PHOENIX — Nobody expected these Phoenix Suns to give much pushback to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The sweep was completed with a 131-122 Game 4 victory by Oklahoma City on Monday at Mortgage Matchup Center.
Phoenix being in the ring with the world champs furthers what we already thought from the regular season. It also gave us more insight into what head coach Jordan Ott and the Suns were thinking, from the players they didn’t play to the ones they did most when the stakes were high.
Phoenix got career years from Dillon Brooks, Collin Gillespie and others. Offensively, the team did take baby steps forward through their first-round series against the best defensive team in the NBA.
RELATED STORIES
Devin Booker struggles early as Suns eliminated by Thunder on home court
“It was all in our foundation. It wasn’t something (where) we had to reinvent the wheel,” Ott said of Phoenix’s offensive steps forward. “We felt the improvement over the series.”
You can make a case that Brooks and Gillespie are among the individual Suns who deserve to be flagged as a core member of next year’s team for the sake of continuity and fit. As in, they’re the guys who are who we thought they were. We at least know what the Suns will gain or lose with them on the roster — or not.
We can’t say the same for other Suns, from Devin Booker to Mark Williams to Grayson Allen to Ryan Dunn. Booker looked like he’s regressed or was playing hurt. Williams and Allen are difference-makers only if they can stay healthy. Dunn didn’t grab his chance to become a defensive stopper.
Nothing is sure in life. But by putting a bow on this season and looking ahead to next, we believe in the credentials of the following players to stay steady or improve in 2026-27.
Dillon Brooks
Brooks’ “I got him Game 4” against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander might not have gone great on the court, as the reigning MVP scored 31 to go with eight assists. But Gilgeous-Alexander was a -7, the only OKC starter with a negative plus-minus.
The Suns’ cultural peak came midway through the year, and to a large degree, the edge Phoenix lost in the second half of the season was allowed to set in with Brooks’ hand injury.
You know what he is going to bring, good and bad.
He averaged 20.3 points per game in the regular season, a career-best, while his shooting splits hovered where they have been. In the short-midrange, Brooks’ numbers were slightly above league-average, which is fine if he’s a competent safety valve.
For the playoff series, he averaged 26 points per night. His offensive leap translated to the playoffs.
There will be a time where Brooks’ presence might get in the way of better offensive choices. His volume of techs could sour things if the team is losing too many games. But until this team makes significant strides, that is not what the Suns will worry about, and Mat Ishbia’s public comments about Brooks seem to have make that clear.
Oso Ighodaro
How crazy is it that Ighodaro ended the year as the starting center of a playoff team? He started the season on paper as fourth in line, behind a key offseason addition and a top-10 pick.
Availability obviously has a lot to do with it. But Ott ended the year feeling like he couldn’t take Ighodaro off the court.
After the All-Star break, the 40th pick from the 2024 draft averaged 8.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 0.9 blocks while shooting 68% in 26.1 minutes per game.
In the postseason, he followed a rough Game 2 — getting hunted and showing visible frustration — with two strong performances. There is growth there, and learning to manage and dictate the backline of a defense against that Thunder team is where his growing speed of processing information is going to help him as a switchable backline defender.
Ighodaro scored 15 in Game 3 and followed it with eight points, as many boards, plus four assists, a block and two steals on Monday.
Collin Gillespie
Gillespie scored 20 in Game 4, finally breaking free as the spacing and emphasis on early-shot-clock offense shifted the Suns’ offense to another gear.
He set a single-season franchise three-point record that puts him on a must-retain list as a free agent. Grayson Allen and/or Royce O’Neale’s contracts would be potential trade chips, and that makes Gillespie’s value even more important if they pursue those opportunities.
“He just needed the opportunity and he took full advantage of it from Day 1,” Booker said. “He’s a true hooper. He was a champion in college for a reason. He brings that mindset to practice every day … leadership in the locker room. He’s someone you want to go to war with.”
Like it was for Ighodaro, Gillespie earning minutes in the Thunder series is momentum for next year. The things he saw first-hand from an Oklahoma City team that wins on the margins of drawing and selling fouls will be invaluable regardless of role changes around him.
Rasheer Fleming
Fleming finished Game 4 with two missed shots, two steals and the block. It was his only true rotation action of the series after he hit a trio of garbage-time 3s in Game 1’s blowout.
“It speaks a lot to how (the Suns staff) developed him over the course of the season,” Ott said. “Rasheer is not scared to shoot it, we know that. Just his length and size, we’re super excited to see where it goes.
“These minutes are going to be impactful for his career.”
It took one defensive possession Monday to wonder if the Suns made a mistakes by running out Haywood Highsmith and Khaman Maluach to steal center minutes this postseason.
Minutes after entering as a small-ball center, he erased a Gilgeous-Alexander shot at the rim. Fleming was the closest of all 10 players to the Thunder’s baseline. Then, he was the third of the 10 players down the court by the time Booker made a fastbreak floater on the other end. He also FELL DOWN in between the offense-to-defense turnover and still beat six others down the court.
That is a great example of his athleticism that could be game-changing.
Jordan Goodwin
In a quarter of a season with the Los Angeles Lakers last season and a full one with Phoenix this, Goodwin has enough on tape to show he’s not a certified, above-average three-point shooter at 37%.
That and his offensive rebounding are about where the offensive positives end, but that still makes Goodwin is a Josh Okogie who will not be played completely off the court in the playoffs because of his offensive flaws.
The minutes he played in the second half of the year had a correlation with Phoenix’s most grungy moments that aligns with their identity. The Suns felt his loss five minutes into the series.
Follow @kzimmermanaz
Hence then, the article about which suns players exit 2025 26 as sure things was published today ( ) and is available on Arizona sports ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Which Suns players exit 2025-26 as sure things? )
Also on site :
- BGMI 4.4 Update To Bring A19 Royale Pass, Check Leaked Rewards
- Pope Sends New Shipment of Humanitarian Aid to Lebanon and Ukraine
- Marine Fauthoux always ‘had eyes on’ Liberty — and now gets a development chance with CBA wrinkle