Welcome to Inside the Suns, a deep-down analysis of the current Phoenix Suns team in which the Fantable — a round table of Bright Siders — give their takes on the Suns’ latest issues and news.
Fantable Questions of the Week
Q1: What grabbed your attention the most from the information that came out on Media Day?
zenzino: Let’s call it what it is. Media Day is a hype day to get us excited about the season. From that standpoint, it was hugely successful as far as I’m concerned. Color me excited.
There was a genuine positivity and excitement to get the season going. Starting with the head cheerleader and team owner, Mat
Ishbia. Do I take everything he says as gospel? Nope. Do I love his rosy outlook and enthusiasm for the team and the city? Hells yeah!!! And it went from the top down.
I’ll limit my takeaways to three (more).
- While training camp officially started on Tuesday, it definitely sounds like training camp has been going on all summer long for them. This group could rival the 21-23 team in terms of teammates who genuinely like each other and love playing together. These guys have each other’s backs and have been working out together almost since they got knocked out by the Thunder, anxious to get back to it. My wish that the Suns hit the ground running when the season starts instead of working themselves into shape at the beginning seems likely to come true.
- We only caught a glimpse of what Jalen Green was capable of last season. So much raw talent, desperately needing the right coaches to harness. He didn’t have a lot of that in his first few years. Now he’s spent some quality time with the coaching staff this summer and, notably, practice and film sessions with Steve Nash. I expect to see a leap forward from Green this season.
- Finally, under the radar, when Goodie was asked who surprised him the most this summer, without hesitation, he said Book. Goodie says he guards Book most of the time, and he was surprised at how much stronger Book has gotten and that he’s shooting even better. There were a couple other stories/comments about how much Book was in the gym this summer. Not an ounce of complacency there.
Ashton: I was all jacked and jazzed to catch the livestream on Monday, but I decided to run an errand before and ran out of gas. Not like Booker running out of gas because he played too many minutes, but a faulty fuel gauge led to me getting my steps in. It was like I was back in high school. So, I missed the livestream and could have caught it post-hoc, but at that time the write-ups were in with most of the main talking points, leaving me with breadcrumbs. John Voita summarized it just fine here.
And apparently a lot of smoke was in the air.
I would turn to Dillon Brooks answer about studying Kung Fu while meditating in the Wudang Mountains over the summer. I have watched a lot of martial arts movies over the years, but the one thing I never saw was a basketball court in the Chinese scenic backdrops. And all of that was to learn to how to drop-kick an official?
Dillon, maybe you should have meditated on your upcoming court case because, knowing Arizona’s tough DUI laws, a suspension from the NBA seems inevitable before you get to performing your inner Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on an official. That, or you could have just hit the practice court with Booker and KM. Also, as a former martial artist, Kung Fu really is not the way to go. You could have practiced thumb or finger locks before the official reaches for his whistle. Which will happen.
OldAz: I was out of town during media day, so I only caught the write-ups and X highlights. For my biggest takeaway, see question #2. I was struck by how many comments were all about Maluach. It seemed each and every player made it a point to call out his hard work, his physical transformation, or his on-court development. Everything else I heard sounded like typical media day blabber.
Rod: One thing that stood out to me was that both Khaman and Oso said that which one of them starts should depend on what’s best for the team. Khaman spoke about matchups and how, against different opponents, different players might need to start. Oso also talked about how he worked well with the 2nd unit last season, which was a good role for him. They both just seemed more interested in team success than feeding their own egos. They both seemed more mature than their ages might suggest, and I love the “team first” attitude from them.
Q2:Khaman Maluach received a lot of praise from just about everyone on Media Day. What are your thoughts on this?
zenzino: I hated that. Felt like they were blowing smoke. Ha! Just kidding.
Loved it! It really sounds like he has made a huge leap forward. The patience and sticking to his development could really pay off. Teammates talked about him ‘brightening up the room’ with his presence and enthusiasm. We’re seeing the beginnings of Khaman being the future of the Suns, and it sounds like he’s impressing everyone, on and off the court.
It’s going to be fun to watch him play and develop through the season. Hopefully, everyone will stay patient and understand that this is a journey, and even if he’s just playing significant minutes this season, he’ll be right on schedule. If he works his way to starting, he’ll be ahead of schedule.
Ashton: It sounds great and it led to the Suns using those references to pick up his third year. And it is really a glimpse of what players are working on over the summer, something that is lacking in written articles during the dead times. Yes, practices are closed, but you would think there would be a leak here and there. Learning that Book and KM were working on the court together and then having a cacophony of other players chime in shows there is truly some dedication to training on the court over the summer. To be honest, I am never sure if the players are on a permanent vacay, fishing, or hitting the links around the world.
Except for Brooks. He was trying to overtake Wemby in a future Kung Fu competition (Wemby has also trained in China in Kung Fu – great article on ESPN if you want to look it up). But all that meditation does not lead to better playmaking; as Brooks has stated himself, he was working on improving those skills.
OldAz: Like I said in Q1, the sheer quantity of comments from other players pointing to Maluach was eye-opening. With Williams down for much of the season, the hope is that this is not just more Media Day spin. If Maluach truly is both growing into his body, while also working on his game, and showing a Booker-like commitment to being great, then Maluach may turn out to be the most consequential addition since, well, since Booker.
