The 2017–18 Phoenix Suns season was the 50th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA),2017–18 Phoenix Suns as well as their 25th season at the Talking Stick Resort Arena. It was also their third season in five in which the Suns earned a top-five draft pick in the NBA draft, which became the second straight year of gaining the #4 pick in Josh Jackson.
Three games into the season, head coach Earl Watson was fired. Guard Eric Bledsoe implied he wanted out of Phoenix and was barred from playing with the team by general manager Ryan McDonough and fined $10,000. Under interim head coach Jay Triano, the Suns started 4–1 after suspending Bledsoe. The Suns later traded Bledsoe to the Milwaukee Bucks on November 7, 2017, in exchange for center Greg Monroe and two protected draft picks. After dealing with point guard problems and injuries, the Suns traded for Elfrid Payton on February 8, 2018, in exchange for a second-round pick they had previously acquired.
Key dates April 17, 2017: Phoenix Suns' general manager Ryan McDonough is confirmed to continue staying as the team's general manager and President of Basketball Operations for at least this season. April 18, 2017: Steve Albert announces his retirement from broadcasting. May 4, 2017: Sideline reporter Kevin Ray is confirmed to be the new play-by-play broadcaster for the Phoenix Suns starting this season. May 16, 2017: The NBA Draft Lottery took place, with the Suns holding the #4 despite having the second-best odds at the #1 pick. Devin Booker and Noah Smith, an 11-year-old Suns fan with microdeletion syndrome and Special Olympics athlete, represented the Suns during the event, while the Original Sun Dick Van Arsdale participated as the team's representative for the lottery pick's official placement. June 22, 2017: The 2017 NBA draft took place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York; the Suns selected small forward Josh Jackson from the University of Kansas with their top pick in the draft, while Phoenix's second-round picks were seniors shooting guard Davon Reed of the University of Miami and combo forward Alec Peters from Valparaiso University at picks 32 and 54, respectively. July 1, 2017: The NBA free agency period began. July 2, 2017: Phoenix offered a four-year deal worth $24 million to center/power forward Alan Williams, a player that was born and raised in Phoenix; Mike James of the Panathinaikos Athens Superfoods B.C. agrees to being the first two-way contract in franchise history. July 3, 2017: The Suns officially provide a two-way contract for two-time summer league invite point guard Mike James, who previously went to Eastern Arizona College before going to Lamar University and then playing in European leagues, with his most recent stop being with the Panathinaikos Athens Superfoods B.C. in Greece; Leandro Barbosa was also waived, receiving $500,000 from the team. July 19, 2017: Former Suns player James Jones retired from playing basketball in order to be named the team's Vice President of Basketball Operations; Ryan McDonough was confirmed to a contract extension as the President of Basketball Operations and general manager until at least the 2019–20 season. July 20, 2017: Brandon Knight was confirmed to miss the entire season after tearing his ACL. July 26, 2017: Alan Williams signed his three-year deal worth $17 million, with his second and third years being non-guaranteed. July 30, 2017: The Suns were confirmed to face off against the Brisbane Bullets of the Australian National Basketball League at Talking Stick Resort Arena. August 10, 2017: The Phoenix Suns unveiled new home and away jerseys, displayed as both the Association and Icon designs, respectively. August 14, 2017: The NBA announces every team's official schedules for the season, as well as the Suns having three nationally televised games on ESPN and one game on TNT. August 22, 2017: The Suns sign the Sudan-born shooting guard Peter Jok from the University of Iowa to a partially guaranteed deal. August 25, 2017: It was confirmed that rookie shooting guard Davon Reed would miss 4–6 months of playing time due to surgery on his left meniscus; Brandon Knight also had surgery on his torn anterior cruciate ligament that day and missed the entire season. September 14, 2017: Tyler Ulis leaked the Suns' retro jersey design from the late 1960s and early 1970s; NBA 2K18 also revealed at least one of the Suns' alternate jerseys for the season. September 15, 2017: The Suns unveiled their new alternate jersey design called the "Statement". September 21, 2017: Center Alex Len agreed to a one-year qualifying offer worth $4.2 million to remain with the Phoenix Suns. September 22, 2017: Former #1 pick in the 2013 NBA draft Anthony Bennett was announced as the team's last training camp candidate for the season; Alan Williams was confirmed to have partially torn his meniscus during practice after accidentally landing on teammate Marquese Chriss; Troy Daniels was acquired as a temporary back-up shooting guard via a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies alongside Memphis' own 2018 middle second-round draft pick from either themselves, the Charlotte Hornets, or the Miami Heat in exchange for giving up a Top-55 protected second-round draft pick; Marquese Chriss unveiled the Hardwood Classics design representing the team's first home jersey for the 50th season in the NBA. September 25, 2017: Media Day for the Suns commences with Alex Len officially confirming his one-year deal was signed and T. J. Warren is going to sign a four-year contract extension worth $50 million. October 1, 2017: The Suns unveiled the rest of their new NBA uniforms as a part of the NBA's newest deal with Nike. October 3, 2017: The NBA announced changes to the 