Suns Summer League Stock Report

Suns Summer League Stock Report

[Applause] [Music] Are you getting fury firm? [Music] Hey, you’re listening to the Sun’s Jam Session podcast, shooting the [ __ ] about the Suns since 2019. Hey, hey, hey. Thanks for pressing play. Thanks for lending us your ears and your eyeballs and hanging out with the Suns Jam Session podcast even though it’s mid to late July. We appreciate you taking a little time out of your day and hope you’re having a good one. Hope you’re enjoying your late July. Uh, shout out to everybody who’s watching the podcast. I highly recommend that you listen to the podcast because on Apple, on Spotify, anywhere you get your podcast, uh I like to release little shorts talking about different things like Jonathan Kaminga and Josh Giddy. So, if you’re somebody who only watches the podcast, uh whether it’s on Twitter or on YouTube, I highly recommend subscribing to our audio feeds because we have some bonus content and that’s probably how we’re going to operate a lot during this upcoming offseason just because you know, Matthew, you know this, it’s it’s a pain in the ass. It’s not a pain in the ass. It’s a passion and we like doing it, but it’s a process. When you do a video podcast like we do recording the audio simultaneously, we have to come up with topics. We have to communicate. We have to set up time. We have to record. I have to download the audio. yada yada. Whereas, you know, the audio podcast, you turn on a microphone. You can pick your nose during the pod. No one will notice. Yeah. And I feel like I do better, too, because this whole time I do the live pods, I look at myself. And it’s the weirdest thing to do these pods and not look at myself. So, I have to look at myself. And it makes me more insecure. takes away from my takes. I have a lot of brain fart. So, I think when it’s all just, you know, just the audio, it works out a lot better. So, maybe I’ll give that a shot, too. Um, but yeah, I I think right now in August coming up, it’s going to be a little dead. But, it’s weird because I still I’m like, where’s my Bill Simmons? Where’s my Zach Low? And where’s my Ryan Rillo podcast, right? Cuz I feel like there’s still stuff to talk about and I feel like they went dead for about a week and a half and I almost killed myself. Did you notice today that Bill Simmons released a podcast with Zach Low? Yes, I know. I was like, “Thank God.” I was like, “Yeah.” All right. Yeah. It’s just it’s that time of year, you know, especially sports in general. I mean, it’s one of the reasons, and I know that jamsters have heard this rant before, but I hate the month of August for numerous reasons. And one of the primary reasons is there’s not a lot to talk about as it pertains to sports. I mean, yeah, you can get really excited about preseason football, but you really can’t. There’s nothing you can learn from it. It’s just like preseason basketball. You have baseball and kind of the dog days. basketball completely goes dead and there’s no holidays in the month of August. It’s hot as [ __ ] and it’s long as hell. So, it’s a reason why we don’t like that month. But, you know, this is kind of this podcast right here as we’re talking about the Summer League Suns, something that we haven’t spent a lot of time talking about over the past couple weeks because we’ve had the Bradley Beiel situation and whatnot. It’s kind of the last stop before you you drive. Like if anybody’s ever driven from LA to Phoenix or Phoenix to LA, you know that if you’re on the I 10 from Phoenix going towards LA, you go through Buckeye to get out of town and then you go through different cities. You hit Courtzite right when you hit the border. Ble is right on the other side. And from Ble to India is like a 100 miles of desolate, no [ __ ] just ugly desert, too. There’s not a sawro out there. I don’t know what it is. Like when you cross into Arizona, you start to see sorrel cactuses pop up. But if you’re on the other side of the Colorado in California, that southern the Mojave Desert versus the Sonoron Desert, there’s that long drive between Ble and Indo before you hit Coachella. Then after that, you hit Palm Springs and next thing you know, you’re in San Bernardino, you’re in LA County. But we’re at Ble right now about to go towards Indo. And Ble is the summer league. It’s something that doesn’t count. doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter, but it doesn’t count. And there we just know that there’s a void ahead of us. Do you enjoy the void? Uh, as it not necessarily as it pertains to driving LA, but this next like month and a half of not a lot going on, especially considering how much we put into what happens when it does go on. No, you know what? I don’t think I enjoy it. I don’t enjoy much in life. Um, I have a hard time enjoying stuff. So, so the fact that you know that we have a month off basically from basketball does suck. But I think that um the best thing is you know