The 2020–21 Phoenix Suns season was their 53rd season as a franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as well as their 28th season at the Footprint Center. The Suns achieved their first winning season since the 2013–14 season after a 134–106 win over the Washington Wizards on April 10, 2021. The Suns then clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2010 following a 109–101 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on April 28, 2021.Paul's clutch play clinches Suns' 1st playoff appearance since 2010 (Suns beat Clippers, clinch first playoff spot in 11 years) They also clinched the Pacific Division for the first time since 2007. They finished 51–21, with a winning percentage that, in a full 82-game season, would be equivalent to 58 wins.
In the first round, the Suns defeated the No. 7 seeded and defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers in six games and the No. 3 seeded Denver Nuggets in four games in the Western Conference semifinals. The Phoenix Suns defeated the No. 4 seeded Los Angeles Clippers (Chris Paul's former team) in the Western Conference finals in six games to advance to their first NBA Finals appearance in 28 years. However, they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in six games despite taking a 2–0 lead.
As of 2026, Devin Booker is the only remaining player on the Suns from the 2020-21 roster.
Off-season Draft
Round Pick Player Position(s) Nationality College / Club110Jalen SmithPower forward United StatesMaryland
Coaching changes On September 8, 2020, nearly two months after firing Steve Blake and Larry Greer during the 2020 NBA Bubble period (which led to Larry joining his older brother Andy on the New York Knicks as assistant coaches there soon afterward), the Suns hired former Minnesota Timberwolves player development coach Brian Randle as one of the incoming assistant coach replacements, taking on Steve Blake's apparent position with the team. In addition to that move, their Director of Athletic Performance, Daniel Bove, announced his hiring by the New Orleans Pelicans for that exact position there on his Twitter account after helping the team go undefeated in the 2020 NBA Bubble. Five days after the announced signing, the Memphis Grizzlies announced the hiring of assistant coach Darko Rajaković going forward for this season, leaving Phoenix to search for his replacement.Grizzlies hire Suns assistant Darko Rajakovic as an assistant coach On October 9, the Suns hired former Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach Kevin Young (who was an assistant alongside Monty Williams during his time in Philadelphia and was once considered a head coach candidate for the 76ers) as their second (and final) new assistant coach hiring of the season, replacing Rajaković's position going forward.
Front office changes On July 31, 2020, in a period that would normally be considered a part of this season before the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States began, the Suns fired 30 different employees for varying reasons that affected overall team performance, especially by being considered either redundant or outdated for the team.Suns confirm staff layoffs on heels of selling Northern Arizona G League team Four months later, on Halloween 2020, Suns co-owner Richard J. Heckmann died at 76 years old due to complications relating to multiple system atrophy, though his passing wasn't confirmed by the team until November 2.Phoenix Suns co-owner Richard Heckmann, successful businessman, philanthropist, dies at 76Richard "Dick" Heckmann, co-owner of the Phoenix Suns and Mercury, has passed away During the start of the free agency period on November 20, NBA officials confirmed that 30 more Suns employees were furloughed, with many of those employees that are still with the organization having to take a 5%-20% pay cut for this season, both of which were due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 recession.Phoenix Suns having employees take 20% pay cuts, furloughs amid pandemic's impact, officials confirm
Roster
Preseason
