Miles Bridges isn’t wasting any time buying into what he sees behind him on the Suns’ depth chart. The new Phoenix forward has called the team’s reserve group “the best bench in the league,” and after a closer look at the pieces around him, that confidence doesn’t sound completely out of place.
Phoenix’s second unit should look familiar to anyone who watched last season’s surprise 45-win run. The Suns are still built around starters Devin Booker and trade acquisition Dillon Brooks, but the supporting cast has enough familiar names and useful skills to keep the floor steady when the front line sits.
Collin Gillespie looks positioned for another big role, and if Jalen Green stays healthy and remains in the starting five, Gillespie could push his way into the Sixth Man of the Year conversation. Luke Kennard brings the kind of shooting that helps replace what Grayson Allen provided from deep. And Jordan Goodwin, the Dan Majerle Hustle Award winner, has already been doing what he does best in preseason: grabbing offensive boards and forcing turnovers with relentless pressure.
The biggest uncertainty sits up front. Mark Williams is set to open the season sidelined with a torn labrum, which puts even more attention on the Suns’ center depth.
Still, Phoenix can turn to former lottery pick Khaman Maluach or Oso Ighodaro off the bench at the five. At the four, there are options in Rasheer Fleming, rookie Koa Peat, and the athletic Ryan Dunn.
Bridges’ praise is aimed at a bench with real talent, but last season’s numbers show why the claim needs some context. During the Suns’ unexpected 2025-26 bounce-back, the second unit ranked 23rd in the league in bench points per game at 34.7.
Free-throw shooting was another weak spot, with Phoenix’s reserves hitting just 69 percent, dragged down in part by Ighodaro’s work at the line. Only the NBA champion New York Knicks were worse there at 68.9 percent.
But the Suns’ bench was never only about scoring. That group finished second in the NBA with 19 rebounds per game, trailing only the San Antonio Spurs.
Phoenix’s reserves also ranked among the league’s best at creating disruption, finishing behind only Golden State and Detroit in steals per game and placing No. 4 in blocks per game. Maluach deserves credit there, too, even with limited minutes.
And that’s really the point for Phoenix. With Booker, Brooks, Bridges, and Jalen Green all in the starting lineup, the second unit doesn’t have to carry the offense. If that group can defend, rebound, and poke enough balls loose to keep pressure on opponents, it can do exactly what a strong bench is supposed to do: protect leads, steady the game, and help the Suns climb back into it when the stars sit.
In Other News...
Suns Entering The Season With Doubts They Cant Ignore
The early buzz around Phoenix this preseason has been hard to ignore, and not in the way the Suns would prefer. The Ringers latest NBA power rankings slot them outside the leagues top tier and project a finish near the middle of the Western Conference, a step back from where they stood a year ago. Even with the addition of Miles Bridges, the broader read on the roster is that there are still more questions than answers.
Mark Williams situation only adds to the uncertainty. Phoenix was counting on the starting center to stabilize the middle, but surgery has put that plan on hold and left the team scrambling to cover a major hole before the season fully gets going. For a club trying to prove last year was more than a one-year spike, the doubts are already coming from everywhere. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Bench Battle Is Just Beginning With Opening Night Rotation Set
The Suns have settled on their opening-night 10-man rotation after preseason roster cuts, clearing the board for the start of the regular season and giving the coaching staff a first real look at how the group will fit together. The roster now has a more defined shape, with the starters and main bench pieces set for the early going as Phoenix moves from evaluation mode into games that count.
Even so, the back end of the rotation is hardly locked in for long. Players such as Ryan Dunn and Rasheer Fleming remain in the mix, but the Suns still have some flexibility if performance changes or injuries force a shuffle, and there are a few more names waiting just outside the first group. For a team trying to balance development and results, the real competition may be less about making the roster and more about holding onto a nightly role once the season starts. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Open With One Big Question About Their New Look Around Booker
The first look at Phoenixs reshaped roster comes in Portland, where the Suns and Trail Blazers meet for the first time since their Play-In Tournament clash in April. This is the kind of early-season test that can tell you a lot about what a team thinks it fixed over the summer, and the Suns spent the offseason trying to add more size and sturdiness around Devin Booker.
Phoenixs changes were built around that idea, from swapping out Grayson Allen and Royce ONeale to bringing in Miles Bridges and moving up in the draft for Koa Peat. Even so, the most immediate question is less about the shiny new pieces than the middle of the floor, where the Suns are still sorting out who is going to handle the starting center role while Mark Williams is sidelined. [Read more 🡒]