The 2022–23 Phoenix Suns season was their 55th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as well as their 30th season at the Footprint Center. It was also the last season under Robert Sarver's ownership tenure, as he was suspended from league-wide activities on September 13, 2022, due to an independent investigation on Sarver that began the season prior revealing inappropriate behaviors he had throughout his tenure as franchise owner of the Suns. He later announced in that same month that minority team owner and vice chairman of the Suns, Sam Garvin, would take over the majority of team duties for the rest of this season until new ownership bought out Sarver as the new majority team owners going forward. Sarver eventually accepted a deal to sell his ownership rights to both the Suns and Phoenix Mercury to an ownership group led by United Wholesale Mortgage CEO Mat Ishbia and his older brother Justin Ishbia for an asking price of $4 billion on December 20, 2022, with the NBA approving of the new ownership on February 6, 2023, and an official announcement confirming the deal coming a day later on February 7, 2023.Mat Ishbia's purchase of Phoenix Suns approved by NBA voteMAT ISHBIA ASSUMES CONTROLLING OWNERSHIP INTEREST OF PHOENIX SUNS AND PHOENIX MERCURY
During that same period of time, forward Jae Crowder agreed to sit out the rest of the season with the Suns until a potential trade was announced, which occurred on the February 9, 2023 trade deadline. Crowder was ultimately involved in a four-way trade where he got sent to the Milwaukee Bucks while they sent their own assets to the Indiana Pacers and Brooklyn Nets. Nearing the trade deadline of the 2022–23 season, the Suns were involved in a blockbuster transaction, where they traded away Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson, four unprotected first round picks, and the right to swap first round picks with the Suns in 2028 to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for 13-time NBA All-Star and 2-time NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant and the re-acquisition of T.J. Warren.SUNS COMPLETE TRADE FOR KEVIN DURANT, T.J. WARRENBrooklyn Nets Acquire Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and Draft Compensation in Four-team Trade
The Suns failed to improve upon their 64–18 record from the previous season after a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on January 4, 2023. However, despite dealing with multiple injuries throughout the season, including injuries to Devin Booker in December and Kevin Durant in March, the Suns clinched their third straight winning season on March 31, 2023, with a win over the Denver Nuggets. They later secured their third straight playoff berth on April 4 against the San Antonio Spurs, with the #4 seed in the Western Conference being set two days later against the Nuggets.
In the playoffs, the Suns defeated the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round in a rematch of 2021's Conference finals in which the Suns won in six games. The Suns won in five games, winning the last four games of the series after losing the first game at home. In the conference semifinals, they faced the top-seeded Denver Nuggets, a rematch of 2021's Semifinals in which the Suns swept the Nuggets. However, the Suns lost in six games to the eventual champion, suffering a blowout loss on home court in the Semifinals for the second straight year.
The Suns fired head coach Monty Williams two days following their postseason exit after four seasons with the team. This season also became the last for long-time Suns broadcaster Al McCoy, who announced his retirement from broadcasting duties near the end of this season after serving the role for the Suns since the 1972–73 season. It also became the final season where Suns games were broadcast through Bally Sports Arizona (previously Fox Sports Arizona & FSN Arizona), as Mat Ishbia announced they would move their services onto more channels in the state of Arizona for a more widespread view after their regular season concluded. While Bally Sports tried to fight back against Ishbia's move by claiming a breach of contract happened, Bally Sports ultimately declined matching Gray Television's offer for the Suns, which later caused a chain reaction that led to Bally Sports Arizona losing broadcasting rights to other professional sports teams in Arizona before being shut down for good on October 21, 2023.
Draft
The Suns did not hold any picks in the 2022 NBA draft.
