The Suns don’t need another offense that settles. They need one that can actually bend a defense, get into the paint, and make teams react. That’s the lane Phoenix is trying to get back into after last season’s stretch run turned into a steady diet of threes.
From February 1 on, the Suns went 15-18. In that span, 46.9% of their shots came from beyond the arc, which ranked sixth in the league.
They also finished third in the NBA in the share of their total points that came from three-point range at 41.5%. That approach didn’t carry them where they wanted to go, and it’s exactly why the roster now looks built to do more than just launch from deep.
Josh Bartelstein made the point clearly this week on Burns and Gambo, saying, “The league right now has evolved so much. Where the league was three or four years ago, where shooting was in high demand…of course you wanna have shooters…if you watch what’s happening now, it’s guys who can get downhill.
Get two feet in the paint. It’s guys who can guard multiple positions.
It’s athletic specimens who can meet you at the rim and block your shot. You got to be able to attack and play off closeouts and spray the ball around.”
That’s the backdrop for the Miles Bridges discussion, but it also opens the door to the bigger question hanging over Phoenix: who finishes second in scoring behind Devin Booker? If Booker isn’t still the clear top option, the Suns would have bigger issues than lineup balance.
Around the fan base, Jalen Green is the favorite to grab that spot. In the most recent Suns Reacts survey, 61% of voters picked Green to end up second on the team in scoring. Bridges finished second in the voting at 22%.
Green makes sense as the pick. The combination of talent and burst gives him a real path to heavy usage, and if he settles into the role cleanly, Phoenix’s offense gets a lot more dangerous.
The hard part is the execution. That’s the part that will define the season for him.
Bridges could be a major piece of that too. Booker’s gravity should help him, and Green’s athleticism can open even more space around him.
Bridges has shown he can pass better when he’s driving to the basket, while Green still has room to grow in that area. Green’s attacking style can narrow his focus once he sees the rim, and that’s where the next step comes in: reading the collapse, trusting the pass, and letting the defense pay for overcommitting.
That same dynamic could help Green score more, not less. If Bridges is making the right read on the way to the rim and Green is cutting from the weak side, Green can finish those plays with authority. That kind of movement gives Phoenix a different kind of weapon.
And that’s really the point. The Suns should be more fun to watch next season because they won’t need to lean so heavily on the three-point line to get by.
Booker can draw attention, Bridges can force help, and Green can turn those openings into something loud at the rim. The goal isn’t to stop shooting threes.
It’s to make them better threes by building everything that happens before the ball ever gets there.
In Other News...
Dillon Brooks Just Gave Suns Fans Another Reason To Believe
Dillon Brooks has quickly become one of the more interesting pieces in Phoenixs mix, and now he is sticking around for the long haul. After helping the Suns push toward the 2025-26 postseason alongside Devin Booker and Jalen Green, Brooks agreed to a new deal that gives the franchise some stability around a player whose edge and two-way presence have fit neatly into the rotation.
Jordan Ott has already pointed to Brooks leadership and work ethic as reasons the Suns value him so highly, and the extension only deepens that trust. Brooks has made it clear where his priorities sit as Phoenix tries to keep climbing, and the real intrigue now is how far that mindset can carry a group trying to turn recent progress into something bigger. [Read more 🡒]
NBA 2K Just Gave Suns Fans A New Devin Booker Debate
With NBA 2K27 set to arrive on Sept. 4, and early access for deluxe editions beginning Aug. 28, the annual ratings cycle is already stirring up the usual arguments. Visual Concepts has started rolling out player lists, and one of the most talked-about early reveals is the top 10 midrange shooters, a category that always feels tailor-made for a Suns conversation.
Devin Bookers omission from that group is the kind of snub that jumps off the page in Phoenix, especially after he put up strong midrange volume and efficiency last season. Seeing Tre Johnson make the list instead only sharpens the debate, because it leaves Suns fans wondering how one of the leagues cleanest midrange scorers can be left out of a category that he has helped define. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Built A New Opportunity But Fans Know The Real Risk
The Suns spent the summer trying to give themselves more room to maneuver, extending several players and adding Miles Bridges while keeping an eye on a bigger swing down the road. The idea is straightforward enough: build a roster with enough continuity and flexibility to stay competitive now, while preserving the kind of future leverage that could make a star trade possible if the right opportunity emerges.
For Phoenix, though, the hard part is remembering how quickly those big swings can reshape a teams identity. Fans have seen what happens when the pursuit of a headline name starts driving the plan instead of complementing it, and the franchise is trying to avoid repeating the missteps of the Kevin Durant era. The balance between staying patient and chasing another Finals run will define the next stretch, and it is still unclear where the Suns will draw that line. [Read more 🡒]