2014–15 Phoenix Suns season

The 2014–15 Phoenix Suns season is the 47th season of the franchise in the NBA.^[1] It is also the last season when the arena would be named the US Airways Center, before it is renamed Talking Stick Resort Arena beginning in October 2015. With Channing Frye and Leandro Barbosa leaving in free agency and Goran Dragić being traded to the Miami Heat near the end of the trade deadline, no other player on the team had made the playoffs with the organization in previous years now. The Suns were in playoff contention for much of the season but suffered in the final weeks, partly due to injuries involving Brandon Knight and later Alex Len, and partly due to the amount of players added and taken away during the trade deadline. The Suns capped off the 2014–15 NBA season with five consecutive losses and losing 10 out of 11 games total (the worst season-ending stretch since its inaugural season), finishing 3rd place in Pacific division and 10th place in Western Conference with a 39-43 record. The Suns did not qualify for the playoffs for the fifth straight year, which currently ties the stretch from the 1970-71 to 1974-75 seasons as the team's longest playoff drought.

What would mark this season in particular were the trades the Suns had done throughout the season. In the offseason, the Suns would trade for point guard Isaiah Thomas for 2013 second round pick Alex Oriakhi. Thomas would later on be traded in a massive multi-team trade that would also result in the Dragić brothers, rookie guard Tyler Ennis, and center Miles Plumlee going to some different teams in exchange for guard Brandon Knight from the Milwaukee Bucks, Marcus Thornton from the Boston Celtics, Danny Granger from the Miami Heat, and three different future first round picks. Before then, the Suns would try to remain competitive with smaller trades like trading Anthony Tolliver to the Detroit Pistons for Tony Mitchell (who would eventually be waived), trading a future Minnesota Timberwolves first round pick to Boston for center Brandan Wright, and being involved in a three-way trade with the Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers that gave them Reggie Bullock for Shavlik Randolph.

Key dates

• May 20, 2014: The NBA Draft Lottery takes place.
• June 26, 2014: The 2014 NBA Draft takes place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
• July 1, 2014: The NBA free agency period begins.
• July 7, 2014: Channing Frye agrees to a 4-year, $32 million contract to play for the Orlando Magic, which signifies the completion of dismembering the last Suns playoff roster between 2010 and now (although Goran Dragić would return in 2012 after being traded a year earlier).
• July 10, 2014: Teams can sign, trade, and amnesty players; P.J. Tucker agrees to a 3-year, $17.5 million contract to stay with the Suns.
• July 11, 2014: The Suns complete a sign-and-trade, sending Alex Oriakhi and a $7 million trade exception to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for point guard Isaiah Thomas, who agrees to a 4-year, $27 million contract.
• July 15, 2014: The Suns waive Ishmael "Ish" Smith's contract before it became guaranteed for the rest of the season.
• July 16, 2014: Anthony Tolliver signs a 2-year, $6 million contract to play with the Suns.
• July 28, 2014: P.J. Tucker is arrested for "super-extreme DUI."^[2]
• August 8, 2014: Both first rounders T.J. Warren and Tyler Ennis sign.^[3]
• August 12, 2014: The NBA suspend P.J. Tucker was suspended for the first three games of the regular season.
• August 13, 2014: The NBA accidentally leaks out that the Suns' Martin Luther King, Jr. Day game would be at home against the Los Angeles Lakers on TNT before the schedule is announced. After starting last season with only one ESPN game (with three more added during the regular season), the Suns get 17 nationally televised games, including 4 on ESPN and 6 on TNT (including a home game against the Oklahoma City Thunder and the regular season finale against the Los Angeles Clippers).
• September 24, 2014: After months of inactivity, Eric Bledsoe agrees to a 5-year, $70 million contract.
• September 25, 2014: The Suns partially buys out the contract of Zoran Dragić, Goran's brother, in order to sign him on a 2-year contract worth $4,012,500.
• September 29, 2014: Media Day and training camp begins for the Suns; twin brothers Markieff and Marcus Morris receive 4-year contract extensions worth $32 million and $20 million, respectively.
• October 29, 2014: The Suns play their first regular season game.
• November 4, 2014: P.J. Tucker completes his three-game suspension.
• November 19, 2014: The Suns plays the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills on the tenth anniversary of Malice at the Palace, winning 88-86.
• December 2, 2014: The Suns announce the new name of the U.S. Airways Center, Talking Stick Resort Arena, which takes effect after the season.
• December 24, 2014: The Suns trade Anthony Tolliver to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for power forward Tony Mitchell, who used to play basketball for North Texas University.
• December 28, 2014: Following a six-game losing streak, the Suns start December with a six-game winning streak with wins over the Charlotte Hornets, New York Knicks, Washington Wizards, Dallas Mavericks, Sacramento Kings, and Los Angeles Lakers, with all but the Dallas game on the road.
• January 9, 2015: Prior to the Suns' close road loss against the rival San Antonio Spurs, the Suns traded with general manager Ryan McDonough's former team, the Boston Celtics, to grab the rights of power forward/center Brandan Wright in exchange for the Minnesota Timberwolves' top 12 protected first round pick the Suns first got from their Robin Lopez and Hakim Warrick for Wesley Johnson trade, which would be conveyed to two second round picks in 2016 and 2017 if the conditions aren't met by the end of the 2015-16 NBA season. The Suns would also waive Tony Mitchell's rights in the process.
• January 13, 2015: When the Suns had their 107-100 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Suns would begin their eight-game homestand for January, which marked the longest homestand in franchise history. This game also marked the Suns' halfway point into the regular season, which came by the Suns much faster than most of the teams in the NBA.
• January 15, 2015: Before the Suns' upcoming home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves and a day after assigning Archie Goodwin to the Bakersfield Jam again, the Suns would complete a three-way trade with the Los Angeles Clippers and the Boston Celtics. The Suns would end up getting second-year player Reggie Bullock from the Los Angeles Clippers, while the Boston Celtics would take on Shavlik Randolph's cap space in order for the Clippers to have coach Doc Rivers' son Austin Rivers become a part of the same team again.
• January 19, 2015: The Suns' home game against the Los Angeles Lakers would be the first time in nearly two years that the Suns would play a nationally televised game on TNT. Phoenix would win in convincing fashion by the score of 115-100 over the Lakers on that day, and they would also create their first season sweep over the Lakers since the 2004-05 season. That game also provided the Suns' their 100th overall victory over the Lakers.^[4]
• January 24, 2015: Markieff and Marcus Morris would get involved in an assault case with a former mentor of theirs named Erick Hood.
• January 30, 2015: After the Suns' 99-93 victory over the Chicago Bulls (which was Derrick Rose's first matchup against the Suns since 2011 and the Suns' first home victory over the Bulls since November 15, 2007), the Suns would end their longest homestand in team history with a 6-2 record.
• February 13, 2015: The NBA All-Star Weekend break begins.
• February 19, 2015: The NBA's trade deadline takes effect; the Suns completed a six-way trade with the Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat, New Orleans Pelicans, Philadelphia 76ers, and the Boston Celtics (again) by trading away both Zoran and Goran Dragić to the Heat, both Miles Plumlee and Tyler Ennis to the Bucks, Isaiah Thomas to the Celtics, and the Top-5 protected 2015 Los Angeles Lakers draft pick to the 76ers. In exchange for those guys, the Suns would end up getting star guard Brandon Knight (and Kendall Marshall) from the Bucks, Marcus Thornton from the Celtics, veteran small forward Danny Granger from the Heat, and John Salmons from the New Orleans Pelicans, as well as a 2016 first round pick from the Celtics via the Cleveland Cavaliers and two future first round draft picks from the Heat. This series of moves officially completed the transition period from the last time the Suns made it to the playoffs, as well as leaves only three current Suns players that were on the Suns during their second-worst season in team history. The Suns would also waive both Kendall Marshall and John Salmons later on that day.
• February 20, 2015: The Suns would sign former Suns center and training camp invitee Earl Barron to a 10-day contract.
• March 3, 2015: The Suns would sign center Earl Barron to a second 10-day contract.
• March 10, 2015: The Suns would sign guard Seth Curry, brother of Stephen Curry, to a 10-day contract for back-up purposes due to an injury that Brandon Knight got during the second home game against, funnily enough, the Golden State Warriors.
• March 13, 2015: The Suns would sign center Earl Barron for the rest of the season.
• March 20, 2015: After completing his initial 10 day contract, Seth Curry would be waived from the team and be replaced by back-up point guard A.J. Price with his own 10 day contract.
• March 31, 2015: After completing his own 10 day contract, A.J. Price would be waived from the team due to his poor performance with the group.
• April 1, 2015: The Suns would sign guard Bakersfield Jam affiliate guard Jerel McNeal to a 10-day contract.
• April 11, 2015: After completing his 10-day contract, the Suns decided to sign Jerel McNeal into the 2015-16 NBA season.
• April 17, 2015: Brandon Knight would go under arthroscopic surgery to take care of an anterior flap that was causing irritation to his injured ankle.
• April 21, 2015: Markieff and Marcus Morris officially get felony assault charges on an incident around January 2015.