Roster
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Standings Division
Conference
Game log Preseason
|- style="background:#fcc;" | 1 | October 2 | Adelaide | | Cameron Payne (23) | Mikal Bridges (7) | Chris Paul (12) | Footprint Center15,152 | 0–1 |- style="background:#cfc; | 2 | October 5 | @ L.A. Lakers | | Devin Booker (22) | Deandre Ayton (8) | Chris Paul (10) | T-Mobile Arena8,908 | 1–1 |- style="background:#fcc" | 3 | October 10 | @ Denver | | Devin Booker (20) | Deandre Ayton (11) | Chris Paul (8) | Ball Arena12,505 | 1–2 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 4 | October 12 | Sacramento | | Duane Washington Jr. (31) | Bismack Biyombo (12) | Duane Washington Jr. (4) | Footprint Center16,085 | 1–3
Regular season
|- style="background:#cfc;" | 1 | October 19 | Dallas | | Devin Booker (28) | Mikal Bridges (11) | Booker, Paul (9) | Footprint Center17,071 | 1–0 |-style="background:#fcc | 2 | October 21 | @ Portland | | Devin Booker (33) | Mikal Bridges (7) | Chris Paul (12) | Moda Center19,393 | 1–1 |-style="background:#cfc" | 3 | October 23 | @ L.A. Clippers | | Devin Booker (35) | Jock Landale (10) | Chris Paul (11) | Crypto.com Arena19,068 | 2–1 |-style="background:#cfc;" | 4 | October 25 | Golden State | | Devin Booker (34) | Deandre Ayton (14) | Chris Paul (9) | Footprint Center18,055 | 3–1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 5 | October 28 | New Orleans | | Mikal Bridges (27) | Bismack Biyombo (13) | Chris Paul (9) | Footprint Center17,071 | 4–1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 6 | October 30 | Houston | | Devin Booker (30) | Landale, Johnson (7) | Chris Paul (15) | Footprint Center17,071 | 5–1
|- style="background:#cfc;" | 7 | November 1 | Minnesota | | Cameron Johnson (29) | Chris Paul (8) | Chris Paul (12) | Footprint Center17,071 | 6–1 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 8 | November 4 | Portland | | Devin Booker (25) | Deandre Ayton (8) | Chris Paul (11) | Footprint Center17,071 | 6–2 |-style="background:#cfc;" | 9 | November 5 | Portland | | Devin Booker (24) | Dario Šarić (9) | Craig, Landale, Paul (4) | Footprint Center17,071 | 7–2 |-style="background:#fcc;" | 10 | November 7 | @ Philadelphia | | Devin Booker (28) | Ayton, Booker (7) | Booker, Payne (5) | Wells Fargo Center20,347 | 7–3 |-style="background:#cfc;" | 11 | November 9 | @ Minnesota | | Devin Booker (32) | Mikal Bridges (9) | Devin Booker (10) | Target Center16,062 | 8–3 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 12 | November 11 | @ Orlando | | Cameron Payne (22) | Devin Booker (8) | Booker, Bridges (6) | Amway Center15,879 | 8–4 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 13 | November 14 | @ Miami | | Devin Booker (25) | Deandre Ayton (12) | Booker, Payne (5) | FTX Arena19,600 | 8–5 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 14 | November 16 | Golden State | | Cameron Payne (29) | Torrey Craig (10) | Booker, Bridges (9) | Footprint Center17,071 | 9–5 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 15 | November 18 | @ Utah | | Devin Booker (49) | Deandre Ayton (10) | Devin Booker (10) | Vivint Arena18,206 | 9–6 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 16 | November 20 | @ New York | | Cameron Payne (21) | Deandre Ayton (11) | Cameron Payne (9) | Footprint Center17,071 | 10–6 |-style="background:#cfc" | 17 | November 22 | L.A. Lakers | | Booker, Bridges (25) | Deandre Ayton (15) | Cameron Payne (7) | Footprint Center17,071 | 11–6 |-style="background:#cfc" | 18 | November 25 | Detroit | | Deandre Ayton (28) | Deandre Ayton (12) | Cameron Payne (10) | Footprint Center17,071 | 12–6 |-style="background:#cfc" | 19 | November 26 | Utah | | Deandre Ayton (29) | Deandre Ayton (21) | Devin Booker (7) | Footprint Center17,071 | 13–6 |-style="background:#cfc" | 20 | November 28 | @ Sacramento | | Devin Booker (44) | Deandre Ayton (12) | Bridges, Payne (7) | Golden 1 Center16,407 | 14–6 |-style="background:#cfc" | 21 | November 30 | Chicago | | Devin Booker (51) | Deandre Ayton (14) | Booker, Payne (6) | Footprint Center17,071 | 15–6
