Draft The Suns entered this draft period (which would last for two days instead of just one day like it was ever since the
NBA draft was only two rounds long back in
1989) with only their own first-round pick (that was made 22nd after a tiebreaker with two other teams with the same record as them and that they also kept as their own pick following multiple trades revolving around a first-round pick swap that they made last season) after also trading away their own second-round pick this year as a part of their massive
Bradley Beal trade from last season. but that pick was ultimately vacated from them early on into that season after the NBA discovered the Suns had engaged in conversations with then-
Portland Trail Blazers center
Drew Eubanks before that season's free agency period officially began. They also held draft rights to the
San Antonio Spurs' second-round pick as well had it fallen into a certain condition due to a previous trade involving
Cameron Payne, but that pick would not be conveyed to them due to the Spurs performing far below expectations of that draft pick's range limitations. On the first night of the 2024 NBA draft, the Suns traded their only pick they had at the time (which became
Dayton power forward
DaRon Holmes II) to the
Denver Nuggets in exchange for their 28th pick in the draft (which became
Virginia forward
Ryan Dunn), their 56th pick in the draft (which became
Kansas shooting guard
Kevin McCullar Jr.), and two future second round picks in 2026 and 2031. On the second day of the draft, the Suns would later trade Kevin McCullar Jr., the 56th pick, and the
Boston Celtics' protected 2028 second round pick to the
New York Knicks in exchange for the 40th pick in the draft (which became the
Arizona born and raised
Marquette power forward/center
Oso Ighodaro).
Coaching changes On April 16, 2024, assistant coach
Kevin Young was hired as a head coach for
Brigham Young University's
men's basketball team (though he would stay for the team's
brief 2024 playoff run) after their previous coach,
Mark Pope, left BYU to be the new head coach for the
University of Kentucky, replacing
John Calipari there after he left them for the
University of Arkansas. Young had previous hints of leaving for a head coaching position with him being considered a serious candidate for the head coach position for both the
Brooklyn Nets and
Charlotte Hornets before being hired by BYU. He was also the highest paid assistant coach at the time of his departure. On May 9, following weeks of deliberation after a disappointing first round exit against the
Minnesota Timberwolves in the
2024 NBA playoffs, the Suns decided to fire head coach
Frank Vogel after finishing only one season of his five-year, $31 million deal that he had originally signed with the team. Unlike the previous season's coaching search where it was an extensive one, the Suns would only look at a select few candidates to replace Vogel's position, with
Holbrook, Arizona native
Mike Budenholzer (the head coach won the
2021 NBA Finals over the Suns) being considered a prominent part of their new head coach search before ultimately getting the position two days later with a five-year deal worth $50 million. Following Budenholzer's hiring, the Suns later announced that none of Vogel's assistant coaches from last season would initially be retained for the new coaching staff led by Budenholzer this season. However, after an attempt to promote
David Fizdale into a front office position later in the month instead, he was reported to return to his role as an assistant coach for the Phoenix Suns on May 29. The Suns would also look to hire
Vince Legarza, a former assistant coach with the
Milwaukee Bucks and
Minnesota Timberwolves, on May 28 (with Legarza also taking on the head coach role for the Suns'
Summer League team). On May 30,
Utah Jazz assistant coach
Chad Forcier would be named the next addition to the Phoenix Suns' coaching staff. A day after that, on May 31, former
Wisconsin Herd head coach
Chaisson Allen would be the next assistant coach to be hired onto Budenholzer's new staff. On June 11, the former
University of Washington basketball coach Mike Hopkins would be reported as the next hiring for Budenholzer's coaching staff. Over a month later, on July 23,
Brent Barry, the
San Antonio Spurs' Vice President of Basketball Operations, was reported to be the most recent hiring for Budenholzer's coaching staff. A day after that, former
Washington Wizards assistant coach
James Posey would take on one of the open assistant coach spots for the team. Finally, the Suns would announce their official coaching staff joining alongside Mike Budenholzer on August 6, with the last addition being former
Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach
Schuyler Rimmer.