Offseason

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College / Club
1	14	T.J. Warren	Small Forward	United States	North Carolina State
1	18	Tyler Ennis	Point Guard	Canada	Syracuse
1	27	Bogdan Bogdanović	Shooting Guard	Serbia	Partizan Belgrade
2	50	Alec Brown	Center	United States	Wisconsin–Green Bay

The Phoenix Suns had three first round picks and one second round pick this season. Their highest first round pick (the 14th pick) was their own that was also a part of the NBA draft lottery. Both of the extra draft picks the Suns had this season involved trades the Suns made last season. The 18th pick came from the Washington Wizards by the Suns trading Marcin Gortat, Kendall Marshall, Shannon Brown, and Malcolm Lee, with Phoenix also getting the rights of Emeka Okafor out of it. Their 27th pick, however, came from the Indiana Pacers due to the Suns trading power forward Luis Scola, with Phoenix also gaining Gerald Green and Miles Plumlee in the process, both of whom would be beneficial to their improvement from the 2012–13 season. The lone second round pick they have is also the pick they had on their own accord due to their 48–34 record being one of the best in the NBA that past season. Before the draft came up, the Suns also had two other second round draft picks they had acquired from trades with the Los Angeles Lakers (Steve Nash for four draft picks and cash) and the Toronto Raptors (Sebastian Telfair for Hamed Haddadi and Toronto's second round pick) in the 2012–13 season (the last season Lance Blanks was the Suns' general manager). However, both of those second rounders went to the Milwaukee Bucks due to the former first being traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a three–way trade that had the Suns getting rid of Robin Lopez and Hakim Warrick for the New Orleans Hornets in exchange for taking on a one–year deal with Wesley Johnson and the possibility of having a future Timberwolves first round pick (which would eventually get traded anyways) before being involved with Milwaukee in a later three–way trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder and the latter being involved with the Suns' own three–way trade with the Bucks and the Los Angeles Clippers in acquiring Eric Bledsoe (and Caron Butler) in exchange for Jared Dudley.

