Welcome to Inside the Suns, your weekly in-depth analysis of the current Phoenix Suns team.
Each week, Fantable – a Bright Siders roundtable – gives its opinion on the latest Suns topics and news.
Fantable questions of the week
Q1: If the Suns start with Jones, Beal, Book, KD and Nurk, how well do you think Book will do as a small forward instead of a shooting guard?
GuarGuar: I think Book would be fine in this lineup at small forward most nights. He has played some minutes as a SF in the past and played a fair amount of SF during his recent Olympic run. There are some bigger teams where I don’t think he’s a good idea as a SF. Offensively, though, it wouldn’t affect him much.
OldAz: Someone pointed out quite a bit during the Olympics on X that Book played small forward, and he did pretty well. However, we were surrounded by 4 likely Hall of Famers who were inducted into the Hall of Fame on the first try, so I wouldn’t read too much into those games. Then again, FIBA tends to allow more physical contact than the NBA (at least until the middle of last season), and Book’s defense looked pretty damn good, which carries some weight in my eyes.
Ultimately, I think Book will do well splitting his time between the SG and SF positions as the NBA moves toward more positionless and 5-out offenses that feature wing players of all shapes and sizes and defend 1-4 (or even 1-5) fairly regularly. My only concern would be the physical toll it will put on Book throughout the season, especially if they face a team with a larger front line that extends to both forwards.
Brrrberry: It will be seamless. On offense, with the right coaching, we will dictate things so that it is essentially meaningless if he plays 2 or 3. On defense, there are the 2s and 3s in the league that will score no matter who you have against them, and the rest of the 3s in the league will not have enough of an advantage physically and/or skill-wise that it will make a difference. If he can start and shine on both ends of the 3 for a gold medal winning team, he can start at the 3 for a team competing for a ring.
Rod: I don’t think it really matters offensively, as teams routinely assigned their best wing defenders to Book last season, and this move probably won’t change that or negatively impact his scoring. Defensively, I’m a little worried, but more because the starting lineup is a little short at the 1, 2, and 3 positions than because Book will be at the 3.
However, since players are constantly being rotated in and out during games, I don’t think this should be a big problem, as the Suns can get bigger if needed and Book probably won’t play entire games in the SF.
Q2: Who do you think is unlikely to be a top-10 rotation player for the Suns at the start of the season, but will be in the top-10 before the end of the season?
GuarGuar: I think Oso will start the season on the bench because he’s a big rookie, but eventually he’ll get into the rotation and make a name for himself. I’m pretty confident he’ll end up in our playoff rotation by the end of the year. He has the athleticism we’ve desperately needed at center since Ayton left.
OldAz: Top 10 at the start of the season: Book, KD, Beal, Nurkic, Jones, GA, O’Neale >>> Morris, Plumlee, Bol
Next 5 (or 6): D.Lee, Dunn, Ighodoro, Okogie, Little, Liddell, Jalen Bridges (both ways).
At least one of the names on the second line will not make the roster, possibly more. I also only have 3 potential players that could fall out of the “top 10” rotation without a trade. At this point, though, we’re all hoping Bol solidifies his position and plays well due to his unique size and skill set. In reality, I could see Morris being pushed out of his role due to the minutes available, but that means the player who finds his way into those minutes is unlikely to be another guard (sorry JO and D.Lee).
I could see any of the rookies playing their way into the rotation if they use their limited opportunities to compete on offense and shine on defense with their length and athleticism. If neither of them shines, that opens the door for Bridges to improve. If it’s not one of those three, then I think that player isn’t on the roster right now because I really believe the top 10 needs a long and athletic forward. Maybe that will change if Bol really is everything he can be.
Brrrberry: Gosh, that’s a tough one. I believe Bol is part of the rotation from day one, so he’s out. Assuming a healthy roster, there’s no one I’d put money on. Still, I’d put money on Dunn because that’s the guy I want, although I expect Oso to actually get into the rotation ahead of him since he’s more versatile. I want Dunn to find his confidence and offensive footing so we can put him with the best scorers in the league and allow him to pressure them. He has the size, length, athleticism, and reaction speed to be a major pest in the add.