getting ready for football because you know I think football overall is number one at times but basketball’s almost crossing that line where it’s moving ahead of football and it’s a time you don’t need a lie. You don’t need to lie. No, I’m serious. I think it’s that because I’m a Cowboys fan obviously and I don’t pay attention to them anymore. I like week one of the NFL but after that I don’t care. And honestly fantasy football is the only way I really go. So that’s what I was saying like fantasy football, studying for that, prepping for that takes about a couple weeks. So with it being dead, that’s what I spent my time doing. So I’m right there. Right there with you, brother. When August hits, that’s when the podcasts really start to pick up because I don’t need to hear division previews, but when they start doing the positional previews for fantasy football, I’m listening to all of them and I’m starting to formulate how I want to operate my five different fantasy football uh teams. So, uh, and that’s how I get through the void. That and I, you know, I find, um, a video game to be obsessed with and just sit inside a lot. But in order to get there, you have to go through the summer league. And that’s what we’re going to talk about on this edition of the Suns Jam Session podcast. We’re going to go over just kind of like our summer league stock report. Very exciting summer league as we’ve mentioned on previous podcasts. something that we looked forward to immediately after the draft ended knowing that we were going to have six rookies sophomores who are going to actually be rostered on this team next year to watch and to absorb and to just make some uh observations on. You know, we’re not going to talk about Boogie Ellis because, you know, Boogie Ellis like I don’t give a [ __ ] No offense to Boogie, but like he’s not going to make he’s not going to make an impact on the team next year, you know, but like as we look at these guys knowing that we had to absorb the anticipation that the NBA draft draw like like brought us like expectations still had to be kept in check. Like these games don’t count as I mentioned even though they still matter. They’re not a destination. They’re not LA, you know, but they’re a mile marker on a long and winding road of development for these players. So, when we talk about these these players, know that this isn’t the end all beall perception. And if we sit there and we’re like, man, come on, Malawatch not great with physicality. Doesn’t mean that he’s always not going to be great with physicality. I know he’s 18. I don’t need to be tongue- lashed by people reminding me that this isn’t uh the end of the destination. Again, this is a this is a mile marker on the road to development. So, it’s something to be reminded of uh as you watch summer league basketball, right? Right. So, you’re on mute. Yeah, I think so. Um I think everyone’s really excited just to see how those guys Am I Oh, am I lagging? Yeah, I can see better. Um, if I’m good right now, I was saying, am I good? Good to go. Hold on. Yep. All right, now I’m good. The, uh, the fact that we get to see these rookies though on the floor with other NBA players, like I that’s the only thing I really kind of watch some league for is how they look, how big they are compared to other, you know, defenders. And I think Fleming obviously was one of those guys that looked bigger than I thought. So that’s always the first thing I look for, you know, how how do they kind of, I guess, manage themselves? How do they look out there just, you know, physically, but also just what’s their aura out there? Are they guys that are competent? Like that’s something that I actually look forward to. Yes. Um because in summer league, it’s about guys really kind of getting theirs. A lot of the time it’s trying to prove themselves. So you’re not going to see a lot of team oriented run plays. A lot of it’s going to be ISO. A lot of it’s going to be selfish a little bit. So I don’t take too much from it. Just the fact that it’s like, all right, how do they look? Does it look good enough? All right, turn it off. I’m done. Like it’s it’s a quick I didn’t watch all all the games, all five. I didn’t know there was a fifth game. I thought it was four games and out and I only watched two games cuz that’s all I need to know. That’s all I needed. That’s all that’s all I needed. Yeah, the fifth game I did not watch. I was drinking with my family and I didn’t need to cuz like half the guys didn’t play so it didn’t matter. Uh but before we get to that, obviously some some Phoenix Suns news to talk about. And now ladies and gasers, news about the Phoenix Suns. That’s right. We have some Phoenix Suns news. A couple acquisitions actually happened today. Uh, entering today, the Phoenix Suns had 13 of their 15 guaranteed roster spots spoken for, and that’s been a lot of the discourse recently among Suns fans is, well, what are they going to do? What do how should they operate