Trust and believe Dillon Brooks has checked out the 2026-27 NBA regular season schedule released on Aug. 13.
The Phoenix Suns posted a video on social media of him tearing up a piece of paper with ‘confidential’ written on it and saying, “we play everyone”
Then just stared into the camera without blinking while the team’s schedule scrolled over his face and upper body.
So, Brooks had to have seen that the Suns are playing the Philadelphia 76ers at home Dec. 30 on his favorite NBA player’s 42nd birthday — LeBron James.
“Oh, that’s LeBron’s birthday, too,” Brooks said. “He did tell me that in one of the playoff series. I’m excited. That’s more ammunition for me to win that game, but should be fun.”
Wearing black shades, Brooks then paused and asked, “Is that at home?”
Yes, it is.
“Oh nice,” Brooks said with a wide grin as he met with the media on Friday, Aug. 14, at the team's Phoenix training facility.
Suns forward Dillon Brooks on playing 76ers on LeBron James' 42nd birthday Dec. 30.
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) August 14, 2026
Wait for smile at the end.
“Oh, that’s LeBron’s birthday, too? He did tell me that in one of the playoff series. I’m excited. That’s more ammunition for me to win that game, but should be fun.”… https://t.co/oznV85hq8Hpic.twitter.com/15y724JMAk
Brooks, 30, signed a three-year, $73-million extension this month after having an impactful first season with the Suns, who acquired him last summer from the Houston Rockets in the Kevin Durant trade.
“It was good,” Brooks said. “Great, long conversations. I think (Suns general manager Brian Gregory and CEO Josh Bartelstein), you know, planned out something that is going to be for the long term and I wanted to be here for a long term. So, whatever it was, I was going to accept it and be a Phoenix Sun.”
Entering his 10th NBA season, Brooks is in the final year of a four-year, $86-million deal.
“Dillon’s toughness, competitiveness and work ethic epitomize our Suns DNA,” said Gregory in a news release Aug. 8. “He plays with a drive and intensity that sets the tone for our team and raises the level of everyone around him. Dillon was an important part of what we accomplished last season, and we’re excited to see him continue to grow as a player while building on the connection he’s established with our fans and the Phoenix community.”
Brooks isn’t letting complacency creep in after signing a lucrative extension.
“I'm not content with getting money and being rewarded like that,” Brooks said. “I love basketball. My reward would be a championship. You know, $73 million is showcasing and now you're a pretty good player, but accolades from the NBA.”
Brooks’ lone postseason award came in 2023-23 when he earned NBA All-Defensive second team.
Brooks was in the All-Star conversation last season, but he didn’t make it.
“That always keeps my engine going, and I’ve seen around the NBA, when I was coming up, that sometimes the money makes you content and just makes you sit in your spot,” Brooks said. “You’re good and you don’t need to get better, but I’ve learned over the years as well is that the NBA just keeps getting better with the young talent.
"If you take a year off from how you got to your money, then someone else is coming to come take it. For me, that’s the motivation because I don't want to get too old where I get too not into my game where some young guy can just come and just give me a 25 and I just don't know what to do.”
Brooks is coming off a career year in which he averaged 20.2 points in the regular season and 26.0 in the playoffs as Oklahoma City swept the Suns in the first round.
Playing with his usual passion, physicality and defensive intensity in helping Phoenix establish a culture of toughness, the 6-foot-6, 225-pound Brooks also provided an offensive punch that greatly factored into the Suns having a surprise season.
The Suns won 45 games, nine more than the 2024-25 season, when the team missed the playoffs while anchored by Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and Durant. Beal and Durant were gone after that season, with Brooks and Jalen Green joining the team as part of the Durant deal with Houston.
Now, Brooks is back and looking to do even more as the Suns look to build off last season.
“I lacked, I didn't really lack, I shot it OK, the 3-ball,” said Brooks as he shot 34.4% from 3 in the regular season, but hit 43.8% of his 3s in the OKC playoff series.
“I want to add a separation 3-point shot to keep the defense honest. Get a little higher and tighter on me so I can get to the paint and get to the shots I really like. Passing. BG (Gregory) told me I got to work on passing. I’ve been working on that.”
Brooks only averaged two assists a game in his career. He only managed 1.8 dimes a game in the regular season and playoffs last season.
“And finishing,” Brooks added. “Finishing around the rim.”
Brooks is happy with the Suns' offseason moves this summer.
Phoenix traded for Miles Bridges, signed Luke Kennard, landed Arizona freshman Koa Peat in the first of the 2026 NBA Draft and re-signed Collin Gillespie, Mark Williams and Jordan Goodwin.
“We added some shooting, some spacing with both of those guys, and then some athleticism as well,” said Brooks about Bridges and Kennard, who led the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage for the third time in his career last season at 47.8%.
Kennard and Brooks were teammates in Memphis in 2022-23. The Grizzlies won 51 games and finished second in the Western Conference.
“We can interchange lineups,” Brooks continued. “Miles helps that, acquiring him, we get a little bit more youthful. I'm excited. Can't wait to start. I've been cooped up in Toronto, but I can't wait to start getting it going again.”
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Dillon Brooks talks $73M deal, Suns offseason, facing LeBron on birthday