Rod: I’m pretty sure it’ll be one of the rookies, either Dunn or Ighodaro. I’m sure Dunn will get opportunities early if the Suns need more defense on the court, but his staying in the rotation depends on his shooting, which is unproven at this point. Once he proves he can’t be ignored at the 3-point line, he’ll get regular rotation minutes.
Ighodaro has a more versatile skill set, but is still a bit too light weight-wise to play center in the NBA. With both Nurk and Plumlee ahead of him in the rotation, his chance could come any time if either of them gets even a minor injury. If he had an outside chance, I would give him an even better chance of getting into the rotation early, as he would likely get some minutes as a PF as well.
The lack of range on his shots will certainly make it difficult for him to play in Budenholzer’s offense, but his other skills – especially his passing – could make up for that if he works well with the rest of the team on the field.
Q3: Do you think Nassir Little could be a useful rotation player for the Suns this season if he stays healthy?
GuarGuar: Little can certainly be useful at times during the regular season. He is a capable NBA player in many ways. His defense, length and shooting power can definitely keep him on the court when we need him. However, he just hasn’t been able to be consistent and get things done so far in his career. I don’t expect him to be in our playoff rotation.
OldAz: Nope. I just don’t see it. I said the same thing about Bol last offseason (in much stronger terms), so I could very well be wrong, but I just don’t see Little getting enough of an opportunity to show that big jump in performance he needs to become a rotation player on this roster. Maybe he’ll get that chance if there are injuries, but even then I think he’s only presenting himself to become a useful trade piece.
Brrrberry: Not me. He’s too much of a tweener to earn a spot at the 3 or 4 position, and he doesn’t shoot consistently enough to really be a player a 10-20 mph per game contender wants out there. He would have been traded by now if we had more draft capital. He’s a true pro player though, so he’s a good backup player to step in in a pinch because he’ll hold up when he’s needed. I wish we could trade him for a project with different size and skill set that didn’t work out at another organization, but until he’s in his down year, it’s going to take a little luck for that to happen.
Rod: Could he be? Yes. Will he be? Well, it’s not likely, but it’s still possible.
Little is fast, athletic, and shoots well enough to get rotation minutes on many teams, but he will need to get even better than he has been to get into a healthy Suns rotation. With 3 years left on his contract, the Suns will certainly give him a chance to show his value on the court in the preseason, as he is difficult to trade due to the same contract. I expect him to work hard to prove himself and get playing time during the regular season, but if he doesn’t stay healthy, it won’t matter much.
He should still be a pretty useful backup, but that won’t be enough to attract trade interest from other teams, so I’m pretty sure he’ll remain a Sun for at least the entire season.
As always, thanks to our Fantable members for their extra effort this week!
Results of last week’s survey
Last week’s question was: “How much better do you think this year’s Benchpoint production will be?”
08% – 1 to 5 points better.
47% – 6 to 10 points better per game.
32% – 11 to 15 points better per game.
12% – 16+ points per game better.
01% – None. I expect it will get worse.
A total of 156 votes were cast.
Sun’s Facts/History
On August 14, 2008, the Suns signed Lou Amundson as a free agent. Although Amundson rarely made a big impression on the scoreboard, his enthusiasm and energetic style of play quickly made him a fan favorite as a substitute.
In the 2009-10 season, he was part of the almost legendary “Bench Mob” of Lou, Goran Dragic, Jared Dudley, Channing Frye and Leandro Barbosa, who were not only good enough to hold a lead but could sometimes decide games. Then coach Alvin Gentry used the Bench Mob like a hockey coach, structuring the minutes so that the entire second unit was on the court together at the start of the second and fourth quarters of every game.
Lou is also remembered as the joker who once filled Shaquille O’Neal’s car to the brim with popcorn.
Suns preseason game dates
6 Oct – Sun @ Lakers PRE-SEASON GAME (6:30 p.m. AZT)
October 11 – Suns vs Pistons PRE-SEASON GAME (7:00 p.m. AZT)
Oct 13 – Suns @ Nuggets PRE-SEASON GAME (6:00 p.m. AZT)
October 17 – Suns vs Lakers PRE-SEASON GAME (6:00 p.m. AZT)
NOTE: There is currently no information available regarding television coverage.
This week’s poll is…
The Suns’ younger players will likely spend a lot of time with the Valley Suns in the G League this season…