It’s especially encouraging to hear about all the time working with Booker because a real two man game between those two would be great to see. We have talked before in this space about who will start in Williams’ absence. If the comments on KM were legitimate and based in reality, then I suspect we will see him get a real shot at starting during the preseason.
Rod: It actually got me a little more excited to see him on the court. I thought he played very well in Summer League but…that was Summer League, not really the NBA. Hearing all the praise coming from his teammates, old and new, is quite encouraging as was he and Book spending time working out together over the Summer. The more in sync he and Book are on the court, the higher the ceiling of this team in my opinion.
All this just blends into what I’ve heard all along about Khaman, that he’s a sponge, working to soak up every bit of basketball knowledge he can, and to work as hard as he can, to become the best basketball player he can possibly be. Hopefully, that will turn out to be someone special.
Q3: One of the reasons Luke Kennard said he was excited to be in Phoenix was, “This is going to be an opportunity to be a basketball player, not just a shooter.” What are your thoughts on this?
zenzino: Settle down, Sparky. Nobody is asking you to play basketball.
Kidding. It’s great! We saw some surprisingly good play from him when he was starting in place of the injured Reaves in the first round of the playoffs. If that’s something he can build on, that’s great news for the Suns.
I’m firmly in the camp that we are going to feel the absence of GA and Royce in a not-so-good way. Anything extra Kennard can bring to his game will help to mitigate that.
I also love that Ott told him that his three-point percentage is going to go down because he will be shooting more threes.
Finally, it was very cool how he said that he wanted to come to Phoenix because he’s seen players have career years here and he wants to have a breakout year. I think that’s proof of concept to what the Suns are building.
Ashton: What an odd response. It almost seems like he made a dig at his former team’s coaching staff in LA (and others) for utilizing him heavily on the perimeter. And this is exactly what the Suns should do.
Look, I get it. NBA players want to be an NBA All-Star and view themselves in that light. I do not fault Kennard for wanting to improve in all the facets of the game and applaud it. But not every player can be an NBA All-Star, and his bench role is to provide spot-up perimeter shooting when called upon.
Like with Q1 on media day, there was a lot of smoke.
OldAz: After I finished rolling my eyes, I realized that “In Brian Gregory we trust.” It is possible BG saw the potential to replace more of Grayson Allen’s game than just shooting. If so, it would be a coup for the Suns to replace those elements of GA’s game at a much lower price point. On the other hand, this is a middle-of-the-bench signing and these comments sound a whole lot more like Media Day spin and typical overestimation of one athlete’s own abilities.
Rod: It’s interesting because I’ve read that the team has also given him the green light to shoot more. It sounds as though someone’s recognized that he can be more than just someone who stands at the three-point line waiting for the ball to come to him. I haven’t really watched him play much, but there have been comments that he can do much more and could be a Grayson Allen replacement in more than just three-point shooting.
I did watch some of his playoff highlights with the Lakers and saw he had pretty good ball-handling skills and a nice midrange game, which should get him rotation minutes even on this deep Suns team. If he can bring even close to what Grayson gave the Suns in areas other than three-point shooting, he’ll be an even nicer addition than I initially thought he would be.
As always, many thanks to our Fantable members for all their extra effort this week!
Quotes of the Week
“It’s not like, oh who’s gonna start or who’s gonna play this kind of minutes. It’s what the team needs. If that night Oso is a good matchup for whatever center we’re playing, then if coach thinks it’s the best thing also we’ll play. If the other night I’m the better matchup, I will play. I don’t see it like an individual competitive thing. I see it like a team thing, what the team needs.” – Khaman Maluach
“They want me to shoot, and they want me to shoot a lot. Whether it’s wide open or it’s more difficult shots.” – Luke Kennard
“It’s going to be great and super competitive. All of the guys work hard. We all have the same goal.” – Rasheer Fleming (on training camp)
“We have no reason, no excuse not to be in elite shape.” – Jordan Ott
Suns Trivia/History
The Suns are returning 76.2% of their player minutes from last season, which is the sixth-highest continuity rating in the league behind San Antonio (93.8%), Orlando (90.2%), New York (87.7%), Houston (85.0%), and New Orleans (84.6%).
On October 8, 2018, the Suns fired former GM Ryan McDonough and appointed James Jones and Trevor Bukstein as interim co-GMs.
On October 9, 1972, the Suns waived SG/SF John Wetzel who was picked up by the Atlanta Hawks. Three years later, the Suns claimed Wetzel after he was waived by the Hawks on Oct. 24, 1975.
Important Future Dates
Oct. 5 – Suns @ Pistons (preseason) 4:00 PM
Oct. 7 – Suns @ Bulls (preseason) 5:00 PM
Oct. 10 – Suns vs. Spurs (preseason) 7:00 PM (ESPN2)
Oct. 14 – Suns @ Spurs (preseason) 5:00 PM
Oct. 16 – Suns vs. Jazz (preseason) 7:00 PM
Oct. 20 – 2026-27 NBA Season Begins
Oct. 24 – NBA G League Draft
Oct. 26-Nov. 5 – NBA G League Training Camp
Nov. 6 – NBA G League Tip-Off Tournament begins
Dec. 15 – Most players signed to new contracts can be traded
Jan. 5 – 10-day contracts may now be signed
Jan. 10 – All NBA contracts are guaranteed for the remainder of the season
Jan. 15 – All players signed to new contracts can be traded
Feb. 11 – Trade Deadline
Feb. 19-21 – NBA All-Star 2027
