Welcome to Inside the Suns, your weekly deep-down analysis of the current Phoenix Suns team. Each week the Fantable — a round table of Bright Siders — give their takes on the Suns’ latest issues and news.
Fantable Questions of the Week
Q1: Do you believe the Suns are essentially locked into the 7th seed in the Western Conference standings?
Diamondhacks: Locks are for canals and filing cabinets, but I’ve assumed for a while now that 7 was our most likely slot. We lack top-ready talent and availability to durably compete with WC top 6, but still have a competitive-looking meritocracy in place that elicits motivated performance.
Ashton:
Anything can happen, but these last two months do not look good. 9-11 (right? Anybody call that?) since the beginning of February. I do not mind the recent three-game skid as it involved the Celtics and the Wolves, on the road, in a B2B.
So, I am going to say yes, the 7th seed is the ceiling. I am not sure when Brooks can even drive to MMC with a broken hand and a broken driver’s license. Mark Williams finally felt his injury concerns. I just do not see immediate help coming soon.
OldAz: Pretty much. 5 games up on the Clippers with very few left to play, and while they are only 2-3 back of 3,4, or 5, they also are missing 3 starting-level players. 7 seems like a lock, and we need to win game 1 of the Play-In to avoid an elimination game. I also think the Clippers are not hard for the sixth spot because the only difference between 6 & 7 is home court in a single, non-elimination game. Better for them to focus on being healthy for that game.
Rod: I believe it’s more of being locked out of the 6th seed than it is being locked into the 7th. Getting higher in the standings is impossible without a good deal of help (losses) from the teams currently ranked above us but slipping even further back, into the 8th, 9th, or even 10th seed isn’t out of the realm of possibility. The Suns’ remaining schedule is much more difficult than that of the three teams trailing us, and an extended losing streak by the Suns could lead to an even worse position in the play-in games.
Q2: What’s your opinion of where the Suns would be in the Western Conference standings if Jalen Green had remained healthy for most of the season?
Diamondhacks: I suspect we’d have been somewhat worse had Jalen been healthy, and that’s not based on his injury-riddled 2026, where basic holistic stats like VORP (Value Over Replacement) and Win Shares suggest that he’s been our worst performer on the entire roster.
It’s based more on his career best 2024-25, when he still missed the second-most field goals in the NBA. He mitigated that with great athleticism, and was ‘okay’ overall, but still likely a downgrade from our other guards (Gillespie and Booker certainly, probably Allen and Goodwin as well) – from whom he’d presumably grab most of his minutes.
Ashton: I have continually asked for a larger sample size from Green over the season in the Sun’s system, and we have it. He runs hot and cold, just like in Houston. This is not someone that I would trust as a playmaker, and some of the silly midcourt shots state he really does not know his role. Well, this sounds familiar over the last couple of years.
I think he is inconsistent. But I am still willing to say that the Suns would be at least +2 in the win column and maybe more.
OldAz: This is a great question that I really don’t have an answer for. We have seen moments where the Book and Green backcourt looks incredible, but it also has Ott playing too much small ball. That could also just be because of the front-court injuries. Green being healthy all year may also have stunted the emergence of Gillespie. I think they are likely about the same place, but that’s not saying much when 3-6 are only separated by a few games. I believe they would have gone through these current growing pains earlier, but would still be somewhere among this same group.
Rod: Jalen’s had his ups and downs but overall I see him as a positive for the team. As such, I really believe the Suns would at least be fighting to hang on to the 6th seed if he had not spent so much time out injured, and at best the Suns might be in the fight for the 3rd seed at this point. Just having the extra time to figure out how to best utilize his talents earlier in the season would likely have made the team better overall by this time and probably would have added a few more wins…which is currently the difference between the Suns fighting to stay in the 7th spot or battling for one of the 3rd through 6th positions in the standings.
Q3: Should the Suns continue playing with their current starting 5 of Gillespie, Book, Green, O’Neale, and Oso while Brooks and Williams are sidelined?
Diamondhacks: If fans had any idea how much evidence based analysis is brought to bear on lineups, along with internal and external considerations, there’d be a lot less criticism of coaches. At least one would think so…lol. But for someone like me, who just watches the games and loves basketball, to pretend I’m as informed as – or more insightful than – this particular coach is about his players and team dynamics seems a bit like killing a mockingbird.
Ashton: Let’s just roll with it. There are very few options outside of starting Fleming, and any one of them can really heat up at any given time. It would be nice to see three of them heat up at the same time for consistency, but these fourth quarter collapses are disturbing.
