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: It’s still early in the season, but how do you think the Suns actually rank in the West?
A. A top 5 team.
B. A middle 5 team.
C. A bottom 5 team.
Ashton: I am taking D. for five hundred, Rod. All the above.
I mean this team is about a schizophrenic as my rescue dog (3 yr. Border Collie. If you are curious. I think he needs to chase a sheep or two, which would piss off the HOA) on any given day or week. Suns fall into a 20-point hole, and they still manage to somehow make it a game. Go up by plus 20 points and still manage to lose the game. I am not saying my dog is losing or winning the Suns game, but wow, I really never know what I am getting on a day-to-day basis. The answer is somewhere in between. I asked this question on the Portland game chat, and GuarGuar said the ceiling was a 6 seed. That resonated with me. And I stole his answer.
Final answer, B. And I need to give this dog a job. Anybody have chickens?
Let’s see what happens with the Sun’s brutal schedule over the holiday season to determine their true worth. I would like to revisit this question again.
OldAz: What a great question when the Suns were unexpectedly sitting right at the 6 seed prior to the Hawks game. Their early season success has fans wondering how long it can be maintained, but hustle and effort will beat a lot of teams.
Here’s how I look at it: The bottom is becoming clear with the Pelicans & Kings stinking out loud. I believe that eventually the Jazz will also regress and should end up as part of a “bottom 5”. After that, Memphis, Dallas, and even the Clippers seem hell bent on eating up those last 2 spots and forcing even Portland into the middle. At the top the Thunder and Nuggets are clearly the top 2. The group chasing that duo is deep and tough with the Lakers, Spurs, Wolves, Rockets, and Warriors all jockeying for position. The Suns are somewhere among this group in my opinion.
I expect that Minnesota will figure things out eventually, and the league will make every effort to ensure the Lakers’ success. To me, that leaves the Suns clearly in the middle 5, even if they are at the back end of that second tier. The hope is that they can hang around that 9-10 spot long enough that their team identity of defense and hustle cement,s and then Green gets back to give a boost to their upside.
Rod: Where they actually are in the WC rankings right now (7th) is about where I’m comfortable with them being. The middle of the middle 5 isn’t a bad place for them to be, considering some of the dire preseason predictions and fan expectations. I credit Ott’s coaching as well as the players for buying in and playing like every game matters to them as much as it does to us fans.
If they can get fully healthy and stay that way for an extended period of time, I can see them perhaps climbing upwards a bit higher but I see their ceiling as the top of the middle 5…with a chance of getting up to the tail end of the top 5 (5th) if they get a lot of lucky breaks during the rest of the season. Do I think that’s likely to happen? No. The Suns have just never had that kind of luck before and I doubt that’s going to suddenly happen now.
Q2: How important do you think Grayson Allen is in regard to the Suns’ success this season?
Ashton: If you had asked this question at the beginning of the season, my answer would have been “not very”. Since then, I think he is integral moving forward. And by that, he actually needs to move forward. This thigh contusion seems serious.
Somebody wants to explain why contusions can make or derail a career? I am not getting it from the front office speak or pundit speak. But Bradley Beal certainly made it an issue.
But GA has to offset the defensive pressure on Book and the double teams that will come at him. That was the hope for Green, and I think it’s too much to ask out of CG.
OldAz: There have been some stats floating around recently showing how highly the Suns rank at creating wide-open shots this season. Considering the lack of star power compared to past seasons, credit has to be given to Coach Ott and the team for leaning into the offensive philosophy of ball movement. There’s no reason to believe this won’t continue to some extent, making players like GA ultra valuable. He does not do anything in himself to create these wide open shots, but he makes the team at a very high clip when the ball finds him and he also makes the smart play driving to the basket when the defense is moving. GA has shown to be not only an integral part of what the Suns do, but a great outlet when those wide-open looks are created.
That being said, I still hold that he is also their most valuable trade chip because of these same skills. If the Suns continue to compete as a team, then those claiming he is too valuable to move will be correct because he is that important to their success. However, if the team ultimately struggles against tougher competition and drops back to the 9-12 seed area, then his greater value MIGHT be in what he can return in a trade when he is having such a great all-around season.
Rod: People talk mostly about what a great 3-point shooter he is, but his value to this team has gone up even further due to his other skills that he hasn’t had the chance to showcase before. The man is also a strong and creative finisher at the rim and a very good ball handler, just what the Suns need this year.
With he and Book both in the backcourt, he takes a lot of pressure off Book as they seem to work very well together without having a true PG in the starting lineup. What he and Book are doing now looks a lot like what I believed the Suns’ FO imagined a Book/Beal backcourt would look and function…but didn’t. And when Green gets healthy again, I’ve seen great on-court chemitry between Allen and Gillespie which I think could make the Suns’ bench even more deadly offensively.
Depending on how the team is doing at the trade deadline, I’m not sure I’d trade him at all unless someone offers the proverbial ‘king’s ransom’ in return.
Q3: Rookies Khaman Maluach and Rasheer Fleming saw their first G League minutes last week with the Valley Suns. Right now, should they be getting more playing time there, or should Jordan Ott be giving them minutes to develop with the big team?
Ashton: In the Portland game, Fleming looked good in his first substantial NBA minutes. I was surprised.
I would have said KM would have jumped ahead on the rookie rankings. Now, I am not so sure.
The answer to this question is that both develop under Ott’s system. This is a scrapy team that is ranking somewhere in the middle of the NBA power rankings. You have to use the scrubs and rookies to pull that off. And the Suns are doing it admirably.
