Your weekly Inside the Suns analysis straight from the BSotS community who live and breathe the team.
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 – Mark Williams’ injury history rightfully concerns many fans. If he misses time this season, who would you prefer the Suns to start in his place at center?
Ashton: If Mark Williams misses a bunch of time due to injury, then that would mean the Lakers organization made the right decision in not trading for him due to a failed physical. In which case, I would start myself at center (I am 5’10”-ish), just to end my own suffering knowing that the Lakers won again.
Everything I am reading about Mark Williams involves ankle sprains and thumb injuries/surgeries, along with a rather disturbing “lower back issue” that has sidelined him for some time. This is the life of the Big Man, who does everything well but probably overexerts himself in pursuit of his craft.
To the question. I think you must roll with a small-ball line-up at the C for decent parts of the game. Nick Richards? Oso? They have most of the veteran experience, and I say that with tongue-and-cheek. But hey, at least it is not Mason Plumlee. This could allow a little more “rest management” for the starting C in Mark Williams.
Ultimately, the easy answer is to put Khaman Maluach in for some serious minutes as the rookie. Is it out of the frying pan, into the fire, then batter him up for a double fry in oil when going back into the frying pan?
Yes, and let’s see if he breaks or just how tasty he is to the Suns fans discerning talent eyes. If you see potential, then more minutes for KM with some starter opportunities.
OldAz: As it stands now, the options are really just Richards and Oso because Maluach is not ready for that, and it would probably set back his development to some extent. With that said, this really dovetails into my answer to #2 because I care more about which center can benefit them more defensively. Since we have not seen how all the parts fit together, my answer is a firm “I have no idea”.
While Oso is undersized, he has shown a much greater ability to switch on the defensive end, while Richards is clearly better equipped to hold his own against an opponent with a more traditional center. Oso also becomes an asset on the offensive end as a facilitator. I think I just talked myself into a center by committee if Mark Williams misses time early in the season.
Rod: If Nick Richards is still on the roster, I’d go with him, but I have my doubts that he’ll still be with Phoenix on opening night. If he’s traded before then, I’d go with Ighodaro because I believe that Maluach just isn’t ready to start in the NBA yet. He has the tools, but is still too young and too raw for it early on. I’d love to see enough progress from him during the season that he could get that nod perhaps later on this year, but I’m not hopeful of that happening quickly. Oso has his shortcomings, but has experience and the BB IQ to get the job done for the most part.
Q2 – Jordan Ott has said he wants the Suns to play at a faster pace this year. Do you like this idea?
Ashton: This is such lip service to the Seven Seconds or Less Sun fans that this question on its own could inspire questions for decades to come. Not naming any specific players here (Nash, Matrix, Stoudemire) that drove this engine and made it so fun for Sun fans to watch.
NY Times:
“Analytics didn’t drive the 2004-05 Phoenix Suns to change the NBA into its current look: four-out, one-in offenses, raining 3-pointers, broken up with the occasional 1-5 pick-and-roll lob”
Now, can this current iteration of Sun’s players do that? As Rod Argent likes to state at times. No.
This team is just not built for it. Book learned from CP3 on how to bring the ball up the court from CP3 while studying the defense. And would get trapped at the half-court line because teams knew he hated that in pick-up games. And 7SOL was a quick-moving passing game.
Turnovers were the bane of the Sun’s season last time. Where I would like to see a quicker-moving game, I just do not see the personnel to do it.
OldAz: Normally, when teams say this, they simply try to push the ball more and take the first open shot. This rarely works unless you have a great PG running the offense. That’s not the case here (Captain Obvious reporting).
However, the other way to play fast is to focus on the defense by playing aggressively, with active hands and clogging the passing lanes. Doing this and being aggressive with live-ball turnovers to increase fast break opportunities also looks a lot like “playing faster,” and I hope it aligns (there’s that word again) with the team’s new identity.
Rod: I’ve been wanting to see them pick up the pace for some time now, and I think it will be good for the entire team. The Suns are going to have a lot of youthful legs on the court this season, and I think the faster the pace they play at, the more successful they can be. Let’s try to run the other teams to the brink of exhaustion going into the 4th quarter for a change. There’s a line from an old movie that went something like, “In confusion, there is profit.” Well, if the Suns get out and run early and often, opponents won’t always have time to get back and set up their defense before the Suns are already attacking the basket. In those moments of confusion, the Suns will at least have the opportunity to profit.