That is my short answer. I have some college games to watch, and maybe the Suns turn out to be the NBA Cinderella in the postseason.
OldAz: No. This lineup is simply too small and gets killed by any NBA starting-level center and even marginal power forwards. I don’t mind Oso starting, but I would move Gillespie to the bench to maximize his bench minutes when Oso is no longer available. I would also replace O’Neale with more size. Allen is passable at the wing when he is back, but I believe Fleming needs to be at the PF spot at least until Brooks is back. Williams being back in place of Oso does not change this logic either. Until Dillon Brooks returns, they simply need more size at PF. I would actually go with Dunn and Fleming and rely on Oso to facilitate and Book and Green to carry the offense against other starting lineups.
Rod: At this point, I’d really just move Gillespie to the second unit, put Fleming into the PF spot, and bump O’Neale over to SF. This would increase the starting unit’s size and put Gillespie in a better position to score rather than playing him alongside Book and Green. I know some would prefer Khaman over Oso in the starting 5, but I don’t think he’s ready for that yet. Size has been an issue for the Suns all season long, and I think Fleming has reached the point of at least getting an opportunity to start a few games while the team is dealing with all its injury issues.
As always, many thanks to our Fantable members for all their extra effort this week!
Quotes of the Week
“We’ve just got to learn how to win together. Still a first-year group that’s dealt with injuries and not much time to go through these stretches earlier in the season together and figure out what works.” – Devin Booker
“It’s the cost of doing business sometimes when you’re trying to play physical defense, you’re going to get some ticky tack fouls, but got to find that balance and make smart fouls. Just make it as hard as you possibly can without fouling.” – Haywood Highsmith
“Win, lose, or draw, I’m 100% committed to the grind. We all are. We have the right group to continue to get better, and we’ll do that.” – Devin Booker
“It felt good. I didn’t feel the need to shy away from the ball. If I’m in that situation again, I’ll be ready to shoot them again. I’m not shying away from the ball.” – Rasheer Fleming on the Spurs game
Suns Trivia/History
On March 23, 2017, in a game against the Brooklyn Nets, the Suns had the youngest starting lineup in NBA history with 21-year-old Tyler Ulis, 20-year-olds Devin Booker and Derrick Jones Jr., 19-year-old Marquese Chriss, and 23-year-old Alex Len. The five had a combined average age of 21 years, 14 days. The Suns lost to the Nets 126-98.
On March 24, 2017, in Boston, Devin Booker (20 years old) became the youngest NBA player to score 70 points in a game in a 130-120 loss to the Celtics. By the end of the game, the Celtics’ home crowd realized they were witnessing something special and cheered whenever Booker scored. During this game, Booker also tied Michael Jordan’s record for most free throws made in a half (20) that had stood since Dec. 30, 1992.
On March 26, 1996, Phoenix’s A.C. Green played in his 800th consecutive NBA game – then the third-longest streak in NBA history – scoring seven points and grabbing nine rebounds during the Suns’ 102-98 win over visiting Sacramento.
On March 29, 1970, in just their second season, the Suns upset the Lakers 114-101 in Los Angeles for the franchise’s first-ever playoff win in Game 2, which evened the series 1-1. They would go on to win games 3 and 4 at home on April 2nd and 4th to take a 3-1 series advantage. Unfortunately, the Suns couldn’t get the 4th victory they needed to win the series and progress to the next round of the playoffs as the Lakers won the next 3 games. It was during this playoff series that Lakers broadcaster Chick Hearn gave the Suns’ home, Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the nickname “Madhouse on McDowell.”
This Week’s Game Schedule
Saturday, March 21 – Suns vs Milwaukee Bucks (7:00 pm) NBATV
Sunday, March 22 – Suns vs Toronto Raptors (6:00 pm)
Tuesday, March 24 – Suns vs Denver Nuggets (8:00 pm) Peacock
This Week’s Valley Suns Game Schedule
Saturday, March 21 – Valley Suns vs San Diego Clippers (7:00 pm)
Tuesday, March 24 – Valley Suns vs Mexico City Capitanes (7:00 pm) ESPN+
Wednesday, March 25 – Valley Suns vs Mexico City Capitanes (7:00 pm) ESPN+
Important Future Dates
March 28 – NBA G League Regular Season ends
March 31 – 2026 NBA G League Playoffs begin
April 12 – Regular season ends (All 30 teams play)
April 13 – Rosters set for NBA Playoffs 2026 (3 p.m. ET)
April 14-17 – SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament
April 18 – NBA Playoffs begin