This is a fun team to watch.
OldAz: The answer here dovetails nicely with where I ended the last question. Right now, the Suns are competing and winning games. That is because of the players who are ready to contribute now. Ott should only be playing the rookies when there is a blowout or when they demonstrate the ability to contribute themselves to this level of success. They should also look for every opportunity to get KM and RF minutes at the G League level to help them develop and grow and keep the carrot of NBA playing time in front of them.
This is the only right choice when the team is competing and winning games like we have seen the last coupleof weeks.
However, as competition stiffens in the coming stretch, and if the W-L record starts to turn south, then I would advocate for getting the duo (especially Fleming) a few meaningful minutes at the NBA level with the promise of increasing those as they demonstrate competence. If they are going to lose games like everyone was expecting before the season, then getting those rookies experience will help keep everyone focused on the future instead of the raised expectations the fanbase is starting to feel the stress of.
Rod: Fleming’s performance against Portland altered how I was going to answer this one a bit. He still doesn’t look completely NBA-ready ready but he did look as though he’s ready enough to play some meaningful minutes for the big team in certain circumstances. While his offense is still a work in progress, I think he showed that he can already be a valuable contributor as a defender and rebounder. I’d still like to see him get some extra playing time in the G League for a while, but I also think he can, at times, play some valuable minutes for the Suns too.
As for Maluach, I still think it’s in his best interest to play mostly with the Valley Suns. He’s still raw and needs time to adjust to the NBA and gifting him minutes with the big team might hurt him more than help right now. Let’s not forget that he fouled out of his first Valley Suns G League game in just 26 minutes with just 9 pts, 3 rebs, 3 blocks and 3 TOs. I think that it’s best for both him and the team for him to rack up more court time in the G League instead of possibly setting him up to fail by gifting him meaningful minutes with the Suns. The faster he can show that he’s able to adapt and improve in the G League, the sooner he’ll eventually get a shot at meaningful court time with the big team.
As always, many thanks to our Fantable members for all their extra effort this week!
Quotes of the Week
“It’s a get better every day mindset, we’re all rallying behind coach, we’re all having fun with it.” – Devin Booker
“We’re all connected. Trying to be on the same page.” – Royce O’Neale
“It was unexpected. I didn’t know he was calling my name at first, but soon as I got in, I was ready.” – Rasheer Fleming on getting minutes in the Portland game
“Energy. We have the same mentality from start to finish. Come in, help our first unit out the best that we can.” – Isaiah Livers
“We have something special cooking.” – Devin Booker
Suns Trivia/History
On November 20, 1977, the Suns set a franchise record for team steals in a single game with 24 in a 134-112 win against San Antonio. That total is tied for the 4th most in a single game in NBA history. Starters Walter Davis and Alvan Adams both had 4, Paul Westphal and Don Buse got 3 each, and Gar Heard finished with 1. Rookie Ron Lee had 5 off the bench to lead everyone in steals, though. Lee made a name for himself as a thief on the court and went on to set the Suns’ single-season record for steals (225) the following season as well as leading the entire NBA in steals that year.
On November 23, 1972, Charlie Scott recorded the Phoenix Suns’ first-ever triple-double with 42 points, 10 rebounds, and 15 assists in a 128-122 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Thanksgiving Day.
On November 23, 1994, Wesley Person scored 19 points to lead 10 double-figure scorers in Phoenix’s 140-109 home win over the LA Clippers. The Suns became the third team in NBA history to have 10 different players score in double figures in the same game. No Suns player shot less than 50% from the field that day, and the team’s FG percentage was 64.7% while also hitting 47.1% of their three-point attempts.
On November 23, 2015, Devin Booker got his first career start for the Phoenix Suns, filling in for an injured Eric Bledsoe. Booker had 4 pts, 1 ast, 4 rebs, and 1 stl in his debut in the Suns’ starting lineup as Phoenix fell to the San Antonio Spurs 98-84.
On November 24, 1989, when the reserves were outscored 16-0 to start the 4th quarte,r leaving the Suns “only” up 28 points, Cotton Fitzsimmons brought back his starters, allowing Jeff Hornacek to record the first triple-double of his career (22 pts, 12 rebs, 15 asts) in a 121-94 win over the Orlando Magic.
On November 25, 1995, down 110-100 with 90 seconds left, the Suns nailed 4 3-pointers and, after Nick Van Exel inexplicably allowed himself to be tied up with 6.7 seconds left in the game, Michael Finley hit a buzzer-beater to defeat the LA Lakers, 114-113. Phoenix outscored LA 41-27 in the 4th quarter.
This week’s game schedule
Friday, Nov 21 – Suns vs Minnesota Timberwolves (7:00 pm)
Sunday, Nov 23 – Suns vs San Antonio Spurs (6:00 pm)
Monday, Nov 24 – Suns vs Houston Rockets (7:30 pm) Peacock
Wednesday, Nov 26 – Suns @ Sacramento Kings (8:00 pm)
This Week’s Valley Suns game schedule
Thursday, Nov 20 – Valley Suns @ Stockton Kings (8:00 pm) ESPN+
Tuesday, Nov 25 – Valley Suns vs Rip City Remix (7:00 pm) ESPN+
Important Future Dates
Jan. 5 – 10-day contracts may now be signed
Jan. 10 – All NBA contracts are guaranteed for the remainder of the season
Feb. 5 – Trade deadline (3:00 pm ET)
Feb. 13-15 – 2026 NBA All-Star weekend in Los Angeles, CA
March 1 – Playoff eligibility waiver deadline
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