with those final two roster spots? And again, if you’re one of our audio listeners, uh you’ll know that I put up a couple shorts this past week talking about different options, why and why not to go pursue players like Josh Giddy, uh like Jonathan Kaminga, you know, both of who I think given where the Suns are right now at this moment in time are not guys they should be pursuing because again, the word of the 2025 2026 season is development and you have to combine that with patience and a lot of People see Kaminga and they’re like, “Hey, we can we can make that happen. We can give up Royce O’Neal. We can get, you know, we can pay him essentially up to $30 million by making some tra transactions to acquire him. Let’s plug him in. We need a four.” And I’ve kind of been against that mode of thinking because why? What’s the why? There’s a reason why it hasn’t worked out for him in in Golden State. There’s a reason why he’s been defined as somebody who has attitude problems. And and I don’t think it’s worth the bang for the buck for a developmental piece when you have developmental pieces in house that are a lot cheaper. And I think that what today happened when the the Suns went and they got Jordan Goodwin and they got Jared uh Butler, not Jimmy Butler. You see Jay Butler show up, everyone starts to freak out. Is the Sun the Suns are telling us what they’re doing. The Suns are already saying the blueprint. They’re looking for specific kind of guys. And everybody who talks about what the ceiling for Kaminga could be and get super excited about that isn’t take into account that the Suns have been showcasing to us ex that he’s not their kind of guy, right? Yeah, I don’t think so. But Kaminga is is interesting to me because I’m always I’ve been kind of a fan early on in his career, but you’re right, the attitude thing is a thing and it’s just about the money, too. Like I think him and his agent are really looking for 30 million. So, if he’s a guy that he signs a contract, sign a trade where he makes $20 million a year, then you make the trade with Grayson Allen and and um Nick Richards, like then yes, that’s fine. You’re still underneath the tax apron and that works out fine. But he’s a guy that wants to make more money per year. If he was counting, so so if he comes over in that scenario, he’s already upset because he’s not making as much as he wants, right? Yeah. Exactly. But that’s why I’m saying now is if he wants to bet him on on himself, not like uh uh Taius Jones, but Tus Jones came over $8 million for one year, bet on himself to make more money. It did not work out great. If he were to um come bet on himself and on himself and get three years for like 20 million and be like, let me just make make it known that I am the superstar I think I am and then get that next big contract because he is still very young. Then yeah, bring him over, have him prove himself because this is a perfect team to do so. But it’s just it is a thing of the fit. Can he fit what this team is putting on the floor? I think he has the right attitude, the right fire underneath him. But if is CE unselfish to play within this offense next to Devin Booker, not to take every three, not to take every every ball off the dribble and play ISO, is he guy that can actually play within the system? Then I want that. But everything else that is I hear about it, I’m like, it doesn’t sound as sexy as it was before. But you know what? If you do put Kaminga in this lineup right now with the additions that they had today and then maybe get some other play on on a minimum, then it looks sexier on paper, it looks good on paper, but on the floor, I just don’t think it makes any sense right now. Yeah. And and I agree. And it also doesn’t make sense with what the Suns are trying to build. And I think that that’s the most important thing. And it baffles me. And again, this is why it’s good to have these conversations and these thought exercises because other people have different points of view on this. and they they look at Kaminga and they go, “Hey, he’s a guy who can generate his own shot. We don’t have a lot of those guys outside of Booker and Jaylen Green. He’s a guy who can get to the rim. He’s a guy who can shoot the three ball a little bit. He’s not a great defender, but he’s an offensive player. We don’t have a lot of offensive players going into next year.” So, I can see it through that lens, and I can understand where people are coming from, but at the same time, for me, it’s the money thing. And yes, he’s a young prospect, but that’s a lot to invest into a young prospect when you have, as I said, other prospects available. And what the Suns are, I’m guessing, going to do this season at the power forward position is they’ll probably start Nigel Hayes Davis. You’ll see some small ball lineups with Ryan Dunn out there at the four. And then Rashir Fleming’s going to get sprinkled in there as well. He’ll probably spend some time in the G-League. Uh