|- style="background:#fcc;" | 1 | December 12 | @ Utah | | Langston Galloway (17) | Deandre Ayton (14) | Devin Booker, Jevon Carter (6) | Vivint Smart Home Arena585 (Limited Seating) | 0–1 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 2 | December 14 | @ Utah | | Devin Booker (27) | Deandre Ayton (9) | Chris Paul (6) | Vivint Smart Home Arena1,084 (Limited Seating) | 0–2 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 3 | December 16 | L.A. Lakers | | Deandre Ayton (21) | Deandre Ayton (9) | Chris Paul (8) | Phoenix Suns ArenaClosed off arena | 0–3 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 4 | December 18 | L.A. Lakers | | Devin Booker (27) | Jalen Smith (8) | Jevon Carter (6) | Phoenix Suns ArenaClosed off arena | 0–4
Regular season Game log
|- style="background:#cfc;" | 1 | December 23 | Dallas | | Devin Booker (22) | Jae Crowder (9) | Chris Paul (5) | Phoenix Suns ArenaClosed off arena | 1–0 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 2 | December 26 | @ Sacramento | | Devin Booker (26) | Deandre Ayton (12) | Chris Paul (12) | Golden 1 CenterClosed off arena | 1–1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 3 | December 27 | @ Sacramento | | Mikal Bridges (22) | Deandre Ayton (15) | Chris Paul (12) | Golden 1 CenterClosed off arena | 2–1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 4 | December 29 | New Orleans | | Jae Crowder (21) | Deandre Ayton (12) | Chris Paul (9) | Phoenix Suns ArenaClosed off arena | 3–1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 5 | December 31 | @ Utah | | Devin Booker (25) | Deandre Ayton (9) | Devin Booker (7) | Vivint Smart Home Arena1,932 (Limited Seating) | 4–1
|- style="background:#cfc;" | 6 | January 1 | @ Denver | | Deandre Ayton, Devin Booker (22) | Deandre Ayton (11) | Chris Paul (6) | Ball ArenaClosed off arena | 5–1 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 7 | January 3 | L. A. Clippers | | Devin Booker (25) | Chris Paul (9) | Devin Booker (8) | Phoenix Suns ArenaClosed off arena | 5–2 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 8 | January 6 | Toronto | | Devin Booker (24) | Deandre Ayton (16) | Cameron Payne (10) | Phoenix Suns ArenaClosed off arena | 6–2 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 9 | January 8 | @ Detroit | | Devin Booker (23) | Deandre Ayton (11) | Chris Paul (9) | Little Caesars ArenaClosed off arena | 6–3 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 10 | January 9 | @ Indiana | | Mikal Bridges (34) | Deandre Ayton (14) | Chris Paul (10) | Bankers Life FieldhouseClosed off arena | 7–3 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 11 | January 11 | @ Washington | | Devin Booker (33) | Deandre Ayton, Jae Crowder, Dario Šarić (6) | Chris Paul (11) | Capital One ArenaClosed off arena | 7–4 |- style="background:#ccc;" | — | January 13 | Atlanta | colspan="6" | Postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic (Make-up Date: March 30, 2021)Full list of NBA game postponements |- style="background:#ccc;" | — | January 15 | Golden State | colspan="6" | Postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic (Make-up Date: March 4, 2021) |- style="background:#ccc;" | — | January 16 | Indiana | colspan="6" | Postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic (Make-up Date: March 13, 2021) |- style="background:#fcc;" | 12 | January 18 | @ Memphis | | Deandre Ayton (18) | Deandre Ayton (16) | Chris Paul (7) | FedExForum204 (Limited Seating) | 7–5 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 13 | January 20 | @ Houston | | Deandre Ayton (26) | Deandre Ayton (17) | Mikal Bridges, Cameron Payne (5) | Toyota Center3,022 (Limited Seating) | 8–5 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 14 | January 22 | Denver | | Devin Booker (31) | Deandre Ayton (13) | Chris Paul (15) | Phoenix Suns ArenaClosed off arena | 8–6 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 15 | January 23 | Denver | | Chris Paul, Jae Crowder (21) | Deandre Ayton (13) | Chris Paul (13) | Phoenix Suns ArenaClosed off arena | 8–7 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 16 | January 27 | Oklahoma City | | Chris Paul (32) | Deandre Ayton (14) | Chris Paul (5) | Phoenix Suns ArenaClosed off arena | 8–8 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 17 | January 28 | Golden State | | Mikal Bridges (20) | Deandre Ayton, Frank Kaminsky III (13) | Frank Kaminsky III (8) | Phoenix Suns ArenaClosed off arena | 9–8 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 18 | January 30 | @ Dallas | | Chris Paul (29) | Deandre Ayton (17) | Chris Paul (12) | American Airlines CenterClosed off arena | 10–8