With the 14th pick, Phoenix selected T.J. Warren, a sophomore from North Carolina State University. Warren averaged 24.9 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, which earned him ACC Player of the Year and consensus second team All–American honors.The Suns also selected Canadian–born Tyler Ennis, a freshman from the University of Syracuse with the 18th pick. Ennis averaged 12.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 2.1 steals in 35.7 minutes per game. Phoenix then selected the Serbian international prospect Bogdan Bogdanović of Partizan Belgrade as their 27th pick. Bogdanović averaged 14.8 points, 3.7 rebounds and assists, and 1.6 steals in 31.4 minutes per game for Partizan Belgrade, which helped him win the Euroleague's Rising Star award and the Basketball League of Serbia's Finals MVP award (as well as multiple international championships beforehand). Finally, with their 50th pick in the second round, the Suns decided to select Alec Brown, a senior from the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay. Brown averaged 15.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 3.1 blocks in his final season with the Phoenix, was named All–Horizon League first team, and won the Horizon League's Defensive Player of the Year award. He also co-led the Horizon League in career blocks with 309 total blocks, scored 1,678 points and grabbed 800 rebounds during his time in Green Bay.

Free agency

Veteran players Emeka Okafor and Leandro Barbosa, as well as the newly signed Shavlik Randolph, Ishmael "Ish" Smith, and Dionte Christmas all became unrestricted free agents as of the end of the 2013–14 NBA season. In addition, both co-star point guard Eric Bledsoe and P.J. Tucker ended up being restricted free agents as well. Not only that, but on June 22, 2014, Channing Frye decided to decline his final year of his contract he had earlier on with the team and decided to pursue free agency as well. On July 7, 2014, Frye ended up signing a 4-year, $32 million contract to play for the Orlando Magic. During the July Moratorium (July 10), the Suns re–signed P.J. Tucker to a three–year contract worth $16.5 million. Ish Smith became a free agent on July 15, 2014 during the deadline for teams to decide on whether they want to make Smith's, Randolph's, and Christmas' non-guaranteed contracts become fully guaranteed this season; Smith signed with the Houston Rockets three days later. Meanwhile, Shavlik Randolph's $1.23 million contract became guaranteed on July 17. A week later, Dionte Christmas was waived from the team. Leandro Barbosa left to sign a one-year veteran's minimum contract with the Golden State Warriors on August 28, 2014. On September 10, 2014, Dionte Christmas joined the New Orleans Pelicans. The only player to have not been signed at all was Emeka Okafor due to his injury problems and waiting to recover for the 2015-16 NBA season. However, as of September 17, 2015, Okafor would not a find a new team to play for yet.

After trying to woo the likes of LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and even Chris Bosh to sign with the Suns, they ended up pursuing the likes of different free agents that were going under the radar at the time. For starters, a day after the Suns got P.J. Tucker to agree with a new deal for the Suns, the Sacramento Kings' point guard Isaiah Thomas ended up agreeing to a four-year contract worth $27 million. However, to ensure the Suns got Thomas, they agreed to trade last season's second round pick Alex Oriakhi and a traded player exception worth $7 million in order to make sure the Kings didn't match their offer since Thomas was still a restricted free agent at the time. On July 16, 2014, the Suns signed power forward Anthony Tolliver, who had played for the Charlotte Bobcats back when they were named that before they became the new Charlotte Hornets, a two-year contract worth $6 million, with his second year only having $400,000 guaranteed with his contract. After the 2014 FIBA World Championship ended for Goran Dragić's team in Slovenia, the Suns planned on getting his brother Zoran Dragić on a contract buyout from Unicaja Málaga in Spain on September 12, 2014. The planned buyout involves the Suns paying $600,000 for the $1,100,000 required by the team, while Goran helped pay his brother the rest that was required for his buyout. The transaction was completed on September 24, 2014; he signed a two-year contract worth $4,012,500.^[5][6] Finally, after months of inactivity and even a trade rumor relating to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Suns and Eric Bledsoe met over a new contract on September 23, 2014 finally agreeing to a five-year contract worth $70 million a day later.^[7] The new contract was the biggest since 2006 with Boris Diaw's 5-year, $45 million deal. Six days later, the Suns extended the contracts of Markieff and Marcus Morris to 4 year contracts worth $32 million and $20 million respectively.

On August 26, 2014, the Suns decided to sign both former Suns player Earl Barron (who last played for the New York Knicks) and the undrafted Casey Prather from the Florida Gators to non-guaranteed contracts for training camp. After that, the Suns signed the undrafted Joe Jackson from the Memphis Tigers under that same sort of deal. The Suns also signed Jamil Wilson of the Marquette Golden Eagles in September as well. However, the Suns waived Wilson, Jackson, and Prather from the team on October 14, 2014, while Barron was waived on October 25, 2014 after battling Shavlik Randolph (and Anthony Tolliver) for the final roster spot; everyone that would be waived after the pre-season would end up playing in the affiliate Bakersfield Jam soon afterwards. Funnily enough, though, Barron would end up signing up with the Suns again on February 20, 2015 well after both Shavlik and Anthony left the team in different trades. This time in his second stint with the Suns, however, they would first give him a 10-day contract to test out how Earl would do this time around. After succeeding in his initial test with limited playing time, the Suns would give him a second 10-day contract on March 3, 2015 before keeping him for the rest of the season on March 13, 2015. Around the time Earl was playing in his second 10-day contract, the Suns would sign Stephen Curry's brother Seth Curry to a 10-day contract on March 10, 2015 after an injury Brandon Knight got against the Golden State Warriors a day earlier. After completing his 10-day contract, Seth would be waived and replaced with back-up point guard A.J. Price on March 20, 2015 instead. When he failed under his 10-day stint as a player, he was waived on March 31, 2015 and replaced by affiliate Bakersfield Jam player (and eventual D-League Impact Player of the Year winner) Jerel McNeal a day later. Finally, after he finished his own 10-day contract, the Suns decided to sign Jerel into the 2015-16 season (so long as he'd meet team options by July 21, 2015, which was after the team's Summer League stint ended) on April 11, 2015.