2018 NBA All-Star Game, where two captains pick the starters and reserves for their teams; Phoenix began their preseason with a 114–112 road win against the Portland Trail Blazers. October 6, 2017: After a 112–101 preseason loss to the Utah Jazz, it was announced that Suns Ring of Honor and Hall of Famer Connie Hawkins had died. October 11, 2017: Before a preseason game against the Portland Trail Blazers began, the Suns waived training camp invitees Peter Jok and Anthony Bennett. October 13, 2017: Before the game against Australia's Brisbane Bullets commenced, the Suns signed a French power forward Tidjan Keita. The Suns defeated the Brisbane Bullets by a score of 114–93. October 14, 2017: The Suns announced their final roster to enter the regular season, with both the recently signed Tidjan Keita and the partially guaranteed Elijah Millsap being cut alongside the previously cut Peter Jok and Anthony Bennett. October 18, 2017: The regular season began against the Portland Trail Blazers wearing their retro uniforms; throughout the rest of the season, the Suns wore a black "Hawk" patch on their jerseys to commemorate the memory of Connie Hawkins. October 20, 2017: Before beginning the second game of the season against the Los Angeles Lakers, the Suns held a memorial service for the Connie Hawkins outside the stadium. October 22, 2017: After point guard Eric Bledsoe announced he wanted out of Phoenix, the Suns fired head coach Earl Watson after the third game of the season; Jay Triano, the former associate head coach of the team, became the interim head coach for the rest of the season; Nate Bjorkgren, Mehmet Okur, and Jason Fraser were also fired from the coaching staff. October 23, 2017: Phoenix won their first game with a 117–115 win over the Sacramento Kings. October 24, 2017: The Phoenix Suns hired Northern Arizona Suns head coach Tyrone Ellis, as well as assistant coaches Bret Burchard and Brandon Rosenthal, to take over the vacant assistant coaching spots; Josh Jackson was fined $35,000 for a menacing hand gesture against the fans of the Los Angeles Clippers during Earl Watson's last game as head coach for the Suns on October 21. November 7, 2017: The Suns traded disgruntled point guard Eric Bledsoe to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for center Greg Monroe and protected future 1st and 2nd-round picks. November 23, 2017: The NBA fully revealed their penultimate jerseys of the season, the "Statement" jersey. The "Statement" jersey for Phoenix involved a mixture of the 1990s black alternate jersey and the 2000s "PHX" alternate jersey. December 6, 2017: Shooting guard Devin Booker strained his adductor in the game the previous day and was announced for two to three weeks. December 7, 2017: The Suns signed point guard Mike James from his two-way contract to an extended contract for the rest of the season while waiving small forward Derrick Jones Jr. December 8, 2017: Phoenix signed Danuel House to fill their remaining two-way contract. December 13, 2017: Isaiah Canaan signed with the team under the team's disabled player exception following the injuries to Brandon Knight, Davon Reed, Alan Williams, and Devin Booker. December 14, 2017: NBA 2K18 leaked the entire NBA's final jerseys of the season, named the "City" jerseys. In Phoenix's case, their jerseys used the "Los Suns" moniker from previous seasons, but the color of the jersey became purple instead of orange as in previous seasons with the Los Suns name. December 22, 2017: The Suns waived former two-way contracted point guard Mike James from the team before Devin Booker returned from his injury. December 23, 2017: Isaiah Canaan's contract was converted to a full, one-year, veteran's minimum contract. December 26, 2017: Devin Booker returned from injury and recorded 32 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds in a 99–97 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. December 27, 2017: The "City" jersey was revealed via Nike's website. January 31, 2018: Isaiah Canaan fractured his left ankle. February 1, 2018: Center Greg Monroe was waived; Josh Gray of the Northern Arizona Suns signed a 10-day contract with the Phoenix Suns to replace Isaiah Canaan. February 8, 2018: On the trade deadline, the Suns traded the second-round pick they had previously acquired from the Troy Daniels deal to the Orlando Magic in exchange for Elfrid Payton; Isaiah Canaan was waived. February 11, 2018: Josh Gray signed his second 10-day contract with the team. February 16, 2018: The 2018 NBA All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles begins. February 17, 2018: Devin Booker won the three-point contest recording a record-high 28 points in the final round. February 20, 2018: Shaquille Harrison of the Northern Arizona Suns signs a 10-day contract, replacing Josh Gray. March 13, 2018: Shaquille Harrison signed a multi-year deal with the Phoenix Suns. March 26, 2018: Center Alan Williams made his debut following his injury. March 31, 2018: Five former Phoenix Suns members – Charlie Scott, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, Rick Welts, and Grant Hill were named members of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. April 6, 2018: Devin Booker was confirmed as one of 35 potential players for the Team USA Basketball squad for the 2018–2020 (later 2021) period, being the Suns first player since both Amar'e Stoudemire and Shawn Marion in 2004 to get invited. May 22, 2018: The NBA announces the members of the All-NBA Rookie Team, with Josh Jackson making the All-NBA Second Rookie Team.
Offseason
Draft picks
Round Pick Player Position(s) Nationality College 1 4 Josh Jackson Small Forward Kansas 2 32 Davon Reed Shooting Guard Miami (FL) 2 54 Alec Peters Power Forward Valparaiso