With Jalen Green out for an extended period, the Phoenix Suns are opting to go with a larger lineup, starting Royce O’Neale. Phoenix started the year with Ryan Dunn while Green was out, and now they’ve
turned to the veteran.
The question is, do Suns fans agree with the adjustment from Jordan Ott? Or do they want Dunn back in the lineup? They resoundingly agree with him.
I’m not surprised by the voting. One of the reasons the Suns have surprised so many people so far is because of their three-point shooting; O’Neale is a huge part of that. He’s tied for the fourth-most threes made to start the season, and is shooting them more than efficiently; he’s knocking them down like a flame thrower, as Kevin Harlan would say, at a 45% rate on 7.5 attempts a game.
Alongside Grayson Allen, who’s leading the league in threes made and is also making them at a 45% rate, O’Neale is helping space the floor for Devin Booker, giving him more room to operate, which in turn is helping Mark Williams get more open looks and get more acclimated to his new team and role.
Yes, O’Neale isn’t the athlete that Ryan Dunn is; he’s not the type to catch exhilarating alley-oops and emphatically swat players’ shots like the University of Virginia product does, but he’s active on defense, trailing just Allen for the most steals on the team.
Dunn has improved, like most second-year players do, but he’s still a liability on the offensive end. Teams are leaving him open on his corner threes, and he’s not capitalizing on it. If Dunn started, the Suns would have two players in the starting lineup who aren’t strong shooters. Even starting O’Neale or Dunn, Phoenix isn’t a big team, so they need to lean into their strengths and put as many shooters on the court as possible against teams’ best lineups.
Because of their different skillsets, don’t be surprised to see Ott sub them out for each other down the stretch for games like he did on Wednesday in the Suns’ close win over the Dallas Mavericks. That being said, neither are strong free throw shooters; both are shooting below 67% from the line, so when Phoenix needs free throws to ice the game, maybe they should look for other options.
Did the fans get this one right? Let us know.
