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 – The Suns’ first preseason game is only about 5 weeks away. What are you most interested in seeing in that game?
GuarGuar: I’m most excited about seeing this new Booker/Green backcourt and who takes over the playmaking responsibilities. I think Green will bring the ball up mainly, but Booker ends up being more of the distributor, given he’s the better playmaker of the two. A lot of our success this year will depend
on how fast and well these two gel.
Ashton: I think we have to start with “seeing this game”. I am not sure most of us can not being that the only TV listing is on LA-based Spectrum Sports. I would love to see the Valley residents make the drive on I-10 with tickets in hand. If our out-of-town “friends” would care to make the journey from LAX to the outskirts of LA, let’s just say 90 minutes.
I have only seen Acrisure Arena once on TV when Michigan State played the University of Arizona (UA win). The Arena was spacious and capable of an NBA game, but I found the lighting to be a bit too low.
Personally, I think this needs to be on NBA League Pass. And it may be. Lakers vs. the Suns? You have to air/stream it. Please comment below if you know of alternatives.
DA vs. the Sun’s frontcourt?
Doncic vs Booker?
Lebron, insisting they win their game on…ahem…” home court” with his preseason history? This is speculation, but I do not overlook his driven nature.
Beat LA but do not have them beat us by 20 points. Let’s see how the team gels.
OldAz: The front court rotations. This will be a theme in my answers today, as much of their new young talent from the last 2 drafts play in the front court (Brea being the exception). Add to that, Williams is still young with a good amount of updated, but also having shown the most (along with Dunn) at the NBA level.
I want to see how Ott pursues his emphasis on defense while also giving us a glimpse at his developmental philosophies for young players. I have long said that development takes patience and a willingness to let players make mistakes without looking over their shoulder, but this is a delicate balance as you cannot have a team culture that becomes accepting of mediocrity. I want to see the young front-court players play a lot of minutes, be put in positions to succeed, and be given room to improve as long as the energy and effort is there.
Rod: Defense. I know that preseason games don’t really count, but I want to see the Suns playing like they actually do, at least on the defensive end.
Second to that, I’m extremely curious to see who Ott has in his starting lineup for that first game at power forward and how that person performs. I’ve seen many opinions on who should start at PF and I want to know who wins that position. Unless someone really stands out at that position from the beginning, I’d like to see some experimentation with different players getting the starting nod in different games so we can see how each option performs under fire.
Q2 – With a total of 96 rotation minutes per game to share at the two guard positions, how would you divide up those minutes between players to start the season?
GuarGuar: I’d give Booker around 37 minutes, Green 33 minutes, Grayson 22 minutes, and Brea 14 minutes each game. I’d love to see Koby get some run early so we can see if there’s something special there. The last thing we want is a Hornacek-Booker scenario where we didn’t realize we had a stud until the end of his rookie year.
Ashton: Dang Rod, I thought the CBA questions were hard.
Let’s just say Booker gets 36 minutes per game. Should he? No, probably not, but with his recent extension, this is “lathering up” a horse. He must prove to management that he is worth the expenditure to lead the team at both SG and PG positions.
After that, Jalen Green. At both SG and PG, I could see 28-30 minutes a game, easily.
After that, GA. If he is on fire from the three-point line. He takes Green’s minutes. Maybe 20 minutes or he loses his position to the rookies.
Either way, Book is going to get some run, and I hope he is prepared for it. The two-guard positions for the Suns is one of the most complicated to decipher for pecking order.
OldAz: This is where the theme continues because the last 2 seasons, with so many shooting guards, the Suns played a lot of minutes with a guard at the 3, regardless if that was Booker or GA. This season, I only want actual front-court players in the front court, with Brooks and O’Neale being the “smaller” wings that are taking front-court minutes. I only want to see 3 guards in very limited situations (think Booker, Green, and Brea for short stretches). That makes this question all the more important as it limits those guard minutes to just these 96, and you have to believe Booker and Green are taking 65-70 of those. Both started last season over 35 minutes a game so even if they try to limit their minutes as part of their long-term health strategy, it will still be in this range between them.
This leaves only 26 minutes a game for Brea, Allen, Gillespie, Butler, and Goodwin. I only think one of the last 2 makes the roster unless both show that they are that far ahead of Gillespie, and either way, this last guard is not getting many minutes except for garbage time or because of injury. That leaves these 26 minutes (let’s call it 30 if they go small for a few minutes each game) to be split by Brea and Allen, and maybe sneak in up to 5 for Gillespie in there to keep him fresh and see how a true PG impacts the team’s play. Brea looks NBA-ready as a shooter, and they have to give Allen minutes to show he is worth another team trading for before the deadline.
Rod: In the beginning, I’d like to see a fairly simple three-guard rotation of Book, Green, and Gillespie, with each of them getting roughly 32 minutes per game, with Gillespie being the first guard off the bench. I still don’t like the idea of Book and/or Green being the Suns’ primary facilitator for the majority of the game and, if Gillespie proves he’s up to it, this simple rotation pattern gives the Suns a real PG for two-thirds of the game. But whether Gillespie’s up to it is the key, and the sooner the Suns find that out, the better.