I’m hoping for the first month or two of the season, get his feet under him a little bit and then come up and then just kind of see what he has. And I think that that’s what this season’s about. And and the other side of that is, as you mentioned, well, okay, well, just give the Warriors, Grayson Allen, the reason why Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neal aren’t hot topics on the trade market is because they both have three years left on their deals. It’s they’re very absorbable deals, but they’re just not as sexy to teams who seek somewhat of some flexibility moving forward. Whereas this time next year, the Suns will have had a year of development underneath their belt with their new, you know, six guys that we’re going to be talking about here momentarily. And they’re also going to have two guys in Royce O’Neal and uh uh Grayson Allen and Jaylen Green, mind you, all who will have two years left on their deals. So it it feels like everybody’s trying to rush this process. And I’m just trying here to say, at least from my perspective, Suns fans, and I’ve written about this extensively on bright side of the sun.com, slow down. Like, we all kind of have accepted the fact that next year might be a little bit more fun from a competitive standpoint and seen flashes of things that we can get excited about. Uh we won’t have the weight of expectations, but it might not equate to wins and losses. And it’s not about the short game, it’s about the long game. Yeah, I totally agree. And you do say slow down, but they didn’t really slow down in a different instance of where they wanted to go young. They attacked the draft like I haven’t seen ever before. Yeah. Where they got guys that we all loved, right? So, you know, Matt Ishbel looks at Twitter, sees what the Suns fans want, then he goes and gets it. I think he did exactly that again. So, they’re slowing down a little bit, but they’re not really taking their foot off the pedal that much. They’re just getting on a lot of youth, a lot of hungry guys, a lot of guys with chips on their shoulder. Um, you know, even bringing back Goodwin again, you know, this a dude that wants to play hard to earn a big contract to show that, hey, Marcus Smart, maybe I’m better than him. Like listening to Zack Low, it’s funny how that worked out. But, you know, because Zack Low did mention, you know, I wouldn’t be nuts to say that Goodwin might be better at the end of next year than Marcus Smart. So, he has that kind of attitude where he can be better play defense the way that we want a Marcus Smart, a healthy Marcus Smart to play. But that that’s every player on this team right now. That’s why it makes him more exciting. That’s why when I write articles, I’m like, I’m excited. I believe that this will be a fun team, but it can quickly go down go south by just losing game after game after game because you’re just not good enough. But the fight will always still be there with this team. Yeah, the losses will happen. And again, it’s going to be a great opportunity. You know, again, the difference between now and a decade ago when we were going through this problem is we do have Devin Booker, we do have Jaylen Green, and and the team wants to experiment with what that is. And that’s kind of my reasoning for not going after a restricted free agent like Josh Giddy because what that does is that pushes Devin Booker from the one to the three defensively. And again, in order to get Giddy here, he wants $30 million. So you’re trading away pieces to get him here. That’s not he’s he’s not worth that in my opinion as the rest of the NBA market has dictated. And it hurts you defensively. So, you’re trying to build this gritty, defensive, physical team with an attitude. And then you undermine that by bringing in a point guard uh who’s 68, mind you. I get it. But he’s uh he rates out as an F on basketball index uh in the 17th percentile as a point of attack defender. And even if you move him off ball and put, you know, okay, Booker guards the one and he guards the three. No matter what you’re doing, you’re you’re chasing your own tail. And I think that again, what this off season is showing us is that this team is dedicated to again aligning that identity. And I I like the identity. I know it’s going to be bumpy next year because they they’re going to have a lot of holes offensively, but that’s the reason why you don’t get a Josh Giddy. I think so, too. And even King Nasher says Giddy is 68 and I don’t think it does. Yeah, it does not push Book out of position. Yes, it does. Book becomes a three. There’s two things though. Jayen point guard Jaylen Green he he ruins this whole thing kind of just because if you want to get a point guard and it’s like what do you do with Jaylen Green because you can’t trade him. I don’t think anybody really wants him and you can’t really get what you want back for him. So you’re stuck with him right now and I think like you said they want to kind of see