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 – With the players currently on the Suns’ roster, who are your early favorites to be the starting five (by position) on opening night?
Ashton: Well, Booker. This is the no-brainer. We can leave that one alone while he collects his bag.
One shooting guard down, one to go.
Booker will start as PG Book. I have mentioned this before, but quite frankly, the Sun’s do not have anyone on the squad, outside of Collin Gillespie, that can play as a true point guard. But I was impressed enough with the handles in Summer League (after one game) to trust another shooting guard to take the mantle of bringing the ball up the court in another Collins, Yuri Collins.
I will not list backups, but it goes like this.
PG – Book
SG – Beal. I am kidding here, I think. But if he is still with the Suns, then you start him. Otherwise let’s give Jalen Green a run, if Koby does not run him out of the position after his SL debut.
SF or Wing. This has to go to Dillon Brooks. We saw literally no defense in the last season with the Suns. Do you want to support Ryan Dunn? I am all ears.
PF – Oh this one is tough. But I think you will give it to Oso. Again, extreme bias here on SL play, and I have yet to see SL play on Sunday for Oso, but Fleming’s knee soreness is concerning. That just does not go away, otherwise Rashaad Fleming would have been my pick.
Center: The fans have a lot to choose from this position for a change. Mark Williams. Again, I will not list back-ups as it sure seems Nick Richards name is being floated about on the trade market. Worst case scenario? Khaman Mulach sees some well-needed NBA playing time in a game that counts
- Book
- Green
- Brooks
- Ighodaro
- Williams
OldAz: Book and Green are the obvious backcourt based on all indications. Williams is also a lock as the starting Center and I believe Brooks will be one of the Wings. The last spot is the most interesting because all of Allen, O’Neale, and Dunn have to be in the conversation. My personal choice would be Dunn to round out the defense, but I could also see it being Allen to maximize the shooting at the start of games.
Rod: I think Book at PG, Green at SG, Brooks at SF and Williams at C are probably all locks at those positions at the moment. As for PF, I’m going with Hayes-Davis for the time being as he’s the most experienced and polished option that the Suns currently have at that position.
I’m hoping that Fleming gets a lot of minutes at the 4 this season and if he turns out to be productive, I could see him finishing the season as the starter there. I’m also hoping to see Brooks and Dunn splitting the SF minutes almost equally,y as I think that would keep both of them fresh and playing D with energy every second either of them are on the court. The same goes for Williams and Maluach, although I believe Maluach should work up to the 50/50 split in playing time with Williams as the season goes on, with Mark getting the bulk of the playing time in the first few months.
I also want Ott to work out a 3-guard rotation where Book, Green and Gillespie basically sub in and out for each other in close games. That rotation would give some minutes per game playing his natural SG position, and I think Collin could play his best paired with either Book or Green.
Q2 – Just out of personal curiosity, what lineup would you like to see on the court at least once in 2025-26?
Ashton: All the guard positions and a center. Is it small ball? Yup. But who does the opposing team target on who brings the ball up the court past the halfcourt line? Change it up and make the opposing team’s coaches just scratch their heads in disarray on which guard to guard? And give Book a break for once.
Let’s set it up.
PG – Collin Gillespie
PG/SG – Stay with me here. The other Collin. Yuri Collins.
SG – Koby Brea. We just have to see what he can do.
Backcourt is set. Now what to do with movement and all those centers that could potentially run PnR while the guards are shooting lights out beyond the arc?
PF: Fleming. This is predicated on his knee soreness really is not that bad. But I never trust honest reporting in this situation. It will be glossed over until it is revealed that the injury was, in fact, serious, and a second opinion is needed. If it is indeed serious, put in Dunn.
Center: Have to go with the Rook in Khaman Maluach. I would say a lot of room to grow, but I think 7’ 2” is enough.
- PG – Gillespie
- PG/SG – Collins
- SG – Brea
- PF – Fleming
- Center – Maluach
Granted, this may be what I would want to see in an alternate Summer League universe, but if the Suns achieve a blow-out game, run those five out.
OldAz: I would love to see a true “futures” lineup with all the youngest players in at the same time. This would be a 23 and under lineup with Green, Brea and Dunn (all 23) with Fleming (21) at PF and Maluach (19) at center. Sorry to all those Oso fans because he just doesn’t have a position in this group either, despite also being only 23. It is the youth that has brought me back to a level of excitement about the Suns so Green’s relative youth and inclusion in this group is exciting to me. It is also amazing to me the Williams is also only 24 years old so there is a deep youth movement of long athletic players now on this team.