Trades

During Christmas Eve, the Suns traded Anthony Tolliver to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for the rights to Tony Mitchell from North Texas University. Mitchell would never play for the Suns, though, and on January 9, 2015, the Suns traded the conditional Minnesota Timberwolves first round draft pick to the Boston Celtics in exchange for power forward/center Brandan Wright hours before their road game against the San Antonio Spurs began. That prompted the Suns to waive their rights to Tony Mitchell before they became guaranteed for the Suns. Nearly a week later, the Suns would take part in another trade with the Celtics, this time being part of a three-way deal with the Los Angeles Clippers. In that deal, the Suns would grab Reggie Bullock from the Clippers while the Celtics would take on Shavlik Randolph's salary (as well as Chris Douglas–Roberts and a future second round pick) in order for Doc Rivers' son Austin Rivers to play for the Clippers and be reunited in the process. Finally, during the trade deadline on February 19, 2015 after announcements of Goran Dragić displaying his displeasure with the team as it is and wanting to be traded to a specific list of teams, the Suns engaged in the equivalent of a six–way trade that involved the likes of the Boston Celtics (once more), as well as the Miami Heat, the Milwaukee Bucks, the New Orleans Pelicans, and the Philadelphia 76ers.

In the first trade the Suns did on the trade deadline, the Suns traded away the Dragić brothers in guards Goran and Zoran Dragić to the Miami Heat, while the Suns received veteran former-All-Star small forward Danny Granger and two different first round picks from the Heat (one protected in 2017 that will remain protected until 2019 and another unprotected in 2021), as well as veteran swingman John Salmons from the Pelicans, while New Orleans would receive two-time champion guard Norris Cole, power forward Shawne Williams, center Justin Hamilton, and cash considerations, which would all come from the Heat. With their second trade, the Suns would receive guard Marcus Thornton (who would be on an expiring contract) and a 2016 first round draft pick (that'll be from the Cleveland Cavaliers) from the Celtics in exchange for their biggest off-season signing in point guard Isaiah Thomas. Finally, in what was perceived at the time to be the trade the Suns got the biggest value out of other teams, the Suns would trade away both rookie point guard Tyler Ennis and downgraded center Miles Plumlee to the Milwaukee Bucks and the projected 2015 Los Angeles Lakers' top 5 protected first round draft pick to the Philadelphia 76ers (in which Philadelphia would give up Rookie of The Year winning guard Michael Carter-Williams to the Bucks as well) in exchange for the likes of point guard Brandon Knight and injured former Suns point guard Kendall Marshall. Phoenix would end up waiving both John Salmons and Kendall Marshall later on that day.

Roster

2014–15 Phoenix Suns roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From 5.5 !F/C 30 Barron, Earl 7000213360000000000♠7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1981–08–14 Memphis 1.5 !G 2 Bledsoe, Eric (C) 7000185420000000000♠6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1989–12–09 Kentucky 2.5 !G/F 25 Bullock, Reggie 7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1991–03–16 North Carolina 1.5 !G 20 Goodwin, Archie 7000195580000000000♠6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 198 lb (90 kg) 1994–08–17 Kentucky 4.0 !F 22 Granger, Danny 7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 222 lb (101 kg) 1983–04–20 New Mexico 2.5 !G/F 14 Green, Gerald 7000203200000000000♠6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1986–01–26 Gulf Shores Academy (TX) 1.5 !G 3 Knight, Brandon  7000190500000000000♠6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 189 lb (86 kg) 1991–12–02 Kentucky 6.0 !C 21 Len, Alex  7000215899999999999♠7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 265 lb (120 kg) 1993–06–16 Maryland 1.5 !G 8 McNeal, Jerel 7000190500000000000♠6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1986–06–01 Marquette 4.0 !F 15 Morris, Marcus 7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1989–09–02 Kansas 4.0 !F 11 Morris, Markieff 7000208279999999999♠6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1989–09–02 Kansas 1.5 !G 23 Thornton, Marcus 7000193040000000000♠6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1987–06–05 LSU 4.0 !F 17 Tucker, P. J. 7000198120000000000♠6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 224 lb (102 kg) 1985–05–05 Texas 4.0 !F 12 Warren, T. J. (R) 7000203200000000000♠6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1993–09–05 North Carolina State 5.5 !F/C 32 Wright, Brandan 7000208279999999999♠6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1987–10–05 North Carolina	Head coach Jeff Hornacek (Iowa State) Assistant coach(es) Kenny Gattison (Old Dominion) Mike Longabardi (Frostburg State) Jerry Sichting (Purdue) Mark West (Old Dominion) Corey Gaines (Loyola Marymount) Irving Roland Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended (DL) On assignment to D-League affiliate Injured Roster • Transactions

