Hey, look at that, basketball!
Phoenix Suns media day is Wednesday, marking the unofficial start date to the season. Training camp starts the next day before a preseason game in California, followed by a trip to China for two exhibitions, which is why they are a bit ahead of schedule compared to the rest of the league. The Suns will then come back to the states for their lone preseason home game in Phoenix on Oct. 14, then it’s eight days until the real deal on Oct. 22 at PHX Arena against the Sacramento Kings.
What are the top storylines heading into a new season? What a convenient question for you to ask! Thank you for that!
How will the Devin Booker-Jalen Green backcourt work?
There is a gargantuan gap between this question and any other facing the Suns, both this year and across the next few.
For the short term, getting the best out of Booker is the No. 1 priority. Phoenix’s roster might have the largest gap in the NBA between its best and second-best players, making it imperative for Booker to be utilized properly.
Pairing him with a shoot-first two-guard in the backcourt whose primary problems consist of decision-making and shot selection is not proper utilization.
That could be selling Green short. He is 23 years old, has never played with a guard like Booker and could have more consistency as a playmaker and overall scorer. He is going to have a dozen-game stretch where he looks like a future All-Star. Those do not matter anymore in Year 5, and he does not have to fulfill that potential to be considered a success in the Valley, either. Green becoming a dependable two-way “winning player” that definitively makes his team better every game would go a long way.
Booker also has to do his part in helping him grow. Mister interchangeable and malleable goes M.I.A. lately as soon as he takes off a Team USA jersey.
Unlocking that skill set permanently will make everyone better. That’s what a superstar does.
What does a Jordan Ott team look like?
We know the story with Ott’s hiring, and no, it does not have to do with Michigan State. Ott impressed throughout the interview process, particularly during sessions when a few finalists chatted with Booker on a more Xs and Os level.
Ott’s philosophies picked up along the way are predicated on pace, a take that Ott himself will tell you is antiquated since every team thinks that way now. He emphasizes that pace is more about player movement. It’s less about running up and down the floor and more about maintaining life inside a half-court possession. That is a lot of what made the Cleveland Cavaliers an elite basketball team last year.
Defensively, it’s more about identity and key characteristics, but there will be a specific style that is targeted.
Step one for Ott is having that style be recognizable in the first place, a step that far more accomplished head coaches like Frank Vogel and Mike Budenholzer both failed to implement. Ott will have to acquire that buy-in and retain it, likely through a lot of losing.
Alignment?
A large part of what made the Suns’ run to the 2021 NBA Finals possible was a strong connection between former general manager James Jones and former head coach Monty Williams. Those two were lockstep with what they wanted the team to look like.
Phoenix is certainly going for that type of link again between owner Mat Ishbia, general manager Brian Gregory and Ott. Ishbia and Gregory were direct about the attributes they want reflected in the playstyle. It is the cliche intangibles like hustle and grit that are also important to winning.
The Suns believe their roster checks those boxes, and it will come across in not only a much more pleasing product to watch but, presumably, lead to more victories as well. Again, that is no small feat when lottery teams actually accomplish that.
How much will we see the youngins?
These are questions that Ott won’t really be able to answer too much until the preseason wraps up, but don’t let that fool you. Summer workouts have been ongoing at the practice facility, with lots of individuals offering a peek at where they stack up before the official proceedings get underway in training camp this week.
Ott and his staff will already have a pretty good idea of where rookies Khaman Maluach, Rasheer Fleming and Koby Brea land on the “ready to play” spectrum. Ditto for how big a role they forecast for second-year draft picks Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro.
Ott’s specialty is player development, as is Gregory’s. The success or failure of that duo will largely be attached to those five guys. Phoenix does not have a first-round pick next year. It is fair to toss the pair of 23-year-olds in Green and Mark Williams as well.
This front office also wants to win games. It by all accounts is not in the mood to forego winning for the sake of other motivations, especially knowing the likelihood of potential embarrassment on lottery night any of the next handful of years.
How is that balanced over the whole season? Playing Nick Richards, Nigel Hayes-Davis and Grayson Allen instead of Maluach, Fleming and Brea will give the Suns a better chance to compete on a night-to-night basis. But is that what should be prioritized instead of the long-term picture?
Size?!
As a fellow 6-foot-5 human, the number of players I will have level eye contact with this season could be discouraging if you were in charge of roster building. That is an issue, and this team is still too small — like it was each of the last two years.
With that said, Phoenix has more options.
Williams, Richards, Maluach and Ighodaro provide tons of depth at center. Williams has the potential to be a top-10 center, and Richards has a chance to reestablish himself in his first full year with Phoenix after getting tossed into the clown car midseason. Maluach is the prized possession of the youth movement going forward, while Ighodaro showed a clear intent at summer league to put the ball on the deck, the path to him playing some 4 in double-big lineups.
At the 4, Fleming is as close to a prototype as you can get with size and length.
Hayes-Davis has maximized the capabilities of his body overseas, going from a more rigid and fundamentals-based mid-post player collegiately to a true stretch forward. The only guy that offered that skill set the last two seasons was Kevin Durant, and that was always asking a lot out of him.