Rod: PG – Collin Gillespie, SG – Kobe Brea, SF – Ryan Dunn, PF Rasheer Fleming, C – Khaman Maluach.
I just want to see a lot of the young, hungry guys all out there at once. I think it would be both fun and interesting to watch them get some meaningful court time together. I don’t expect big things from them this early in their careers but they just seem like they could be a good fit together and bring a lot of youthful energy, enthusiasm and fun to a Suns roster that has been lacking in those things for a while.
Q3 – What are your thoughts on the Suns signing PF Isaiah Livers to a two-way contract?
Ashton: Livers is out of Michigan and has had hip surgery in the past (2023). In fact, Wiki:
On October 18, 2024, Livers underwent a hip resurfacing procedure that was seen as likely to take a full year to recover from
I remain skeptical.
Does Livers fit a position of need for the Suns at Power Forward? Yes.
Does this scare me off with other potential possibilities at PF?
Yes.
OldAz: Personally, I don’t get it. I know the 2 way players can be released a little easier, but I just don’t understand what the urgency was to fill that 3rd spot so quickly and especially before the Summer league. Maybe they have information that he really is healthy and signing him now was the best way to give them the inside track on a larger opportunity down the road.
Rod: I like the signing. Although Livers is coming off a medical problem that kept him from playing all of last season, he’s an experienced player that could provide some solid deep bench depth at PF or SF if needed. A little on the short side for a PF at 6’7” but has some bulk to him at 230lbs. Nice pickup for a safety net player.
As always, many thanks to our Fantable members for all their extra effort this week!
Suns Trivia/History
On July 14, 2004, the Suns signed unrestricted free agency point guard Steve Nash to a six-year, $66 million deal to bring their former 1996 1st round draft pick home after trading him to Dallas in 1998 for Pat Garrity, Martin Muursepp, Bubba Wells and a 1999 1st round draft pick.
On July 14, 2009, the Suns signed Channing Frye as a free agent. Frye would play 4 seasons with the Suns, averaging 14.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game while shooting 38.8% from three on 6.3 attempts. In the summer of 2012, Frye was diagnosed with an enlarged hear,t which necessitated him sitting out the entire 2012-13 season while undergoing medical treatment for his condition. Frye’s treatment was successful and the following season he returned to the Suns active roster playing in all 82 regular season games for the only time in his 13 year NBA career as he helped the rebuilding Suns finish with a surprising 48-34 record, just falling short of making the playoffs in an extremely strong Western Conference.
On July 18, 1999, Joe Proski, the Phoenix Suns’ only trainer in it’s history to that point, retired, following 32 years with the franchise, 40 years in professional sports, and 41 years as a trainer. His career spanned 2,789 games, including playoffs.
On July 19, 2001, the Phoenix Suns re-signed Dan Majerle to a one-year, $1 million contract. Seven years earlier, Majerle was traded to Cleveland for John “Hot Rod” Williams, a move the Colangelo’s later regretted. Majerle would play one final season in the NBA and retire as a Sun.
On July 20, 2007, on the same day that Tim Donaghy was officially investigated by the FBI, the Phoenix Suns traded Kurt Thomas plus two first-round picks in 2008 (Serge Ibaka) and 2010 (Quincy Pondexter) to the Seattle SuperSonics. The Suns gained… luxury tax relief.
Quotes of the Week
Ahh, man. He’s a mastermind. He thinks outside the box, so I think you guys are gonna see a lot of that….He changes with the game. The NBA changes all the time, and he tries to change before it changes.” – Assistant coach DeMarre Carroll on Suns Head Coach Jordan Ott
“Khaman, man, he’s special at 18. Super special.” – Ryan Dunn
Ryan Dunn spoke GLOWINGLY about the rookie’s, especially regarding early assessments of Khaman Maluach pic.twitter.com/D32dEfMbLI
— PHNX Suns (@PHNX_Suns) July 9, 2025
Last Week’s Poll Results
Last week’s question was, “Do you believe that a Booker/Green backcourt will work better than the Booker/Beal backcourt did?”
80% – Yes.
20% – No.
A total of 362 votes were cast.
Important Future Dates
July 14 – Summer League game, Suns vs Kings @ 7:00 pm (ESPNU/ESPN+)
July 16 – Summer League game, Suns vs Timberwolves @ 2:00 pm (NBA TV/ESPN+)
October 3 – Preseason game vs LA Lakers (in Palm Springs)
October 21 – Regular Season Opening Night
Feb. 13-15 – 2026 NBA All-Star weekend in Los Angeles, CA
This week’s poll is…
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