed Durant does remain with the Suns. Still only 26, Booker will be a perennial All-Pro candidate in the coming years. If he continues improving, he may one day lead a team to a championship as the best player.
Suns Props
Player props are an increasingly popular way to bet on sports. However, unlike major markets (game lines, totals), prop markets can change significantly from one sportsbook to another. Luckily for bettors, TheLines has a built-in prop tool that enables you to find the best prices on any players you’re looking to bet.
Just type a player’s name into the search bar, and the player prop lines will populate from all over the market.
Also, keep an eye on TheLines’ YouTube channel, where the Coast 2 Coast crew breaks down NBA player props multiple times per week.
Suns’ 2022-23 Season Recap
Things were going about according to plan for the Suns to begin the season. They came out of the gate with a 16-7 record and were squarely in contention for the No. 1 seed in the West as expected.
Then, injuries hit. The team lost Devin Booker, Chris Paul, Cameron Payne, Cameron Johnson and Landry Shamet, with some of the injuries overlapping. The only two starters who stayed basically healthy were Mikal Bridges and Deandre Ayton. Phoenix lost 17 of its next 22 games, an incredible stretch of futility for a team that had been the model of regular season efficiency. At 22-24, even making the playoffs wasn’t assured.
With Paul and Booker returning, the Suns crawled out of their deficit and got reasonably stable at 30-26. Management then pulled the trigger on a doozy of a trade, sending out solid players in Bridges and Johnson along with disgruntled vet Jae Crowder (who had refused to report) and a draft bounty to bring in Durant and TJ Warren.
Although Durant has failed to make an impact, returning briefly only to turn his ankle again, Phoenix has fully righted the ship and all but locked itself into a top-six seed out of the play-in.
How To Bet On Phoenix Suns Odds
There are many ways to bet Phoenix Suns odds during the NBA season.
The most common are the three major markets: spread bets, moneyline bets and over/under bets. Let’s take a look at some examples from an upcoming game against the LA Lakers.
- Suns +1: This is the point spread. Since the Suns are underdogs (denoted by the plus sign), they are getting one from the Lakers. That is, they must win the game to cash the bet, but if they lose by one, you’d get your money back.
- Suns +100: This is the moneyline. Again, the Suns are underdogs (plus sign), so the bettor “gets” a price. That is, they win $100 for every $100 they bet on the Suns.
- Over/Under 229: This is the betting total. Bettors taking the over must see at least 230 points scored in order to win their bets. Those on the under must see 228 or fewer. If the game lands on 229, everyone gets their money back.
Any of these bets can usually be combined with other bets in parlays. A same game parlay with multiple wagers from one Suns game also gives the option of combining multiple bets in hopes of a bigger payout.
Smaller Markets, Other Suns Betting Options
Getting past the basics, player props are probably the next most popular way to bet the NBA. Since few if any team sports are more individual player-driven than the NBA, player props for the association are a very popular option. Rather than simply betting the Suns to beat the Lakers or cover the spread, one can bet that Devin Booker will score more than, say, 28.5 points. Or, they can bet that he will snag more than 5.5 rebounds. People love to bet props on their favorite players and in nationally televised games.
We’ve already discussed futures bets above. These allow a bettor to make a wager that the Suns can accomplish some feat at a later date: win the Pacific Division, the Western Conference, the NBA Finals, surpass a certain number of wins, etc.
NBA bettors can also try teasers. Usually, NBA teasers involve buying four points from the sportsbook — for example, turning Suns +1 into Suns +5 against the Lakers — but in exchange, the bettor must parlay that adjusted price with at least one more adjusted price. Generally speaking, it isn’t advised to bet NBA teasers. “Key numbers” don’t exist they way they do for NFL games. Therefore, buying points is usually a losing proposition.
Finally, there’s live betting. Live betting has gained more and more steam in recent years, particularly in the NBA. Live betting the NBA is a great way to take advantage of things like lineup changes and random scoring runs. Teams very frequently make up large deficits in the modern, 3-point-centric NBA. That makes live betting teams that fall behind early an attractive option.
