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: ESPN recently predicted the Suns to finish 8th in the West this season. What’s your opinion/prediction?
zenzino: I’m not mad. As we learned from previous seasons: expectations are the killer of joy. I think they can certainly do better, though.
As I said in a previous comment, there is a crazy logjam in the middle of the Western Conference and the Suns should be at least in the middle of it this time. Let’s look at who was above the Suns and who was below last season.
The Thunder and Spurs are comfortable at the top and not part of the logjam. The Rockets got better with FVV returning and adding Marcus Smart. I expect them to be following closely behind the top two and out of the reach of the Suns.
The three other teams above the Suns:
Nuggets: Bad offseason. They gave up defense and depth. They are the most vulnerable. If Jokic doesn’t play at least 65-70 games, they could fall the hardest. Gordon’s declining durability is also a concern.
Lakers: Mixed bag. They won some and lost some. Luka finally has the center he wanted. This is a ‘wait-and-see’ team for me. It would be stupid to discount any team with Luka on it.
T-Wolves: Interesting offseason, to say the least. Adding Kuminga definitely helps them in the scoring department. If he and LaMelo can stay healthy (a big if), they will be an exciting team on the offensive side. Defense is iffy.
Threats from rising teams:
Naw. The Jazz are a year away from being a couple of years away. Who knows what the hell the Grizzlies, Pelicans, and Kings are doing. They’ll be fighting to just not be the worst.
That leaves just three more:
Dallas: Kyrie coming back paired with Flagg will make for some watchable highlights. As good as Flagg will be, he’s still a year or two from being able to carry a team, which is what he’d have to do for the Mavs to be in the playoff hunt.
Warriors: Pretty sure they’re the oldest team in the NBA. Still… Steph can carry a team when healthy. Jimmy Buckets coming back mid-season(ish) gives them a wildcard to be a threat in the play-in. Health is critical.
Blazers: More than a threat last season, they knocked the Suns off the 7th seed. This season, not so much. The Shaedon Sharpe injury hurts them. Their new owner also hurts them. I think even with Dame coming back and Ja in the mix, they take a step back this season (how many guards do they have?).
In conclusion, I think the Suns are a bigger threat to 3 of the teams than finished above them than any of the teams that finished below them are to the Suns.
If Bridges gels and they stay relatively healthy, I can definitely see the Suns finishing as the 4th or 5th seed. How awesome would that be?
Ashton: Ah, we finally get to a question that I wanted to predict a few weeks ago. Great leadoff question. Let’s start with this: if ESPN knew what the hell it was talking about in predictions, they would not have employed Stephen A. Smith. Seriously, I want to join a fantasy pool of CBB bracket pool with this guy to take his money. Which leads me to my next point: I decided to dust off my long dormant DraftKings account just to see what the Vegas side is saying these days. The sacrifices I make for you, the viewers, and no, I didn’t place a bet. I am just there for their numbers and the fact that I can’t seem to place my remaining .12-cent bet on ping pong.
Vegas states that the Suns have the third-highest odds to win the Pacific Division, but there is a local site poll on that. That is after the Lakers and GSW, with the Suns ringing in at third highest at +310. This is important. It is your perspective if the Lakers or GSW are being a little too overhyped.
Now for the Western Conference, Vegas (DK) has the Suns with the ninth best odds to win it all at +7000. Above Portland and Houston and certainly above the Lakers. My final analysis is that the preseason analysts do not know what they are talking about, and the same with Vegas analysts. I have always suspected that national analysts base their writings on Vegas odds to not appear that they have no spine, in which case, ESPN actually defied Vegas, barely. Still, a cooperation between the two suggests that AI is the source.
So, look, I am just a blog commentator, but BS (Sorry Johnny CYA’s son, have your Dad explain BS to you, and do not go bull or cow-tipping or with your friends as you get older).