Front office changes In addition to coaching staff changes, the Suns also expressed interest in modifying their front office up a bit as well. Initially, assistant coach
David Fizdale was offered a front office position with the team on May 12, 2024, following an initial firing from
Frank Vogel's coaching staff, but he ultimately denied the job promotion in favor of staying with the Suns as an assistant coach for
Mike Budenholzer's staff. Five days after trying to get Fizdale into a front office role, it was reported that the Suns would offer former
Long Island Nets general manager and then-current
Brooklyn Nets vice president of strategy member Matt Tellem (son of famous sports agent
Arn Tellem) a key spot on their new front office instead. Matt Tellem would eventually be announced as a new assistant general manager for the Suns (with both Trevor Bukstein (who had previously been a part of their staff since 2013) and Morgan Cato being confirmed to not return to the front office as of May 21) on June 10, with former
University of South Florida basketball coach Brian Gregory being named the vice president of player programming alongside the hiring of Tellem. Over a month later, on July 19, assistant general manager
Gerald Madkins, personnel evaluation manager David Sevush, and team scouts Charles Payne and
Darrel Johnson were announced to not return to the team's front office.
Free agency and Trades Entering free agency,
Bol Bol,
Royce O'Neale,
Isaiah Thomas, and
Thaddeus Young would all become unrestricted free agents, though O'Neale was considered very likely to earn a contract extension before June 29 in order to take himself off the market similar to that of
Grayson Allen earlier in the year (albeit for less money due to him being traded to Phoenix in February last season). In addition to them,
Drew Eubanks,
Eric Gordon,
Damion Lee, and
Josh Okogie all held player options that they would need to pick up sometime before June 29 in order to avoid free agency, though they all decided to enter free agency by the 29th. Also joining the other players in free agency were the team's
two-way contracts from last season in
Saben Lee,
Udoka Azubuike, and
Ish Wainright, though two of those three players would be ineligible for a new two-way contract due to them already being in the NBA for four seasons now. They also had salary cap holds on the recently retired
Terrence Ross and former
two-way contract player
Gabriel Lundberg since the Suns hadn't renounced their player rights on the salary cap yet. Starting on June 18, the day after the
2024 NBA Finals ended, teams like the Suns would start talking with their own free agents in order to get potential agreements ready for them early before they signed new deals on July 6. Also, starting on June 30, the Suns were one of a select few teams to be fully restricted by the NBA's newer second tax apron limitations, which would implement greater restrictions on teams that had a payroll of over $190 million during the previous season. On July 2, 2024, the Suns would officially sign former
Denver Nuggets guard
Collin Gillespie and
Baylor University forward
Jalen Bridges to two of their open
two-way contract spots for the season. A day after that, both
Mason Plumlee of the
Los Angeles Clippers and
Monté Morris of the
Minnesota Timberwolves would officially sign one-year veteran's minimum contracts worth $3,303,771 and $2,800,834 respectively to join the team early due to the type of contracts they would sign, with
Damion Lee also officially signing a one-year veteran's minimum deal worth $2.8 million to return to the team himself and help alleviate the team's tax penalties a bit for this season. On July 6,
Royce O'Neale would officially re-sign with the Suns on a four-year deal worth $44 million (though $2 million would come from bonuses that are considered unlikely). A day after that,
Bol Bol would officially re-sign with the Suns on a one-year veteran's minimum deal as well, with a chance to be eligible for a greater deal with Phoenix the next upcoming season due to them gaining his Early Bird rights. On July 10, both
Ish Wainright and
Eric Gordon would officially sign new contracts to play for the
Hapoel Tel Aviv B.C. in
Israel and the
Philadelphia 76ers respectively. On July 13, the Suns would potentially get their last player from last season's roster returning to them via free agency by re-signing