Salaries

Because of a few past transactions made from Lance Blanks' tenure that didn't pan out so well for the Suns, Josh Childress is still owed $7,317,500 due to them amnestying his contract two seasons ago, while under the Michael Beasley buyout the Suns did on September 3, 2013, they now owe Beasley the equivalent of $2,333,333 for the next three seasons as opposed to giving him the guaranteed amount of $3,000,000 he was owed in his original contract. While Josh Childress' salary does not affect the Suns' overall salary cap to their season this year (and is the last time Phoenix would owe money to him, especially considering Childress went to the Sydney Kings in Australia this season), Michael Beasley's contract still affect the Suns' salary despite Beasley going to the Shanghai Sharks in China this season as well before returning to the Miami Heat later on in the season, but only for a few thousand dollars (around $777,778) instead of a few million. In addition, the Suns also bought out the short, small contracts of North Texas University power forward Tony Mitchell, former Suns point guard Kendall Marshall, and John Salmons after finishing their respective deals with the Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks, and New Orleans Pelicans.^[8]

Pre-Season

Regular season

Standings

Game log

Player statistics

* – Stats with the Suns.

Injuries/Personal games missed

Awards and records

Awards

• T.J. Warren would earn All-NBA Second Team Las Vegas Summer League Honors due to his performance in the 2014 NBA Summer League.
• Isaiah Thomas would be the runner-up for the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award for his performances with both the Suns and the Boston Celtics.
• Brandon Knight was considered a candidate for the NBA Most Improved Player Award for his performances with the Milwaukee Bucks and the Suns.

All-Star

• Isaiah Thomas would be announced as one of eight different participants to compete in the Taco Bell Skills Challenge during All-Star Weekend. His first opponent in the revamped competition would be John Wall of the Washington Wizards. He'd end up being the shortest player to ever participate in the Taco Bell Skills Challenge. Thomas would end up losing to the eventual champion Patrick Beverley (who replaced his initial first round opponent John Wall) in the first round.
  • Eventual Suns player Brandon Knight would also lose to Beverley in the competition, only as the final opponent in the championship round.

Records

• When the Suns traded Shavlik Randolph to the Boston Celtics and got Reggie Bullock from the Los Angeles Clippers, the Suns had some time where they were the only team in the league to not have any players go over the age of 30. The Suns would end up continuing with that line-up for around a month before this season's trade deadline gave the roster the 31-year-old Danny Granger in a multi-team trade and later on signed the 33-year-old Earl Barron from the affiliate Bakersfield Jam (which would be the first time the Suns would call someone that initially came from the Jam D-League team to the Suns) to two 10 day contracts before signing back on for the rest of the season.
• On the Suns' 117-113 overtime victory over Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder, Eric Bledsoe would record 28 points on 11/16 shooting, 13 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 blocks, and 1 steal. Eric would become the 9th player in NBA history to record similar kinds of statistics during the regular season, as well as the first point guard to record 50% shooting for 28 or more points while grabbing 13 or more rebounds, getting 9 or more assists, 4 or more blocks, and at least one steal in a game.^[9]
• The Suns became the first (and so far, only) team in the history of the NBA to host a +43 and a -43 point differential in-between games this season, with them getting a -43 from their 117–113 overtime victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder to their brutal 101–74 loss to the defending champion San Antonio Spurs late in February, and then getting a +43 from going off of a close 74–72 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans at home to having a blowout 117–102 victory over the Houston Rockets on the road in March.

Team records

• The Suns broke their season-opening record of three-point shots made in their opening game with 16 made three-pointers in their 119-99 victory against the Los Angeles Lakers on October 29, 2014. (Their previous record was 13 on Halloween day on 2006 against the Lakers.)^[10]
• Isaiah Thomas' 23 points he scored on October 29 against the Lakers is the highest amount of points a Suns player would score off the bench under their debut appearance with the team.^[11]
• Isaiah Thomas' 200 points in 13 games would be the most scored by a bench player since Tom Chambers during the 1992-93 season.
• The two blowout road victories against the Philadelphia 76ers and Indiana Pacers on November 21 & 22, 2014 was the first time the Suns won back-to-back games on the road by 20 or more points since 2004.
• Gerald Green's 24 games where he'd make at least one three-pointer (starting with that November 21, 2014 victory against the Philadelphia 76ers and ending on their January 6, 2015 victory against the Milwaukee Bucks) would tie the Suns' highest mark with his former teammate Channing Frye getting at least one three-pointer going in for 24 straight games in the 2010-11 NBA season.
• Starting on January 13, 2015 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Suns begin an 8-game homestand that's also the longest homestand in franchise history. With their victory over the Washington Wizards on January 28, the Suns would be guaranteed to end their homestand with a winning record; they would end their homestand with a 6-2 record.
• With the Suns getting Seth Curry on March 11, 2015, they have officially had over 10% of their all-time roster representing relatives (fathers, sons, brothers, cousins, nephews, etc.) that had also played in either the NBA and/or the ABA at one point.^[12]
• The 24 points the Suns scored in the first half of their 101-74 loss to the defending champion San Antonio Spurs on February 28, 2015 would be the franchise's lowest scoring half ever. That record would be broken a year later on January 3, 2016 against the Los Angeles Lakers with 22 points scored in the first half.
• The Suns' 74–72 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on March 19, 2015 tied the lowest amount of points scored by the Suns in a victory (tying the record set on January 30, 1998 against the Miami Heat on the road with a 74–71 victory there), as well as set the lowest amount of points scored in a victory for the team.
• With the Suns having 23 different players getting playing time with the team at one point or another in the season, it tied the 1996-97 Phoenix Suns season for most amount of players to play at least one game with the Suns in a single season.