Pay attention to plus-minus data as well to help find an edge. For example, of the high-minutes Suns players, Devin Booker has the best net rating on the team (+10.6) by a large margin. He’s making a huge impact. If the team sends him to the bench for his regular rest, that may be a great time to bet the Lakers live.
Phoenix Suns Franchise History
The Suns have a surprisingly long but rather snakebitten history as an NBA franchise.
Phoenix entered the league as an expansion franchise in 1968-69. The Suns won a fair amount of games in a few of their early seasons but first made a mark on the league in 1975-76. That year, despite a 42-40 record, they advanced to the NBA Finals, where the Celtics ended their run with a 4-2 victory. The Suns made the playoffs in eight of the next nine years but never found another finals trip.
After a brief downturn, 1988-89 marked a return to not only respectability but championship contention. With a solid, well-rounded roster and former franchise star Paul Westphal doing the coaching for several seasons, the Suns won 53 games or more for seven years running.
After acquiring eventual NBA icon Charles Barkley for the 1992-93 season, the Suns won a franchise record (eventually surpassed in 21-22) 62 games and made the NBA Finals again. However, the budding Bulls dynasty put a stop to them once again, also by a 4-2 tally. Barkley won MVP that season.
Phoenix continued to churn out successful seasons as it made the playoffs every year between 88-89 and 00-01. However, that finals appearance proved the high-water mark.
After missing the playoffs in two out of three years, the Suns pivoted in a new and extremely exciting direction for 2004-05 with the “Seven Seconds Or Less” era. They hired Mike D’Antoni as head coach and reacquired point guard Steve Nash, whom the team had initially drafted in 1996. Nash and young big man Amar’e Stoudemire — a Rookie of the Year winner two seasons prior — teamed to build a thrilling offense. D’Antoni encouraged pushing the pace and launching early shots. The Suns took the league by storm, winning 62 games as Nash took MVP honors. He did so again the following season as well, but they couldn’t overcome first the Spurs then the Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals either season.
Phoenix would enjoy two more strong seasons of 61 and 55 wins under D’Antoni. However, playoff disappointment continued and D’Antoni departed after the 07-08 season.
Lean years followed as Nash aged out of superstardom and Stoudemire left for a lucrative deal with the Knicks. Nash followed soon after to the Lakers and the franchise reset. They’d go 10 seasons without a playoff appearance from 2010-11 through 2019-20. In that last pandemic-shortened season, the Suns showed a glimpse of promise. In a move many criticized, they were invited to the NBA’s “bubble,” where they missed the playoffs despite a clean 8-0 record. Young star guard Devin Booker shined and the Suns looked poised for a leap.
That’s exactly what happened. The team added perennial All-Star Chris Paul as Booker’s backcourt mate. They made the NBA Finals and took a 2-0 lead over the Milwaukee Bucks. However, yet again, they wound up falling 4-2 as Giannis Antetokounmpo took over the series.
Phoenix followed with the best record in the league the following year, but massively disappointed in a playoff collapse against the underdog Dallas Mavericks. That led to the team pivoting to the all-in move of acquiring Kevin Durant in hopes of getting over the playoff hump.
FAQs About Phoenix Suns Odds
Who is favored to win the 2024 NBA title?
The Milwaukee Bucks () and Boston Celtics () have opened the NBA season as the favorites to win the NBA title.
What are the odds that the Suns will win the NBA championship this year?
Phoenix’s market price for winning the NBA championship at the start of the season is . That equates to a 13.3% chance, without considering the vig, or sportsbook juice.
How likely are the Suns to make the playoffs?
The Suns odds to make the playoffs are . That equates to 90.9% playoff probability.
Has a Suns player ever won MVP?
Yes. Charles Barkley won the franchise’s first NBA MVP award in 1993. Steve Nash followed with back-to-back honors in 2005 and 2006.
Where do the Phoenix Suns play?
Phoenix plays at the Footprint Center, located in the heart of downtown. It seats about 18,500 fans.
Who owns the Phoenix Suns?
Mat Ishbia, a mortgage industry billionaire, bought the team in late 2022 from former owner Robert Sarver.
Who coaches the Phoenix Suns?
Frank Vogel. The Suns hired the former Los Angeles Lakers coach during the offseason. He replaces Monty Williams.