The Oklahoma City Thunder have opened the season 4-0 and already taken down the Suns, but the picture has changed in a hurry. With Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace now sidelined by long-term injuries, Oklahoma City suddenly looks like a team that could be pushed into paying up for help. That puts Phoenix in a position to test just how far the Thunder will go to protect a deep run.
That’s where the Suns come in. Phoenix has a couple of back-end rotation pieces who fit what Oklahoma City needs right now: short-term answers who can survive inside a switch-heavy system built around reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Ryan Dunn is the clearest name to watch. He can defend multiple positions, and the Thunder would not be asking him to do much offensively.
That suits him fine, because his scoring value is limited. At the moment, Dunn’s asking price is probably a second-round pick, with a bit more possible if he can become a small-ball center for the Suns after Miles Bridges proved to be a disaster in that role against the Thunder.
The bigger question is whether Oklahoma City would be willing to get aggressive. Would the Thunder part with a pair of second-rounders for Dunn if they panic and need a young, cheap role player to patch things up temporarily?
Three seconds? That doesn’t sound impossible for an organization with as many assets as it has, especially in a situation where paying above market could mean keeping the championship window open.
Jordan Goodwin may actually be the cleaner fit. He could help the Thunder’s second unit, and Orlando is another team that should have interest as well.
Goodwin brings the size, defensive ability and 3-point shooting to offer a bargain version of Dort, while also giving some playmaking when Gilgeous-Alexander sits. He’s the kind of guard who can switch at a level most backups can’t.
Goodwin is more valuable to Phoenix than he would be to just about any other team, but the Suns are also in a spot where they can listen. If Oklahoma City came forward with a first-round pick, the Suns would be foolish to turn it down.
In Other News...
Suns Are Already Wasting Devin Bookers Best Work
Through three games, the Suns have already leaned hard on Devin Bookers scoring to keep themselves afloat, and that has become its own early-season storyline in Phoenix. At 1-2, the bigger issue is not Bookers output, but how often the team seems to be asking him to cover for a roster and rotation that do not always make his job easier.
The criticism around the Suns has quickly turned toward roster construction and coaching choices, with outside voices pointing to recent trades and lineup tweaks that appear to have pulled them away from the formula that worked better last season. For a team built around Bookers prime years, the concern is obvious: if this is the way the opening stretch looks, it raises the question of whether Phoenix is making the most of its best player at the very moment it can least afford to waste him. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Are Feeling Oso Ighodaros Absence More Than Expected
Oso Ighodaros oblique injury has become more than a temporary lineup note for the Suns. The second-round pick has been out with no clear return date, and the effects have shown up in ways that go beyond the box score, with Phoenix losing some of the extra ball movement and defensive activity he helped provide. His value has been tied as much to organization and versatility as to any scoring output, which is part of why his absence has been noticeable.
What has stood out is how much the Suns leaned on Ighodaro as a connective piece on both ends. His absence has come with drops in assist and steal percentages, a sign that Phoenix has missed his ability to facilitate offense and switch defensively across different matchups. For a team that wants flexible, reliable minutes from every spot on the floor, replacing that kind of presence is not as simple as plugging in another body. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Small-Ball Problem May Not Be On Jordan Ott
With the Suns forced into small-ball because of injuries to their primary big men, the early-season picture has been more complicated than simply blaming the lineup construction. Through the first three games, some of those undersized combinations have struggled badly, but others have actually held up well on both ends, which makes the conversation around the teams starts and rotations a little less tidy than it first appeared.
Jordan Ott is still working with a roster that has pushed him toward a style he would likely rather avoid, and the results have reflected that constraint. The bigger issue for Phoenix may be less about the idea of small-ball itself and more about which combinations are being asked to carry it, especially while the normal frontcourt rotation remains unavailable. [Read more 🡒]