The Suns will not finish eighth (or ninth) in the league with all the turbulence in Portland and LA ownership issues. I literally expect to turn on HGTV and see a show called “Franchise Flipping in LA and Portland hates their owner who may just move the franchise if he doesn’t get what he wants. Vegas anyone? Add in the Jazz infatuation with acquiring picks while not really developing talent, Sacramento’s. New Orleans and Memphis general ineptness, eighth in the Western is a bridge too far for me. Great, sad movie but not for the Suns. Let’s just say sixth in the West
Oh, yeah, take the over that the Suns win 40 games or more. Don’t bet the house on it and try not to overreach but this is a 40-win range team.
OldAz: Here was a time when ESPN was the undisputed “worldwide leader in sports” with anchors and personalities that actually loved, lived, and most importantly watched all the games. Now they are closer to the Sports world’s TMZ mixed with the advertising arm of whichever leagues and teams are paying the bills (sorry SEC football fans, you know it’s true).
To paraphrase a quote from the great football movie “Varsity Blues”: That ESPN (Moxon) ain’t with the Charmin extra soft he wipes his butt with. That being said, this prediction could be perfectly accurate considering it’s right about where they finished last season and the separation between 4th and 10th stayed close all season.
This fits with ESPN’s level of analysis, which is to start where the teams ended last season and then adjust up or down based on how many clicks or views their hot take might get. Might as well search X for videos of the dog bouncing basketballs into labeled wastebaskets for your predictions if you ask me.
My prediction is that they will be better this season, but will still be fighting for the 5-8 seeds most of the season considering how competitive the West always seems to be. (Note: my opinion should not be used for betting purposes as it probably has the same value described in the above movie quote).
Rod: I’ve really gotten to the point where the only reason I go to ESPN’s site is for box scores and/or game schedules. Their opinions/predictions don’t mean much to me but, in this case, I’d say that they have the Suns at the lower end of my own personal projection range. After granting that OKC and San Antonio will be the top two teams in the West in 2026-27, I’d say that the Suns could wind up finishing the season anywhere between 2nd and 8th in the West.
I admit that 3rd-5th is a bit of a stretch, but a lot of the other teams I believe could fall into that range have question marks about them that might turn out badly and/or they could find themselves bitten by the injury bug that seemed to chew away at the Suns more last season. And if that bug stays mostly away from the Suns this year…well, that’s just another plus for Phoenix.
Right now, I’m cautiously predicting the Suns to end up 5th or 6th in the West.
Q2: Last season, for the 1st time since 2017-18, the Suns only had 2 starters averaging more than 30 minutes per game. This team finished with 24 more wins since that one. With their current depth, do you think limiting the starters’ minutes this season will be important?
zenzino: Yes. But not for the sake of limiting minutes.
In 21-23, more than 2 starters averaged over 30 minutes, and that worked out pretty well. That being said, starters playing fewer minutes means more gas in the tank come playoffs (see Knicks 24-25 vs 25-26).
Since ‘the trade’, more starters had to average more minutes because they were the only ones who could be relied on. That’s what happens when you fill your roster with NBA minimum players.
I don’t think Ott should ‘limit minutes’ as much as use the depth on the roster. The result will be the same, but it’s a different mindset. Mindset matters. If more starters average over 30 minutes, that means something has gone wrong with the roster or with the coaching. And I’m not worried about Ott at all. He’s a student of the game, and I expect him to have progressed as a HC as well.
This Suns team is deep. It would be a waste if they didn’t use that depth. I expect the starters to get more runtime for the first part the season to see what the fit is like with Bridges and Green with the rest of the starters. Then we’ll see more of the depth being used in the middle of the season. Then the rotation will tighten up at the end and into the playoffs. Like an upside-down bell curve.
Ashton: Oh, you betcha! I was so tired of the injury minutes or articles related to a player’s performance based on nagging injuries that they were going to play through. Or the BS reports on players’ health. Oh, such and such will be back in two weeks and the like. It was like reading a political script; do not trust it. To me, limiting starter minutes is the way to keep them healthy, and if it limits their chance of being an All-Star and receiving their accolades for further contract reimbursement or their trade value, then it is the right thing to do. Most players want to play past their expiration date, and the Suns should embrace limiting the minutes.
