Heading into the 2015-16 campaign, the Phoenix Suns are facing a five-year playoff drought in the middle of general manager Ryan McDonough’s rebuild. After the team finished with a 25-57 record in 2012-13 — the second-worst record in franchise history — McD was brought in to strip down the roster and start over from scratch.

McDonough set the Suns up for a tankerific 2013-14 season, but almost out of nowhere, the team was actually good, finishing with 48 wins and narrowly missing out on the playoffs in the loaded Western Conference. Building from the middle up has been an unorthodox process, but after a successful offseason, the Suns seem poised to finally end the playoff drought.

Now before you go and start with your best Jim Mora impression, hear me out. The Suns are coming off one of their most disappointing seasons in recent memory, but that’s only because the season before showed such promise and took everyone by surprise.

However, McDonough and the Suns front office were able to identify the team’s areas of need and address most of them this summer, setting Phoenix up for a resurgent year in 2015-16. Phoenix won’t be contending for a championship anytime soon, and losing out on LaMarcus Aldridge obviously still stings.

But thanks to new additions, internal development and the lay of the West, the Suns have their sights set on the playoffs next season. Unlike in years past, it’s a realistic expectation too.