What Went Right, Wrong for Jordan Ott in First Year with Suns

PHOENIX -- After cycling through four coaches in four seasons, the Phoenix Suns finally found a coach they are going to keep around after an impressive first year with the team.

Jordan Ott set the tone of the surprise season with his work ethic and ability to lead despite being a first-year coach, as the Suns finished the 2025-26 season with a 45-37 and made the playoffs.

Here's our evaluation of the biggest things that went right and wrong for Ott in his first season in the Valley:

What Went Right: Total Buy-In From Players, Organization

The biggest reason the Suns could not keep coaches around the past few seasons was that the players did not seem fully bought in to what the coach was doing.

This was the exact opposite this season under Ott, and it gave players a ton of confidence, leading to breakout seasons from several of them.

With the Suns not having many expectations for the year, they clearly saw that Ott's system could lead to winning, and it helped that Ott gave his players a lot of freedom and empowerment.

"It's the foundation. From day one, since the hire, he's came in 100% locked in," Suns star Devin Booker said of Ott after the last game.. "We've been aligned. We've been on the same page. And I think this is the first step forward. This is building block to some stability and some chemistry, something that's been much needed around here."

Not only did Ott have the players bought in, the front office and ownership had complete trust in him.

"I know how this man works. He's earned everything he's gotten in his career. He deserves that, and he outworks everyone," Suns owner Mat Ishbia said of Ott's work ethic at his end-of-season press conference two weeks ago.

"When we lose a game. What was it last Saturday? He's in here that night watching film, nine o'clock — this man works. You know, you get what you deserve in life, and he's earned it, and his work ethic. So I won't say it impressed me, because I kind of knew it. But what impresses me is that he's consistent with it, and it's not like when we're winning, he's not in there as much, and we're losing he's not in there more. He's consistent with outworking everybody.

"His mentality is, 'I'm gonna be the best coach I can be every day, and I'm gonna get better the next day.' Analytically, relationship-wise with the players, there's so many pieces to it. Yeah, he was here this morning before I got here, and we spent time together with him and B.G. [Brian Gregory] and Josh [Bartelstein], for hours already this morning. Most coaches are golfing or going doing what they're doing. That's not what J.O. is about.

"Jordan Ott was the obvoius choice, and I think you've seen that. I think the players knew it right away. The assistant coaches and the league sees it now too. And so I'm extremely proud of that, extremely proud of what he's done. And you don't have to be the popular choice to be the right choice. And Jordan Ott's been that."

With Ott's command of the room and Booker's and Ishbia's fondness of him, it's hard to see him going anywhere

However, there is one big improvement he must make.

What Went Wrong: Unwilling to Make Adjustments Down the Stretch

Ott was dealt a tough hand all year long with all of the injuries Phoenix had to go through.

Because of the buy-in from the players, it did not matter most of the season as everyone was ready to step up to the challenge.

However, the Suns really struggled down the stretch once they got mostly healthy with Ott choosing to go to a very small rotation that consisted of seven players 6-foot-6 or less next to centers Mark Williams and Oso Ighodaro.

Even though Ott was searching to find some consistency with the lineup, it was obvious the Suns needed to try out bigger bodies such as Rasheer Fleming and Khaman Maluach, who had played well when Williams and Dillon Brooks were injured, but Ott did not fully trust them enough to turn to them.

Beyond the unwillingness to play more size, the Suns struggled to stick to their intensity on defense in the second half of the year, ranking 16th in steals per game after the All-Star break despite being second in steals per game before the All-Star break.

The Suns also were 29th in defensive rebounding on the year, and there were definitely some adjustments Ott could have tried to make to combat these issues.

Ott's first year was a good learning experience overall, but it's obvious the Suns need to find a way to play bigger moving forward and have consistency in what they do throughout the whole season.

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