The Suns’ preseason slate is here, and for most of the roster it’s a chance to get rolling. For Ryan Dunn, it looks more like a referendum.
Phoenix has a handful of young players who turned heads in Summer League - Khaman Maluach, Rasheer Fleming and Koa Peat among them - and they’ll be trying to carry that momentum into October. But no one has more at stake in these games than Dunn, whose place on the roster feels increasingly fragile.
The former first-round pick is entering a critical stretch after struggling to carve out a clear role. That problem only looks bigger now that Oso Ighodaro, a second-round pick in the same draft as Dunn, has started to settle into exactly the kind of useful role the Suns want. Ighodaro closed last season by giving Phoenix real minutes as an impact forward off the bench, and he also showed he can handle spot duty as an undersized but energetic five when the matchup calls for it.
Phoenix’s starting five has essentially been set, while Collin Gillespie, Luke Kennard and Jordan Goodwin are competing for sixth man honors. Ighodaro is expected to be part of that second unit, along with the three summer standouts, and Jamaree Bouyea is still on the roster as well.
That leaves Dunn in a tough spot. At best, he looks like the 11th or 12th man right now, and even that may be optimistic depending on how the preseason unfolds. Head coach Jordan Ott is expected to mix and match lineups, and the number of chances Dunn gets to make an impression will tell the story.
The issue is simple: he hasn’t hit enough 3-pointers to function as a small-ball four, and his offense still hasn’t taken the kind of step forward the Suns were hoping for. Defensively, he remains the sort of player Ott can probably use, but even that best trait hasn’t delivered the impact Phoenix envisioned when it drafted him.
For Dunn to climb the depth chart, he may need injuries to open the door. Jalen Green and Mark Williams have their own durability concerns, but neither plays Dunn’s position or fills the same role. That’s the reality he’s staring at now.
Five preseason games should make the picture even clearer. Right now, Dunn’s future in Phoenix looks shaky, and those games may end up confirming that his path leads somewhere else.
In Other News...
Suns Hit With Another Brutal National Ranking Disrespect
The Suns spent the offseason trying to reshape the roster, adding Miles Bridges by trade and bringing in Koa Peat through the draft, but the national outlook still hasnt caught up to the changes. Bleacher Report slotted Phoenixs projected starting group 20th in the NBA, a ranking that reflects how much the team is leaning on Devin Booker as its lone All-Star while filling the rest of the lineup with players expected to handle more complementary roles.
The projected five of Booker, Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, Bridges and Mark Williams gives Phoenix a different look, but it also leaves plenty of questions about whether the group has enough top-end firepower to matter in the West. Bleacher Reports view was that a healthy Suns team should be better in 2026-27, yet even that step forward still does not put them in the true contender tier. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Have A Bench Battle Jordan Ott Cannot Afford To Miss
The Suns are already looking ahead to the 2026-27 bench picture, and the sixth-man conversation has become a real one. Collin Gillespie, Jordan Goodwin and Luke Kennard are the three names in the mix, each bringing something different to the table as Phoenix tries to sort out who best fits that first guard or wing off the bench role. Gillespie has the edge because of his versatility and the fact the Suns clearly view him as part of their longer-term plans, while Goodwin remains a legitimate challenger thanks to his defense and ability to cover multiple spots.
Kennard gives Phoenix the cleanest shooting profile of the group, but his case is narrower because his value leans so heavily on what he does from deep. Goodwins defensive edge and Gillespies all-around game make this a more layered competition than a simple shooting contest, and that is exactly why it matters for Jordan Ott. The Suns do not need a placeholder there, they need someone who can stabilize the second unit and still hold up when the rotation gets tested. [Read more 🡒]