The Suns are headed toward the 2026-27 season with Devin Booker and Jalen Green penciled into the backcourt, but the argument here is that Phoenix can’t really afford to let that arrangement breathe. This is a team that needs results right away, not a long runway.
Green may enter training camp with real pressure on his starting job, but the Suns are unlikely to yank him from the first unit after he played only 32 regular season games last season. He was supposed to be the best player Phoenix received in the Kevin Durant trade, and that expectation makes a bench role feel like the kind of move the team won’t make.
Still, the case for a change is straightforward: Phoenix doesn’t have the luxury of time. If the Suns don’t push beyond last season’s 45 wins and surprise playoff appearance, the conversation around the roster could quickly turn to blowing the whole thing up.
There was a point when giving Booker and Green 40 games to sort out their chemistry would have made sense. That window, the argument goes, is gone. Green’s hamstring injury in his first season in The Valley slowed things down and opened the door for other players to show what they could do.
Phoenix also has a group of point guards who seem like cleaner fits next to Booker. Collin Gillespie looks like the best option to start, while Jordan Goodwin deserves mention for the way his defense would help Booker on that end.
Jamaree Bouyea remains on the roster for now and brings some of the same longer-limbed traits Goodwin offers. Pat Spencer, on a two-way deal, is the wild card.
None of those guards brings Green’s scoring punch, but all of them are solid options.
The boldest move would be the simplest one: send Green to the bench and let the starters settle around Booker and a true point guard. That would be a tough blow for the former second overall pick, especially with his next contract approaching.
Phoenix can also frame the Durant deal differently, since Green has quietly become the least productive player the Suns got back. Dillon Brooks was clearly the best piece, and Khaman Maluach still gives the fan base something to look forward to with his upside.
A year ago, the Suns had more patience to test whether this backcourt could work. Booker wasn’t about to turn 30 yet, expectations were lower, and there was time to experiment. That’s not the case anymore.
In Other News...
Suns Added Five New Faces But One Could Change Everything
The Suns have spent the offseason reshaping the edges of their roster, bringing in five new faces for the 2026-27 season as they try to deepen the group around their core. Spencer, Reath, Peat, Kennard and Bridges each arrive with a different selling point, whether it is shooting, size, versatility or the kind of steady role work that can matter once training camp starts sorting out who fits where.
The mix gives Phoenix options, but it also creates a real competition for minutes as the staff sorts out how all of these pieces should fit. Some of the newcomers look better positioned than others to claim a regular place in the rotation, and one addition in particular has a chance to alter the teams structure more than the rest once the season gets going. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Media Day Puts 3 Very Different Storylines Under Pressure
Mondays Suns media day arrives with a few of the usual preseason talking points, but this one carries a little extra weight because of who is expected to step to the podium. Dillon Brooks is coming in after signing a three-year extension, which gives Phoenix at least one clear piece of continuity heading into camp. On the other side of the room, Jalen Green will be one of the more closely watched players after working back from a hamstring injury, and rookie Koa Peat will be trying to carve out his place in a roster that has already changed around him.
Greens situation is especially interesting because the Suns still need to figure out how he fits when the season gets rolling, and media day should offer the first real clues about where he stands. Peat brings a different kind of pressure as a first-year player who was selected 30th overall and now has to show he can handle the adjustment. With roster spots, roles and rotations all in flux, the answers Phoenix gets on Monday could matter well beyond the first day of camp. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Title Doubts Just Got Louder Around Devin Booker
ESPNs latest top-100 player rankings offered a familiar reminder of where the Suns stand heading into the 2026-27 season: Devin Booker remains the centerpiece, and Dillon Brooks came in as the only other Phoenix player to crack the list, landing at No. 76. For a team trying to stay in the title conversation, that kind of recognition can be useful, but it also underscores how much of the burden still falls on Booker to carry the offense and the identity of the roster.
The bigger concern is what those rankings say about the rest of the Suns supposed support system. Miles Bridges and Jalen Green both came up short of the list, leaving Phoenix without another obvious top-tier co-star to pair with Booker, and that makes the internal growth of younger players even more important. If the Suns are going to look like more than a team leaning on star power alone, they may need real steps forward from prospects such as Khaman Maluach and Rasheer Fleming. [Read more 🡒]