Do Suns fans get the screw on buying tickets to see their favorite player sit? Yup, absolutely. And Silver clearly does not like it with his anti-tanking rules, but hey, pare down the game schedule, and we wouldn’t be talking about rest management or if a player qualifies for an NBA award. This is a mess from the NBA commissioner, the CBA, ownership, and big money from the Networks. The reality is that players need time to recover.
OldAz: I loved that Ott limited the starters’ minutes last season and seemed to make that a concerted effort right up until the last month or so of the season. Comparing those teams’ records is more correlation than causation, however, because the 17-18 roster was built to earn the #1 pick after enduring years of McDoofus’ mismanaging the draft. Last season’s team had far more NBA-level talent, and Ott instilled a culture of effort and intensity to match.
The limiting of starters’ minutes, I believe, was strategic in saving the starters in case a late-season or even postseason run was possible. Unfortunately, I don’t think Ott went far enough because he should have limited Williams even more, or more precisely, made sure that another big was on the floor more often with Williams to keep him from being overextended and taking on too much on the defensive end. Hopefully this year’s roster is better constructed to provide for both of those issues by splitting the center minutes amongst 3 and having a little more length alongside whatever center is on the floor.
Rod: There undoubtedly will be games where many of the starters will have to play excessive minutes, but I do believe that they won’t need to do that often. The fact is that the Suns don’t actually have enough top-end talent in their starting 5 to make it a necessity to play them for a great deal of minutes, so wearing them out, which having so many quality players on the bench would be counterproductive.
The Suns will have a number of players on their bench that could be starting for other teams, so they should utilize that depth to its fullest…and not just to keep the starting 5 rested. With the depth they have, keeping the starters’ minutes down doesn’t have to be something Ott needs to be overly concerned with. His most pressing problem will be giving enough minutes to deserving players outside of the starters.
Q3: If Jordan Ott runs a 10-man player rotation, who (other than the two-way contract players) do you think will start off on the bench, getting DNP-CDs, early in the season?
zenzino: Again, I’m tempted to reject the premise. This ties into the previous question of using the depth. I don’t see Ott running a 10-man rotation. Especially since MW is going to be on injury management and will probably only start 50ish games. Oso will start games MW is unavailable in the beginning, and maybe Man Man takes that over later in the season. They also may limit Mark’s minutes on a per-game basis, so both Oso and Man Man could share extended backup duties.
Starters: Book, Green, Brooks, Bridges, MW/Oso
1st off the bench: CG, Goodie, Sheer, Oso/Man Man, Kennard
That leaves Dunn, Peat, Highsmith, and Bouyea fighting for minutes. Peat is the only one I see that will get consistent DNPs. The rest of the guys will get popped in depending on situation. It might only be 3-5 minutes. Need quicker defense? Dunn gets a few minutes. Need reliable 3-and-D? Highsmith. Need some energy and quick scoring? Bouyea’s got it. Of course, injuries will jumble all of that up.
Yeah… I definitely don’t see a 10-man rotation happening.
Ashton: I still can’t help but laugh at the phrasing of this question. Rod hired a lawyer to write it.
Okay, we (Fantable) can’t answer the two-ways as starting off the bench. And we have no idea what the DNP-CDs will be, which means you read Question 2 and followed the flow of where this ends up.
The DNP-CD’ers are the main question as well as the “I ” word, injuries. I see that mainly in the center position, but with the guards highly circumspect to get the backup start.
I think this question is answered easily by Oso Ighadoro getting the start in favor of Mark Williams (rest management or injured) for the DNP-CD category.
OldAz: What a great question, except I think it might be based on a flawed premise. Through much of the year last season Ott was perfectly comfortable playing 12 or 13 or even 14 players in many games through much of the season. It was only very late in the season when he pulled it way back to an eight-man rotation and the massive shift in playing time philosophy became an obvious topic of discussion. However, for the sake of the column, let’s play out this hypothetical.
You have six “locks,” assuming everyone is healthy in Booker, Green, Brooks, Bridges, Williams, and Gillespie. This is already far more balanced than the top six players on last year’s roster, but it only leaves 4 spots to play with in this 10-man rotation. One of those four, and only one in my opinion if we are limiting it to a 10-man rotation, will be a center. That competition between Oso, whom Ott obviously loves and trusts, and Maluach, who could be better in every single way (except passing) by the end of training camp, will be fascinating. Personally, I would give the edge to Maluach, but this hypothetical still has Jordan Ott making the decision, so this one is a toss-up. Either way, there’s no room in a 10-minute rotation for three centers.