Milestones

• With the Suns signing Zoran Dragić alongside his brother Goran Dragić, as well as extending both Markieff Morris and his twin brother Marcus Morris on September 29, 2014, this team would mark the first time ever that different pairs of siblings/brothers would play for the same team. All four players appeared for the first time in the same game under a November loss against the Los Angeles Clippers. Both pairs of brothers later made their first appearances together at the same time late in the fourth quarter and would each produce numbers throughout the game in their January 2, 2015 112-96 victory against the Philadelphia 76ers.
• When the Suns traded Shavlik Randolph for Reggie Bullock on January 15, 2015, the Suns made sure they had no players that were over the age of 30 on their roster. This marks one of the few, if only times where an NBA team had no one over the age of 30 signed onto their roster. It continued to be the case until the February 19, 2015 when the Suns got Danny Granger in a trade with the Miami Heat and later on got Earl Barron from the affiliate Bakersfield Jam on the team in the process.

Team milestones

• Goran Dragić would surpass forward Cedric Ceballos as the Suns' 28th best scorer of all time on the team near the start of the third quarter of the October 29, 2014 game against the Los Angeles Lakers. Goran would score 18 points as the Suns would blowout the Lakers by the final score of 119–99.
• Goran would end up surpassing center James Edwards to become the Suns' 27th best all-time scorer near the start of the third quarter by making two free throws in the Halloween game against the defending champion San Antonio Spurs. Goran would score 10 points as the Suns would keep it close and would win by the score of 94–89.
• Goran would surpass former Sixth Man of the Year small forward and current Suns broadcaster Eddie Johnson to become the Suns' 26th best all-time scorer near the end of the fourth quarter by scoring a critical layup during the last minute of the game. He would score 22 points throughout the November 17, 2014 game against the Boston Celtics as the Suns would win a close one by the score of 118-114.
• Goran Dragić would surpass Hall of Fame guard Dennis Johnson to become the Suns' 25th best all-time scorer with 7.6 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter by scoring a quick layup to end the 120-112 victory on the November 26, 2014 home game against the Denver Nuggets.
• The Suns' 10-6 start would be their best start to the season since the 2009-10 NBA season.
• Goran would surpass point guard Kyle Macy early in the second quarter with a two-point shot as the Suns' 24th best all-time scorer on December 2, 2014 against the Indiana Pacers. He would then surpass point guard Stephon Marbury with less than a minute left in the second quarter with a different two-point shot to become the Suns' 23rd best all-time scorer as he would score 22 points in the first half and a then-season high 34 points in a blowout 117-99 victory over Indiana at the US Airways Center.
• Eric Bledsoe's first ever triple-double against his former team, the Los Angeles Clippers, in overtime on December 8, 2014 would be the first time a Suns player would record a triple-double since Boris Diaw back in April 14, 2006 against the Golden State Warriors.
• Eric's second triple-double of his career on December 23, 2014 against the Dallas Mavericks was also the first time a Suns player had multiple triple-doubles in a season since Boris Diaw when he had four different triple-doubles in the 2005-06 NBA season.
• Goran Dragić would tie his former teammate in shooting guard Grant Hill with a two-point shot near the middle of the second quarter and then surpass him with a running lay-up in the middle of the second quarter to become the Suns' 22nd best all-time scorer on December 26, 2014 against the Sacramento Kings. He would record 16 points as the Suns would beat the short-handed Kings 115-106.
• Goran would tie point guard and former basketball coach Clem Haskins to become the Suns' 21st best all-time scorer near the end of the fourth quarter by making two free-throws to help the Suns increase their lead over the Los Angeles Lakers. Goran would score 24 points as the Suns would decimate the Lakers 116-107 out at the Staples Center on December 28, 2014. He'd then surpass that total on December 30, 2014 with 8 minutes left in the first quarter against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center in a close loss to them.
• Goran would surpass future Hall of Famer point guard and current Milwaukee Bucks head coach Jason Kidd to become the Suns' 20th best all-time scorer near the beginning of the third quarter with a fast break layup after a winning jumpball in the Thunder's side of the field on New Year's Eve. He'd record 21 points in a close overtime loss against the Thunder.
• When Eric Bledsoe had over 1,200 points, 400 rebounds, and 400 assists throughout this season, it made Eric the fifth Suns player to record such totals in a single season, with Jason Kidd (back in the 2000-01 NBA season), Jeff Hornacek (back in the 1991-92 NBA season), Alvan Adams (in his rookie season), and Gail Goodrich (back in the team's inaugural season) being the first to do so earlier.

Transactions

Trades

^ I: The Minnesota Timberwolves will send their own first round pick (top–12 protected from 2015–2016) to Boston. If a first round pick isn't conveyed to the Celtics by 2016, then Minnesota shall convey their 2016 & 2017 second round draft picks to Boston instead.^[13]
^ II: Even though the Suns initially had the Miami Heat's 2017 (top–7 protected) pick as consideration for what transpired in the trade with the Dragić brothers, Philadelphia will have the Heat's upcoming 2016 first round pick due to an earlier trade the Heat made with the 76ers. As a result of the Ted Stepien Rule, the Suns are forbidden from having the Heat's 2017 protected first round pick if it falls outside of protection due to the fact that the Heat would be trading two first round draft picks of their own accord in a row to different teams. The only exception to that rule is if Miami owns another first round selection before the 2017 NBA draft begins. Otherwise, Phoenix would have to wait until either 2018 or 2019 (when protections are officially removed) before having a chance at getting Miami's first of their two first round selections in exchange.
^ III: The Los Angeles Lakers initially would send their 2015 first round selection through an earlier trade involving Steve Nash. However, their selection found itself in the Top 5, so the Lakers will send their own first round pick (top–3 protected from 2016–2017, unprotected in 2018) to Philadelphia in 2016 at least instead.