And while we know that Book isn’t the greatest passer in a slow half-court game but I’ve seen him throw some beautiful outlet passes on the fast break that led to Suns points in the past (many of which went to a streaking Mikal Bridges) and I doubt he’s lost that ability. All he needs is an offense structured to play at a faster pace to take advantage of that.
No matter how it all pans out, I’ll be happy to just see the team not walk the ball slowly downcourt on the inbounds anymore.
Q3 – Booker and Green are expected to be the Suns’ top 2 scorers this season. Who’s your bet on being their 3rd best bucket getter?
Ashton: Back to Q1. If Mark Williams remains healthy, then he could easily be the third-best bucket getter. Heck, he might be the second-best bucket getter as I am still not sure what Jalen Green brings to the table in this system.
It sounds so simple, but if the threes are not falling, atrocious turnovers are not being committed due to defensive pressure, then MW is your guy on the PnR.
I realize this is more of a vanilla response, but we really do not know what Ott’s offensive philosophy will be for next season. Until we see it.
OldAz: Callback to question #1 here, as I think the injury concerns with Williams are overblown. Booker is at his best when playing the 2-man game with an effective big and I think Williams is set up to be an integral part of what they do offensively this season. Williams should be primed for an improvement over last season, where he averaged just over 15 points on about 10 shots a game.
At the height of the Suns’ recent success, DA averaged 17 and 18 on 12-13 shots a game. DA was the Suns’ 3rd leading scorer in 20-21 and actually ahead of Paul for 2nd in 21-22. Williams has the capacity to match or even improve upon those results. While Dunn (and Brooks) should see plenty of minutes, he (they) will be one of a few spot-up options on those PnR actions that will share opportunities. As long as I am right about him being healthy, it should easily be Williams.
Rod: I’m going with Mark Williams at the moment. There are a few other guys that I believe have a fairly equal chance of becoming that #3 scorer, but I think Ott is not going to design an offense that will ignore or minimize the center position on offense. Whether it’s Williams, Richards, Maluach or Ighodaro in the game, you’ll have someone out there at the 5 with the potential to put up points if they are fed the ball down low.
As always, many thanks to our Fantable members for all their extra effort this week!
Suns Trivia/History
On August 5, 1999, the Suns traded Pat Garrity, Danny Manning, a 2001 1st round draft pick, and a 2002 1st round draft pick to the Orlando Magic for Anfernee Hardaway. Two years later, as part of a three-team trade, the Magic would trade that same 2002 first-round pick back to the Suns along with Bo Outlaw in exchange for Jud Buechler in order to shed salary and create cap space. The 2002 1st round pick that was traded away and then later reacquired by the Suns was ultimately used by the Suns to draft Amar’e Stoudemire. If not for the Suns’ second trade with Orlando, Amar’e Stoudemire would have likely never been a Phoenix Sun.
On August 8, 2000, Kevin Johnson retired from the Phoenix Suns for the second and final time after being called back into service during the regular season after Jason Kidd broke his ankle. Although Johnson had not played in an NBA game since April of 1998, he stepped right back into the Suns’ starting lineup almost 2 years later to start in six of the Suns’ final 10 regular season games and came off the bench to play in all nine of the Suns’ playoff games before the team was eliminated in the 2nd round by the Lakers. After his 2nd retirement, KJ went to the NBA on NBC studios to call games during the 2000-01 regular season.
Last Week’s Poll Results
Last week’s question was “Where do you expect the Suns’ defense to rank this season?”
18% – Top 10.
73% – 11th to 20th.
09% – Bottom 10.
A total of 278 votes were cast.
Important Future Dates
September 13 – Valley Suns Open Tryouts @ ASU Sun Devil Fitness Complex in Tempe (9 am-12:30 pm)
October 3 – Preseason game vs LA Lakers @ Palm Desert, CA
October 10 – Preseason game vs Brooklyn Nets (China)
October 12 – Preseason game vs Brooklyn Nets (China)
October 14 – Preseason game vs LA Lakers @ Phoenix, AZ
October 21 – Regular Season Begins
Feb. 13-15 – 2026 NBA All-Star weekend in Los Angeles, CA
This week’s poll is…