The Phoenix Suns may have their loudest names in the starting five, but the real edge could come when the bench checks in.
Devin Booker, Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and Miles Bridges give Phoenix plenty of punch up front. Still, the group that follows them has the look of a unit that can swing games in bunches. Unless the Suns make a major rotational change and slide Collin Gillespie into the starting lineup while pushing Jalen Green into a sixth-man role - something that does not appear to be the plan right now - the second unit has the kind of balance that can catch opponents flat-footed.
That bench mix starts with shooting. Phoenix moved on from Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale in the Bridges trade, but GM Brian Gregory answered by bringing in Luke Kennard. He now projects as a key piece alongside Gillespie and backup big Oso Ighodaro, giving the Suns a trio that could become a problem if the chemistry clicks.
“I think (Kennard), Collin Gillespie and Oso in that second unit are going to be really hard for opponents to guard just because of all the movement and basketball IQ out there,” Gerald Bourguet of Suns After Dark said on the Third Apron Podcast. “Some of the quick-hitting actions and movement shooting that Gillespie and Kennard can do with a playmaking big like Oso … that will be fun to watch.”
The fit makes obvious sense on paper. Kennard led the league in 3-point efficiency at 47.8 percent last season, while Gillespie shot 40.1 percent from deep and set a new Suns record for 3-pointers made in a season. Put either one in motion off Ighodaro screens, and defenses can’t just sag and live with the jumper.
Jordan Goodwin only adds to the problem. The Dan Majerle Hustle Award winner quietly gives Phoenix another nasty ingredient: extra possessions.
He was the best offensive rebounding guard in basketball last season, finishing 15th among qualified players in offensive rebound rate, with all 14 players ahead of him listed as centers. He also shot 37.1 percent from 3-point range, but it’s the second-chance chaos that stands out.
A Goodwin offensive board can scramble a defense and create clean reload looks for Gillespie and Kennard before anyone resets.
That matters even more because Kennard’s value hinges on volume as much as accuracy. He was elite from deep last season, but he averaged only 3.1 attempts per game, tied for 132nd in the league. Bourguet put it plainly: “that’s not really going to cut it,” calling Kennard a low-volume shooter.
If Phoenix wants to replace the 371 combined 3s it lost with O’Neale and Allen, Kennard’s shot diet has to grow. Goodwin’s work on the glass can help manufacture those chances.
There’s also flexibility at power forward, where the Suns can choose between Rasheer Fleming for more defensive length or rookie Koa Peat for inside-out sets that could wear opponents down while creating scoring chances from the paint and the perimeter.
“Honestly the fit of the second unit makes a lot more sense to me than the starting lineup for the Suns right now,” Bourguet said with a laugh.
Booker and Brooks should bring what they usually do. Bridges and a hopefully healthy Green are still harder to pin down. But the bench has a clearer identity, and that may end up being Phoenix’s quiet advantage over the long 82-game grind.
In Other News...
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The frustration around Beal in Phoenix was always bigger than any one game or stretch, though, because the injuries and the fit never quite lined up the way the Suns needed. Vecenie even floated the idea that Beal could still help a contender in a different role, potentially as a bench piece for a team like the Miami Heat on a minimum deal. For the Suns, that kind of discussion keeps circling back to the same uncomfortable question: was the problem Beal himself, or the way the roster asked him to fit? [Read more 🡒]
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His absence in the playoffs was harder to ignore. Goodwin was sidelined early by a calf injury and missed most of the first-round series against Oklahoma City, a matchup Phoenix lost in four straight, and the Suns never quite looked the same without the energy and dependability he had brought during their turnaround run. For a team that needed every usable rotation piece it could get, losing one of its most trusted contributors became a bigger deal than many fans seemed to realize. [Read more 🡒]
Mike DAntoni Just Reinforced Why Suns Fans Should Trust Jordan Ott
Mike DAntonis latest stop on the Suns After Dark podcast offered a reminder that Jordan Otts rise in the coaching ranks didnt happen in a vacuum. The former Phoenix coach talked about their time together on the Brooklyn Nets staff and came away sounding convinced that Ott already had the kind of offensive feel and preparation that teams want in a lead assistant, the sort of behind-the-scenes credibility that matters when a franchise is trying to build something durable.
For Suns fans, the endorsement lands at a useful moment. Ott has already started to look like a stabilizing presence as the organization works through recent roster changes and other moving parts, and hearing a coach with DAntonis background speak so confidently about him only adds to the sense that Phoenix has found someone equipped for the long haul. The bigger question now is how far that trust can carry once the Suns start putting the pieces together on the floor. [Read more 🡒]