how this develops between Booker. But also there’s the other thing of like Josh Giddy comes in here and he’s going to want the ball even more then Booker won’t have the ball. So, we can’t experiment with the point book, which maybe Booker wants that. Maybe he wants to experiment with that where he does have the ball the majority of the time. If we got a guy like, you know, Joic has like Jamal Murray. Jamal Murray is a perfect guard next to Joic who can take over the the game when he wants. He can help out Joic with ball handling. Giddy to me seems like a guy that’s kind of a step above just for the reason that he would probably want the ball over every possession. just kind of own the team and do what he wants to do where I think Jamal Murray can defer to Joic obviously because he’s MVP and give him the ball when he wants. But I think that’s what Booker wants. If if they were to get a point guard, it would have to be a guy that can come in and just play off of Booker and then whenever Booker’s not in the game, then he can kind of take over. But right now, there’s not really that guy. So, I think they’re just kind of stuck with what they have now. I like Giddy, but obviously I think the whole underage thing I think really hurt him a lot because I think a lot of teams would give him a lot of money, but every fan base, especially I think here just to deal with all that [ __ ] that comes with him. I don’t know if that’s really I think it’s kind of weird because there’s just constant jokes and it’s just going to be too much harassment. I get the jokes, but I go back to kind of what you said where Green kind of mucks this up and that that’s the answer here is because Jaylen Green can’t really play point. He’s going to be he’s going to have some ball handling, but he’s your two. He’s your two guard because he’s not a great shooter. He knows how to attack the rim, slash, things of that nature. And in this offense as constructed right now, Devin Booker is your one. If Giddy comes here, Booker doesn’t get bumped down to the two and Jaylen Green becomes the three. No, Booker becomes the three. And that hurts him offensively because I don’t mind Giddy coming in here and being a distributor. I think that a lot of people are for that. I think the challenge is because because Booker, he should be off ball. My whole thing that pissed me off the past couple seasons is he was out of position. And that’s exactly what happened. Two years ago, he was the point guard with Beal. Last year, they brought in Taius Jones. He became the three and next thing you know, we’re undersized on defense. We’re poor defenders and we couldn’t stop anybody. Meanwhile, Deon Booker’s been playing out of positions his his entire prime. He should be a two guard. He’s not. Now, if you were to trade Jaylen Green to Chicago for Giddy, that would work because then you’d have Giddy and Booker in the back court. I would actually like that. You’d still have Brooks and Dunn and and and Oso and Fleming and Malawatch and Williams and all those guys behind them. So both of those guys don’t need to be elite defenders kind of like two years ago. The reason that team was good, not great, but good and made the playoffs is the fact that they had Beal and Booker who in the back court who were offensively minded guards, which is what we’re going to see this year, but they had good good enough defenders behind them so they could gamble a little bit. Almost like the teams that went to the finals where it was Chris Paul and Devin Booker playing defense and they weren’t great defenders but they could gamble because you had Bridges Jay Crowder and DeAndre Aton behind them. The same concept is what the Suns are trying to recreate this year. And again, if Giddy comes in and takes a starting spot now Brooks or Dunn is not starting. One of those twos is not is not starting. And what I would like to see and what I think is going to occur with this team next year is it’s going to be Book Jaylen Green Brooks Dunn Williams. So you got two guys who can score, create their own shot. You done, and we’ll talk about him a little bit. One of the things that impressed me is the fact that he could create his own shot in summer league and but you have really good defenders behind them. So that again, those guys can gamble on defense. Yeah. No, I totally agree. And I I don’t think they really going to want to push those guys down the line like you said. Like if you put Giddy in there, you don’t want a book or Jaylen Green to kind of slide down at the forward position. And you know the whole thing with like listening to pod after pod after pod. I don’t think I ever I don’t ever hear about a backcourt a guard that can play defense anymore in the NBA. Is it just me Yeah. But there’s one or two guards. So like every time we talk about any wing defenders are so important. I know. But any addition at that position it’s like they can’t play defense. Like it’s like I we all know like I just I feel