This guard rotation pattern would certainly be subject to fine-tuning as the season goes on and alterations depending upon specific game situations.
Q3 – If you could add a skill of any current Suns player to another, who would get what?
GuarGuar: If we added Booker’s shooting ability to Mark Williams, we would have a top 2 center in the league, so I’ll go with that! Would be an insane player to think about.
Ashton: I really struggled with this question as we really do not know the current Suns team makeup. Do they play offense or defense under Jordan Ott’s system?
But from what I have been able to read, there is more of an embrace for defense and close games from the board commentators. This is a lot different from Suns boards in the past that just looked for the Suns to overwhelm offensively.
So, I would say go with low-scoring games that have an emphasis on defense to keep the fan-base happy.
Forget the guard positions. They are there to shoot and facilitate. Defending the opposing offense perimeter? Yeah, right. Prove it.
Leaving the forwards and the center positions. I want Brook’s attitude and defense, provided he does not get tossed on a technical, to translate to Ryan Dunn. I really hesitate to say that, because I think basketball should be a pure game. Not one marred by trash-talking and cheap fouls.
But 3 and D with attitude could be a benefit to Dunn in the future.
Centers? Mark Williams is showing subtle techniques to Oso to increase his block stats. Merge them.
OldAz: I can only think of 2 things here. The first is obvious and I suspect will be covered in other answers as Oso magically gaining the shooting touch of Booker would instantly elevate Oso to a top of the rotation starter with his athleticism, activity and basketball IQ sorely needing an outside shot to keep him on the floor. It would move someone I believe will struggle to contribute and get minutes to a pretty obvious starter at the 4.
Conversely, I would be tempted to add a skill to the Suns best player and leader by adding Green’s crazy athleticism to Devin Booker. Nobody get mad at me as if I am criticizing Book here, because he has really become a pretty complete player by adding to his game almost every season. However, he has never been one to simply overwhelm the opponent with high flying athleticism. It’s one reason why fans nationally talk more about Anthony Edwards despite Book being a more complete player, better shooter, and leader. If Book added the ability to simply blow by or outjump his opponent, while maintaining the rest of his overall game ,he would be a perennial MVP candidate and virtually unguardable.
Rod: My first thought was to give Grayson Allen’s shooting ability to Oso Ighodaro. People keep hoping that he can develop an outside shot which would make him playable at power forward and being able to shoot like GA could possibly turn Oso into one of the NBA’s best PFs. There are other swaps that would be considered very good too (like giving Book Dillon Brooks’ defensive chops) but the thought of the Suns finally having a big PF that’s mobile, switchable, a good defender, has a high BBIQ, and is an assassin from three would be a dream come true for me.
As always, many thanks to our Fantable members for all their extra effort this week!
Suns Trivia/History
On August 26, 1976, after playing only 39 minutes in 1975-76, 31-year-old guard John Wetzel ended his NBA career in retirement and returned to school at Virginia Tech. He was the first player in franchise history to retire as a member of the Suns. Wetzel would eventually return to Phoenix as an assistant coach in 1979 and become the team’s 7th head coach in 1987. His time as HC with the Suns would be limited to just one season as the team went 28-54 under him and missed the playoffs for the 3rd consecutive year. At the time the team’s 28-54 (.341) record was the 2nd worst in team history and would retain that dubious distinction until the 2012-13 season when the Suns went 25-57 (.305).
On August 27, 1968, in the franchise’s first-ever trade, the Suns acquired a 1969 2nd round draft pick from the Boston Celtics for expansion draft pick Emmette Bryant. “Em” who had previously been with the Knicks, desired to stay in the East and refused to play for the expansion Suns.
On August 28, 1984, the Suns played their first-ever overseas exhibition game (part of a tournament that included Macabi Tel Aviv and the New Jersey Nets), and defeated Hapoel Tel Aviv 111-91 in game one at Yad Eliyahu Arena, Tel Aviv, Israel. The following day, they would lose to Macabi Tel Aviv 113-98. The Suns would also later play in a tournament in Italy (in early September) and wind up playing a total of 5 overseas exhibition games in 1984, going 4-1 overall.
Last Week’s Poll Results
Last week’s poll question was, “How many games do you believe the Suns will win in October and November?”
33.5% – 7 or less.
60.8% – 8 to 14.
05.7% – 15 or more.
A total of 176 votes were cast.
Important Future Dates
Sept. 13 – Valley Suns Open Tryouts @ ASU Sun Devil Fitness Complex in Tempe (9 am-12:30 pm)
Sept. 23 – Media day
Sept. 24 – Training Camp opens
Oct. 3 – Preseason game vs LA Lakers @ Palm Desert, CA
Oct. 10 – Preseason game vs Brooklyn Nets (China)
Oct. 12 – Preseason game vs Brooklyn Nets (China)
Oct. 14 – Preseason game vs LA Lakers @ Phoenix, AZ
Oct. 20 – Rosters set for NBA Opening Day (5 p.m. ET)
Oct. 21 – Regular Season Begins
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
This week’s poll is…