Free Agents

Additions

Player	Signed	Former team
P.J. Tucker	Signed 3-year deal worth $16.5 Million	Phoenix Suns
Isaiah Thomas	Signed 4-year deal worth $27 Million	Sacramento Kings
Anthony Tolliver	Signed 2-year deal worth $6 Million	Charlotte Bobcats / Hornetsa[›]
Ronald Shavlik Randolph	Signed 1-year deal worth $1.23 Million	Phoenix Suns
Eric Bledsoe	Signed 5-year deal worth $70 Million	Phoenix Suns
Zoran Dragić	Signed 2-year deal worth $4 Million	Club Baloncesto Málaga, S.A.D.
Markieff Morris	Signed 4-year extension worth $32 Millionb[›]	Phoenix Suns
Marcus Morris	Signed 4-year extension worth $20 Millionb[›]	Phoenix Suns
Earl Barron	Signed two 10 day contracts / 1-year deal worth $390,063	New York Knicks / Phoenix Suns / Shanxi Zhongyu Brave Dragons / Bakersfield Jamc[›]
Seth Curry	Signed a 10-day contract worth $48,028	Orlando Magic / Erie BayHawksd[›]
A.J. Price	Signed a 10-day contract worth $62,552	Cleveland Cavaliers / Indiana Pacerse[›]
Jerel McNeal	Signed a 10-day contract / 2-year deal worth $904,745f[›]	Bakersfield Jam

^ a: When Anthony Tolliver first signed up to play for Charlotte, the professional basketball team was known as the Charlotte Bobcats at the time. However, word also quickly spread that after the 2013–14 NBA season (which was also the Bobcats' 10th official season in the NBA), the Bobcats would be renamed to the Charlotte Hornets in order to continue the original team name's legacy that was there from the 1988-89 NBA season to the 2001-02 NBA season before they moved to New Orleans and eventually became the New Orleans Pelicans of today. Even though Tolliver would be on the team when they renamed the Bobcats to the Hornets, he'd never really play for the Hornets and would instead only play under the old Bobcats moniker.
^ b: Both Markieff and Marcus Morris noted that they would be willing to take discounts on their contracts in order to stay with each other in the future. On September 29, the Morris Twins would split the total value among each other in order to sign contracts that allowed themselves to stay in Phoenix together for the long term.
^ c: The last NBA team Earl Barron played for before first trying his hand out with the Suns during pre-season was the New York Knicks late into the 2012-13 NBA season before deciding not to play at all last season for unknown reasons. While Earl did battle hard to steal a spot from either Shavlik Randolph or Anthony Tolliver during his first visit in the season, he ultimately did not make the initial roster. However, he did initially go to the Suns' D-League affiliate in the Bakersfield Jam as an affiliate player after impressing the Suns during the pre-season. Earl would continue playing with the Jam until January 27, 2015 when he was bought out of his contract to play with the Shanxi Zhongyu Brave Dragons in China for the rest of their season. Unfortunately for Earl, Shanxi ended their season before he even got a chance to play with that team, so he ended up going back to Bakersfield on February 18, 2015. He would end up playing one more game with the Jam before signing his (first) 10 day contract with the Suns on February and later on sign for the rest of the season on March.
^ d: The last NBA team Seth Curry had technically played for before signing a deal with the Suns was the Orlando Magic during the pre-season this season. However, after not making it to their roster officially, Seth had played the rest of the season up until March 11, 2015 with the Magic's D-League affiliate, the Erie BayHawks instead. The last official NBA team Seth played for was the Cleveland Cavaliers, but he would also spend time with the Santa Cruz Warriors before the end of the 2013–14 NBA season instead. He also played for the Suns during this season's Summer League squad in Las Vegas.
^ e: A.J. Price had initially started the season playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers around the pre-season, but like Seth Curry with the Orlando Magic, he was waived before the beginning of the season. Price would then play for an injury-depleted Indiana Pacers team that was at the time without Paul George and some of their other star players in November 6, 2014 before being waived near the end of the month before returning to Cleveland on November 30, 2014 and remained on their roster until January 7, 2015.
^ f: The Suns decided to initially sign guard Jerel McNeal to a 10-day contract worth $29,843 on April Fool's Day in 2015 after waiving A.J. Price off of his own 10-day contract. After making his professional debut in the league during that time, the Suns decided to sign his into the 2015-16 season on April 11, 2015. For the remainder of this season, Jerel would gain an addition $29,843 (thus giving him a total amount of $59,686 for his time with the Suns this season), while he would have maintained an additional $845,059 for the next season in his contract if he remained on the team before July 21, 2015.