like I always constantly hear that. It’s like, well, no one can because I feel like the guard position, everyone’s so [ __ ] good. I completely agree with that. And that’s why the key is your three has to be somebody who is highly switchable and can guard multiple position multiple positions. And that’s why the Dylan Brooks acquisition is a quality acquisition. He’s somebody who can shoot the three ball, but he can guard one through four. And so if you have a team, like last year, our three was Devin Booker. Not ideal, right? And that says a lot about who you are as a team. And that’s why it’s important to understand that when acquisitions are being made, and they’ve been made now, and we haven’t even gotten to the guys yet, but they have been made and it kind of fortifies what I’ve been writing about on Bright Side of the Sun is whoever the Suns are going to get to fortify their roster. The last two spots, number 15 and number 14, are guys that are probably going to help out with point guard depth in case somebody gets injured. They’re not going to come in and be an instant impact. And this this typically happens this time of year when you have one or two open roster spots. You look at the free agent list and you’re starting to cook up scenarios in which you’re like, “Wow, if they get this guy, it changes everything.” It’s like, “Wow, if they get that guy and it changes everything, then your team really sucked to begin with because you shouldn’t need that guy to come in and and provide that much assistance, man.” Yeah. Know, I think we do that every year. Like I think last year to start I’m like if we’re at the buyout and we’re talking about guys to help this team again win games which we kind of were then we’re in trouble because we have those three guys that should be winning games by themselves but didn’t happen. So if we’re doing the same thing obviously it’s going to be another treacherous season but uh I like the additions. We’ll talk about Well, let’s talk about it. I haven’t played this one in since February of 2024. There’s my dog. Jordan’s dog. There’s my dog. I forgot about that. I called him dog when he was here. Jordan Goodwin is headed back to the valley. Uh the pride of the University of St. Lewis, 6’3 point guard, played with the Suns a couple seasons ago. If if you don’t remember, he came over along with Bradley Beal. One of those guys when that Bradley Beal deal happened and we got rid of Chris Paul and Landry Shamut. We’re like, dude, the steel of this deal might be Jordan Goodwin, man. And he showed some stuff, especially in preseason, I remember. But with Phoenix, a couple years ago, he played 40 games, five points a game, shot 40% from the field, 29% from beyond the arc, uh 82 or 86% from the the free throw line, 2.9 rebounds, couple of assists. You know, a guy who plays 110%. Uh obviously is he was traded at the trade deadline, February 2024, when the team was just like, “Yo, all these young guys, we we went the wrong route. We ended up sending him uh who who do we end up getting? Memphis got him when we got Royce O’Neal and David Rody and those guys. Yeah. Um you know, Goodwin, it’s nice to have him back. And I think the fact that he played with LA and especially in the playoffs, um a little bit more experience there playing with LeBron James and just showing that he is the true hustle guy because watching last playoff stint, it was short with the Lakers obviously, but him he stuck out more than other guys on the floor. When he came in, he kind of was a temperature change guy. Not talking about just knocking down shots, but just putting some energy into his actual team, just making them a little bit more flared up and just more exciting to watch because the Lakers were a tough watch in the playoffs last year. And I do remember too like Finny Smith to me who was a big pickup by the Rockets, I felt like that guy was total dog [ __ ] and then Goodwin was the one guy that I love coming into the games. I was I’m like, “Oh, this is the one guy that’s actually playing hard for this team. That’s what we’re going to get from him.” Um, I like the fact that he moved around a little bit and came back because he has a lot more to show, I feel like. And it’s one of those things where he was here, I was like, “All right, he’s pretty decent, right? He’s not going to be a game changer and help us win games.” But then when he went to LA, I was like, “All right, maybe this is the type of guy, especially showing up in the playoffs like that.” So, I’m glad he got the experience there because we weren’t making the playoffs over here. And now he comes back and he’s a playoff winner. I feel like in a way, yeah, he’s not going to make that much of an impact on the team and that’s okay. As I mentioned before, you’re going to have Devin Booker in a season in which development is should be the catchphrase. I got to come up with something that says like Suns and development, you know, like Suns up cuz Colin