|- style="background:#cfc;" | 19 | February 1 | @ Dallas | | Chris Paul (34) | Deandre Ayton (17) | Chris Paul (9) | American Airlines CenterClosed off arena | 11–8 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 20 | February 3 | @ New Orleans | | Devin Booker (25) | Deandre Ayton (11) | Jevon Carter (5) | Smoothie King Center1,440 (Limited Seating) | 11–9 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 21 | February 5 | Detroit | | Devin Booker (23) | Deandre Ayton (13) | Chris Paul (9) | Phoenix Suns ArenaClosed off arena | 12–9 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 22 | February 7 | Boston | | Mikal Bridges (19) | Deandre Ayton (11) | Devin Booker (11) | Phoenix Suns Arena1,493 (Limited Seating) | 13–9 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 23 | February 8 | Cleveland | | Devin Booker (36) | Deandre Ayton (16) | Devin Booker (8) | Phoenix Suns Arena1,485 (Limited Seating) | 14–9 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 24 | February 10 | Milwaukee | | Devin Booker (30) | Jae Crowder (14) | Frank Kaminsky III (8) | Phoenix Suns Arena1,491 (Limited Seating) | 15–9 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 25 | February 13 | Philadelphia | | Devin Booker (36) | Chris Paul (8) | Chris Paul (10) | Phoenix Suns Arena1,652 (Limited Seating) | 16–9 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 26 | February 14 | Orlando | | Devin Booker (27) | Deandre Ayton (13) | Chris Paul (9) | Phoenix Suns Arena1,732 (Limited Seating) | 17–9 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 27 | February 16 | Brooklyn | | Chris Paul (29) | Deandre Ayton (9) | Devin Booker, Chris Paul (7) | Phoenix Suns Arena3,181 (Limited Seating) | 17–10 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 28 | February 19 | @ New Orleans | | Devin Booker (23) | Deandre Ayton (16) | Chris Paul (19) | Smoothie King Center1,940 (Limited Seating) | 18–10 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 29 | February 20 | @ Memphis | | Devin Booker (23) | E'Twaun Moore (7) | Cameron Payne (7) | FedExForum1,994 (Limited Seating) | 19–10 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 30 | February 22 | Portland | | Devin Booker (34) | Dario Šarić (9) | Chris Paul (9) | Phoenix Suns Arena3,213 (Limited Seating) | 20–10 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 31 | February 24 | Charlotte | | Devin Booker (33) | Deandre Ayton (10) | Chris Paul (10) | Phoenix Suns Arena3,296 (Limited Seating) | 20–11 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 32 | February 26 | @ Chicago | | Deandre Ayton, Devin Booker (22) | Deandre Ayton (7) | Chris Paul (15) | United CenterClosed off arena | 21–11 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 33 | February 28 | @ Minnesota | | Devin Booker (43) | Deandre Ayton (10) | Chris Paul (15) | Target CenterClosed off arena | 22–11
|- style="background:#cfc;" | 34 | March 2 | @ L. A. Lakers | | Dario Šarić (21) | Mikal Bridges (6) | Chris Paul (10) | Staples CenterClosed off arena | 23–11 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 35 | March 4 | Golden State | | Cameron Payne (17) | Deandre Ayton (10) | Cameron Payne (10) | Phoenix Suns Arena3,233 (Limited Seating) | 24–11 |- align="center" |colspan="9" bgcolor="#bbcaff"|All-Star Game (Season Separator) |- style="background:#cfc;" | 36 | March 11 | @ Portland | | Devin Booker (35) | Jae Crowder (7) | Devin Booker (8) | Moda CenterClosed off arena | 25–11 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 37 | March 13 | Indiana | | Devin Booker (20) | Deandre Ayton (12) | Chris Paul (10) | Phoenix Suns Arena3,166 (Limited Seating) | 25–12 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 38 | March 15 | Memphis | | Devin Booker (27) | Deandre Ayton (9) | Chris Paul (7) | Phoenix Suns Arena3,188 (Limited Seating) | 26–12 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 39 | March 18 | Minnesota | | Devin Booker (35) | Dario Šarić (8) | Mikal Bridges (8) | Phoenix Suns Arena3,172 (Limited Seating) | 26–13 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 40 | March 19 | Minnesota | | Chris Paul (20) | Devin Booker (7) | Chris Paul (9) | Phoenix Suns Arena3,124 (Limited Seating)