Subtractions

Player	Reason left	New team
Bogdan Bogdanović	Signed a new contract	Fenerbahçe Ülkerg[›]
Channing Frye	Unrestricted free agent	Orlando Magic
Alex Oriakhi	Traded under a restricted free agent sign-and-trade	Sacramento Kings / B.C. Pieno Žvaigždėsh[›]
Ishmael "Ish" Smith	Waived / Free Agent	Houston Rockets / Oklahoma City Thunder / New Orleans Pelicans / Philadelphia 76ersi[›]
Dionte Christmas	Waived / Free Agent	New Orleans Pelicans / Paris-Levallois Basketi[›]
Leandro Barbosa	Unrestricted free agent	Golden State Warriors
Alec Brown	Signed a new contract	Obradoiro Clube de Amigos do Baloncesto / Bakersfield Jamg[›]
Chukwuemeka "Emeka" Okafor	Free Agent / Waived	Unknownj[›]
Anthony Tolliver	Traded	Detroit Pistons
Tony Mitchell	Waived	Atléticos de San Germánk[›]
Ronald Shavlik Randolph Isaiah Thomas	Tradedl[›]	Boston Celticsm[›]
Goran Dragić Zoran Dragić	Traded	Miami Heat
Miles Plumlee Tyler Ennis	Traded	Milwaukee Bucks
Kendall Marshall	Waived	Philadelphia 76ersn[›]
John Salmons	Waived	Unknownn[›]
Seth Curry	10 Day Contract Expired	Erie BayHawks
A.J. Price	10 Day Contract Expired	Shanghai Dongfang Sharkso[›]

^ g: Even though both Bogdan Bogdanović and Alec Brown initially had contracts to player in European teams for multiple seasons, both players still have their rights retained by the Suns. On July 6, 2014, Bogdan Bogdanović signed a contract that would allow him to stay with Fenerbahçe Ülker in Turkey for at least two seasons guaranteed. Alec Brown, however, had signed a contract to play for Obradoiro Clube de Amigos do Baloncesto in Spain for at least one season guaranteed, but he'd never play for the team due to an earlier injury he received during the Summer League and had instead decided to sign with the Suns' D-League affiliate team, the Bakersfield Jam, for the rest of the season as of February 11, 2015. Brown would, however, decide to have a new chance to play for Obradoiro Clube de Amigos do Baloncesto a year later on July 31, 2015.
^ h: Despite the fact that Alex Oriakhi never played for the Suns, he still had his draft rights retained to the point where he even would have played for the Suns' Summer League team this season had he not been traded a day before the Las Vegas Summer League competition began. However, because the Kings had no room to offer him a spot on the team, Oriakhi would then sign a one-year contract to play with the Pieno Žvaigždės in Lithuania.
^ i: Both Ishmael "Ish" Smith and Dionte Christmas would be waived from the Houston Rockets and the New Orleans Pelicans' rosters respectively before the regular season began. Dionte would end up signing with Paris-Levallois Basket in France on November 12, 2014, while Ishmeal would end up signing up with the Oklahoma City Thunder on November 8, 2014 thanks to their roster being depleted with many injuries around that time (especially with both star players Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook) before being traded to the New Orleans Pelicans and waived on February 19, 2015 and signing with the Philadelphia 76ers three days later after they waived Malcolm Thomas from their roster.
^ j: Despite the fact that Chukwuemeka "Emeka" Okafor never played a game for the Suns last season, as well as not play at all since early 2013 back with the Washington Wizards, he'd continue to rehabilitate his body throughout the rest of this season and not play in the process. Okafor has still not found a new team to play for as of February 1, 2016.
^ k: Even though Tony Mitchell would be traded to the Suns on Christmas Eve in exchange for Anthony Tolliver leaving for the Detroit Pistons, Mitchell would never play a single NBA game with the team. He would be waived on January 9, 2015 after the Suns traded their conditional first round draft pick they received from the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2012 from the three-way trade with Minnesota and the then-New Orleans Hornets to the Boston Celtics for power forward/center Brandan Wright. Mitchell would end up signing with the Atléticos de San Germán in Puerto Rico for the rest of the 2014-15 season.
^ l: While both Shavlik Randolph and Isaiah Thomas were traded to the Celtics, they got traded under separate purposes. Shavlik would be traded as a part of a three-way deal involving the Los Angeles Clippers for the purpose of getting the Clippers' Reggie Bullock, while Isaiah would be traded under a six-way deal involving the Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat, New Orleans Pelicans, and Philadelphia 76ers that also involved trading the Dragić brothers, Miles Plumlee, rookie guard Tyler Ennis, and the Los Angeles Lakers' Top-5 protected draft pick this year (Top-3 protected the next two years later) in exchange for Brandon Knight, Marcus Thornton, Danny Granger, Kendall Marshall, John Salmons, the 2016 first round pick Boston got from the Cleveland Cavaliers, and two future first round draft picks from the Miami Heat.
^ m: Initially, both Randolph and Thomas stayed with the team throughout most of the season after their respective trades. However, Shavlik Randolph would be waived from the team on April 6, 2015 after Boston found out they had a chance of making it to the playoffs after all the trails and tribulations they went through this season. Randolph would end up signing with the Denver Nuggets two days later, but he would never play a single game with them after his initial signing there as he would be waived on April 9, 2015, one day after he would sign that contract of his to play for Denver.
^ n: Even though both Kendall Marshall and John Salmons were traded (back) to the Suns on February 19, 2015 trade deadline alongside Kendall's former Bucks teammate Brandon Knight, Marcus Thornton from the Boston Celtics, and Danny Granger from the Miami Heat (and three future first round draft picks), Marshall would never suit up under his second chance with the Suns in his career as would Salmons as they would be waived from the team on the same day, thanks in part due to Marshall's ACL injury he sustained from the Bucks earlier in his career. Kendall Marshall would end up signing a multi-year deal for the Philadelphia 76ers on September 6, 2015, while John Salmons has not found any new teams to play under as of February 1, 2016.
^ o: After being waived from the Suns once completing his 10 day contract with the team, A.J. Price would not find a new team to play under until September 11, 2015, in which he would sign a one year deal to play for the Shanghai Dongfang Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2014–15 Phoenix Suns season.

• 2014–15 Phoenix Suns preseason at ESPN
• 2014–15 Phoenix Suns regular season at ESPN