Welcome to our Phoenix Suns Season in Review series, where we revisit every player who suited up during the 2025–26 campaign through the lens of expectation, reality, and what it ultimately meant.
Player Snapshot
- Position: SG
- Age: 24
- 2026-27 Contract Status: $36.3 million
- SunsRank (Preseason): 2
- SunsRank (Postseason): 3
*SunsRank is based on Bright Side writers’ ranking.
Season in One Sentence
Jalen Green proved that he is who he has always been.
By the Numbers
The Expectation
Jalen Green was supposed to come into the season as an electric athlete who could fill up the scoring column in the box score. He was supposed to be the number two scoring option on this team, who could give
Booker a rest when needed.
That said, no one thought it was a guaranteed thing that Green was going to fit seamlessly on this team. In September, when Brandon Duenas played devil’s advocate and put forth three reasons the Suns weren’t going to make the playoffs this season, the number one predicted reason was that Booker and Green wouldn’t fit together. How many times have you heard the phrase, “there is only one ball” during your NBA fandom?
The athleticism of Jalen Green really was the main selling point of adding him to this roster. After years of wing rotations that consisted of Devin Booker, Grayson Allen, and Royce O’Neale, a true jump out of the gym, hit your head on the rim-type athlete was supposed to be a breath of fresh air.
On top of it all, Green was an iron man. He missed just 21 out of his first 328 games in the NBA.
The Reality
Unfortunately, an offseason hamstring injury resulted in a huge setback for Green. His first game of the year was on November 6th against the Clippers, the Suns’ 9th game of the year. The very next game, also against the Clippers, Green reaggravated his hamstring and returned to the sideline. He would not return until the Suns’ 44th game of the year, in Philadelphia on January 20th. After that, he played just 4 of the next 11 games. Finally, on February 19th, he returned in full. He played in games 56-80 and was finally back for good.
If you look at his stats for his age 23 season, you won’t see a leap into superstardom. He scored around the same number of points with a very similar efficiency to his averages with Houston.
He was not Phoenix’s second option this season, like many of us expected him to be. He was third in field goal attempts per game for the Suns. By the time Green was regularly in the lineup, Brooks had already established himself as Booker’s number 2.
What It Means
Jalen Green is who he is. He has been almost the exact same player every single year he has been in the NBA. He is not going to replace Booker someday as the Suns’ star shooting guard. So, with that in mind, why keep him? He is going to make $36 million dollars next season, and this team has no starting power forward.
He’s still just 23, he is on a big contract, and he plays a position that makes him redundant to the team’s game plan. At this point, Jalen Green is the Sun that I think makes the most sense to trade this offseason.
If the Suns do keep Green long-term, then expect him to play more games than he did this season, but expect the exact same production. This is just who Jalen Green is.
Defining Moment
Jalen Green was the hero of the play-in, scoring 35 points against the Trailblazers and 36 points against the Warriors.
I am a sucker for a game-winner, though. On February 21st, the Suns played the Magic without Devin Booker and needed a hero as the clock struck zero in double overtime. Jalen Green stepped up and hit this incredible shot
Grade: B
I give Jalen Green a B. We were all disappointed to start the season without him and even more so to get him for so few games in total this year. When he was on the court, Booker and Green never felt like the dynamic inside-out guard duo that we thought they could be. But, outside of injury, it wasn’t a disappointing year. Green came in and performed exactly as he always had.
Next year, he will probably do the same.