|-style="background:#fcc" | 22 | December 2 | Houston | | Devin Booker (41) | Mikal Bridges (8) | Cameron Payne (12) | Footprint Center17,071 | 15–7 |-style="background:#cfc" | 23 | December 4 | @ San Antonio | | Deandre Ayton (25) | Josh Okogie (11) | Devin Booker (8) | AT&T Center16,409 | 16–7 |-style="background:#fcc" | 24 | December 5 | @ Dallas | | Deandre Ayton (20) | Deandre Ayton (8) | Cameron Payne (10) | American Airlines Center20,227 | 16–8 |-style="background:#fcc" | 25 | December 7 | Boston | | Josh Okogie (28) | Ayton, Okogie (7) | Chris Paul (4) | Footprint Center17,071 | 16–9 |-style="background:#fcc" | 26 | December 9 | @ New Orleans | | Deandre Ayton (25) | Deandre Ayton (14) | Booker, Paul (7) | Smoothie King Center16,381 | 16–10 |-style="background:#fcc" | 27 | December 11 | @ New Orleans | | Deandre Ayton (28) | Deandre Ayton (12) | Chris Paul (11) | Smoothie King Center18,681 | 16–11 |-style="background:#fcc" | 28 | December 13 | @ Houston | | Mikal Bridges (18) | Torrey Craig (12) | Chris Paul (7) | Toyota Center15,128 | 16–12 |-style="background:#cfc" | 29 | December 15 | @ L.A. Clippers | | Mikal Bridges (27) | Josh Okogie (11) | Chris Paul (13) | Crypto.com Arena15,778 | 17–12 |-style="background:#cfc" | 30 | December 17 | New Orleans | | Devin Booker (58) | Biyombo, Booker, Okogie (6) | Chris Paul (8) | Footprint Center17,071 | 18–12 |-style="background:#cfc" | 31 | December 19 | L.A. Lakers | | Chris Paul (28) | Deandre Ayton (11) | Chris Paul (8) | Footprint Center17,071 | 19–12 |-style="background:#fcc" | 32 | December 20 | Washington | | Landry Shamet (31) | Deandre Ayton (13) | Chris Paul (11) | Footprint Center17,071 | 19–13 |-style="background:#fcc" | 33 | December 23 | Memphis | | Deandre Ayton (18) | Ayton, Shamet (5) | Duane Washington Jr. (5) | Footprint Center17,071 | 19–14 |-style="background:#fcc" | 34 | December 25 | @ Denver | | Landry Shamet (31) | Deandre Ayton (16) | Chris Paul (16) | Ball Arena19,642 | 19–15 |-style="background:#cfc" | 35 | December 27 | @ Memphis | | Duane Washington Jr. (26) | Deandre Ayton (10) | Duane Washington Jr. (8) | FedExForum18,239 | 20–15 |-style="background:#fcc" | 36 | December 28 | @ Washington | | Deandre Ayton (31) | Deandre Ayton (7) | Chris Paul (7) | Capital One Arena20,476 | 20–16 |-style="background:#fcc" | 37 | December 30 | @ Toronto | | Mikal Bridges (21) | Jock Landale (11) | Chris Paul (12) | Scotiabank Arena19,800 | 20–17
|-style="background:#fcc" | 38 | January 2 | @ New York | | Deandre Ayton (12) | Torrey Craig (7) | Cameron Payne (7) | Madison Square Garden19,812 | 20–18 |-style="background:#fcc" | 39 | January 4 | @ Cleveland | | Chris Paul (25) | Deandre Ayton (18) | Chris Paul (8) | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse19,432 | 20–19 |-style="background:#fcc" | 40 | January 6 | Miami | | Deandre Ayton (23) | Deandre Ayton (14) | Bridges, Washington Jr. (7) | Footprint Center17,071 | 20–20 |-style="background:#fcc" | 41 | January 8 | Cleveland | | Duane Washington Jr. (25) | Deandre Ayton (11) | Deandre Ayton (6) | Footprint Center17,071 | 20–21 |-style="background:#cfc" | 42 | January 10 | @ Golden State | | Mikal Bridges (26) | Torrey Craig (14) | Dario Šarić (7) | Chase Center18,064 | 21–21 |- style="background:#fcc" | 43 | January 11 | @ Denver | | Torrey Craig (16) | Josh Okogie (9) | Okogie, Washington Jr. (5) | Ball Arena18,872 | 21–22 |-style="background:#fcc" | 44 | January 13 | @ Minnesota | | Damion Lee (31) | Deandre Ayton (11) | Mikal Bridges (6) | Target Center16,460 | 21–23 |-style="background:#fcc" | 45 | January 16 | @ Memphis | | Mikal Bridges (21) | Dario Šarić (7) | Damion Lee (9) | FedExForum17,794 | 21–24