Josh Okogie on a two-year deal worth $16 million. On July 29, the Suns would officially trade
David Roddy to the
Atlanta Hawks for
E. J. Liddell, who they plan to waive following the official signing of
Washington Wizards point guard
Tyus Jones to a one-year veteran's minimum deal worth $3,303,771. After first reported as one of the first official removals from the team since free agency first began,
Drew Eubanks would officially sign a new contract with the
Utah Jazz on August 12. A week after that,
Udoka Azubuike would officially sign an overseas contract with the
KK Budućnost Podgorica VOLI out in
Montenegro. On August 27, it was not only confirmed that
Saben Lee would play for
Turkey's
Manisa Basket (albeit only briefly at first), but it was also confirmed that the Suns would officially waive both
E. J. Liddell and
Nassir Little from their team as well. With Little's removal from the team in particular, the remainder of his now-three year deal worth $21,750,000 would now be paid by the Suns by an average of $3,107,143 per year throughout the next seven seasons, including this season until the end of the 2030–31 season. E. J. Liddell later signed with the
Chicago Bulls on September 7 before having his training camp deal converted to a
two-way contract with their
Windy City Bulls affiliate on October 18, while
Nassir Little would officially sign a one-year deal with the
Miami Heat on September 24, though he'd be waived on October 19 after the end of the preseason, but would join the
Sioux Falls Skyforce G League affiliate team on October 28. By the end of the preseason, both Isaiah Thomas and Thaddeus Young would not find new teams to sign up with, either in the NBA or elsewhere. Meanwhile, the Suns would sign the likes of undrafted rookies
Tyrese Samuel and
Moses Wood (with
Boo Buie initially included before he later signed with the
New York Knicks),
Valley Suns acquired players
Jaden Shackelford,
Mamadi Diakite,
David Stockton (son of Hall of Famer
John Stockton), and
Paul Watson, and
Frank Kaminsky (who would return to the Suns for a third time and for four seasons now) for training camp and/or preseason purposes, with every one of those players being waived from the team by October 19 and having options to sign with the Valley Suns affiliate team afterward (with every one of those players that signed during that time outside of Frank Kaminsky joining the Valley Suns not long after that). As such, the Suns would leave their final roster spot open for the start of the regular season. On January 15, 2025, after nearing the halfway point of their season with a below-average record, the Suns would trade
Nigerian-American small forward
Josh Okogie and the three second-round picks they held by this point in time (their own 2031 second-round pick and the 2026 and 2031 second-round picks they acquired from the
Denver Nuggets earlier this season) to the
Charlotte Hornets in exchange for
Jamaican center
Nick Richards, a 2025 second-round pick from either the Denver Nuggets or
Philadelphia 76ers (depending on who finishes with a better record to end the season), and a traded player exception worth over $3 million in order to improve their efforts at the center position. Six days later, on January 21, the Suns would trade their 2031 unprotected first-round pick to the
Utah Jazz in exchange for three different first-round picks that the Jazz acquired in previous trades, all of which would be considered the weakest selections of the allowed picks they traded to Phoenix. The first-round selections traded to Phoenix that day would involve the weakest 2025 first-round picks between the
Cleveland Cavaliers and
Minnesota Timberwolves that Utah had acquired from previous trades involving their former star players in
Donovan Mitchell and
Rudy Gobert respectively, the weakest 2027 first-round selection between the Cavaliers, Timberwolves, and Jazz themselves, and the weakest 2029 first-round selection between Cleveland, Minnesota, and Utah themselves.
Arena Name rebrand On February 18, 2025, it was announced that the arena would be seeking a new naming rights partner and would no longer go by the Footprint Center. It will temporarily be called PHX Arena, but Footprint would remain a sustainability partner with the Suns and Mercury. Earlier, workers had been seen removing Footprint Center signage, upon receiving word that the deal had expired. ==Roster==