The next two spots go to Fleming and Goodwin based on Ott’s focus on defensive intensity, which leaves Highsmith and Kennard fighting it out for the final spot. Both are similar height and length, but Kennard brings shooting and no defense, while Highsmith is far more balanced. Personally, I would go with Highsmith. I just hope Ott doesn’t go with both Kennard and Highsmith in this scenario along with Oso, and bury the 2 sophomore players on the bench.
Ultimately, I think it is far more likely that Ott starts the season off playing a lot of players and limiting his starters’ minutes as discussed in question #2.
Rod: I really can’t see how Ott could get this roster down to a 10-man rotation. There are just too many players that could be useful off the bench (especially in certain circumstances) to do so and if he decides to actually keep the starters’ minutes low like last season, I believe he’ll have to go more than 10-deep to do it. Maybe a better question would be “which players are likely to be 11th through 15th on the Suns’ depth chart’ at the beginning of the season. That is a little bit easier to answer…but just a little bit.
Out of all the non-two-way contract players, the only two I can really consider as out of a 10-man rotation are Bouyea and Peat…and Peat is there simply because he’s a rookie. Then there’s Dunn and Highsmith. One of them would be out of that rotation, but it’s way too early to say for sure which one. I’d need to see them both play in preseason before making that decision. And Goodie complicates that decision as I don’t know what position he’s going to get his minutes at. If he’s getting most of them at SF, then both of them could be out of a 10-man rotation. If he’s getting most of his minutes at SG, where does Kennard get his minutes? As for the center rotation, Williams is the best bet to be starting, but without getting a look at Oso and Khaman in preseason game…you might as well just flip a coin.
I simply can’t see Ott even trying to play in just a 10-man rotation. I honestly think that the only situation in which a 10-man rotation would make sense would be if the Suns go into a game already down several players due to injuries.
As always, many thanks to our Fantable members for all their extra effort this week!
Suns History/Trivia
On September 3, 1968, the Phoenix Suns opened their first-ever training camp, running mainly conditioning drills at Brophy Prep with camp at the high school lasting for one week. Phoenix also lost another coin flip with the Milwaukee Bucks on this day for the right to first to make a player claim off waivers.
On September 3, 1994, the Suns signed Danny Manning as an unrestricted free agent. A 2-time All-Star, Manning signed a 1-yr, $1 million contract with Phoenix (all their cap situation would allow afford at the time) after making $ 3.5 million the previous year and turning down a 5-year, $35 million contract from Atlanta.
The year before, Manning had made the rare choice of accepting his qualifying offer rather than signing an extension with his previous team (the LA Clippers) and becoming an unrestricted free agent for the 1994/95 season. When questioned about Manning’s decision to sign with the Suns for much less money, his agent replied, “It is not about money. It never has been and never will be with Danny. It is about winning.”
Unfortunately, Manning would tear his ACL during a practice on Feb. 6 and miss the remainder of the season after averaging 17.9 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in 32.8 minutes per night. Up to that point, the Suns were 36-10 and on top of the Western Conference. They were 29-13 for the rest of the season (59-23 overall) and lost 4-3 in the WC semi-finals to the Houston Rockets.
On September 3, 2013, after arranging a buyout, the Suns waived Michael Beasley only one year after signing him to a 3-year, $18 mil contract. This is probably the most underrated (or perhaps just forgotten) move that former GM Ryan McDonough made during his time with the Suns. Beasley was originally signed to his contract by McDonough’s predecessor, Lance Blanks.
Important Future Dates
Sept. 28 – Media Day
Sept. 29 – Training Camp opens
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
Oct. 14 – Suns @ Spurs (preseason) 5:00 PM
Oct. 16 – Suns vs. Jazz (preseason) 7:00 PM
Oct. 20 – 2026-27 NBA Season 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
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