Gilisp is the backup point guard. He’s Gisping his third year. He earned the right to be the backup point guard. He’s going to have to continue to prove it because you hopefully we’re going to have people behind him on the roster who were going to be nipping his heels. Jordan Goodwin’s a great guy to be nipping at your heels, man. if you want to put out some really tough defensive lineups, you know, Jordan Goodwin out there with Brooks and Dunn. I mean, you can really have some fun with some defensive lineups uh by making his addition. So, I think it’s considering what it is. And here’s here’s the great thing about this acquisition. Okay, so the Lakers waved him and another team in the NBA was interested in acquiring him and signing him to a two-way deal. The Suns get him and essentially because he was waved and then the Suns picked him up off waiverss, he’s owed I think it’s $50,000 this year. Now it’s 25,000, right? 25 That might be right. $25,000. Now, if the Suns do not or if he’s on the team through January 7th, I believe the date is, then it becomes fully guaranteed for 2.3 million. But this is a cheap acquisition for a guy who’s going to be the 14th guy coming off the roster and it’s not costing you anything and it’s going to put you in a situation where you can have him compete for the job. And the other guy that the Suns got today is Jared Butler who’s very similar to uh to Jordan Goodwin, you know, another guard kind of a journeyman drafted out of uh Baylor, I believe, and he’s been on four different teams. Uh most recently he was with the Philadelphia 76ers and he was in one of those situations where the Sixers who were so hamstrung with injuries last year, he got some quality playing time, averaged like 11 points. So I think that he was really a quality acquisition for the Suns to have a couple guys at the back end of the roster fortifying that point guard depth and who have the ability to fight it out. And ultimately if one of the guys doesn’t work out, you know, you’re paying one a veteran minimum, the other one uh is not even guaranteed till the 7th of January. So, you again brought in another guy who has kind of that dog mentality and that’s what you want on this team. Again, I’m not going to get overly excited about any of these acquisitions. I said that at the end of the season. We got excited last year. I’m not Jordan Goodwin’s going to change this game. Jared Butler, you better watch out. No, man. These guys are [ __ ] horrible. But yeah, they’re are horrible. Yeah, they’re not. Okay, so before we got Goodwin, I was kind of on the fence because I after watching last playoffs, I know he didn’t play much. He played only the four games. He averaged less than a point a game. There’s just something about him that he brought that team, the spark that he brought him that I feel like the Suns definitely need off the bench. We have Aaron Aaron Brooks starting uh Dylan Brooks, excuse me, Dylan Brooks starting for us so far. So, coming off the bench, like he’s that attitude we kind of need. I don’t know if he’s going to get a lot of minutes, but like you said, when injuries do happen, you can count on this guy to come in and kind of spark you a little bit like a Josh Kogi, but you’re not going to get the Josh Kogi is like, “Oh, hell yeah, he’s in.” And it’s like, “Oh, he’s in for too long. Let’s take out Josh Shakogi. Let’s not have him play five straight minutes or him run the offense or him play ISO that much because it just gets too tiring to watch and there’s too many mistakes. Jordan Goodwin’s like a short stint version of that where you’re sparks here or there. So, it’s going to be fine. Um, but yeah, Jared Butler, I don’t know anything about him. So, I’m just going to lay off of him until I actually get to see him in the Suns uniform. So, yeah. And and it comes back to the same thing that I talked about kind of at the front end of the podcast relative to expectations. Like what did you expect from the 14th and 15th spot? An all-star? No, these are guys who fill up the back end of your roster. The iron sharpens iron in the case of Goodwin and Butler against each other against Gillespie in practice. So if you look at through that lens, yeah, they’re decent pickups considering what is out there. Uh I really wanted the team to go get Malcolm Brogden. I wrote a whole article about that today and you know it published and 30 minutes later the Suns got two different point guards like well [ __ ] me then. But but you know that’s just really quick on that though the the whole point guard thing. So even Malcolm Brown would be a great pickup. Um Anthony back up to the backup. Yeah. Danthony cost too much. He cost too much. I know. But the fact that if the Suns were able to go get those guys and then grab them. I just really think even like with the Josh Giddy thing, if we’re going to have the the point Devin Booker, I think we really just need to like make sure we don’t bring in a point guard that wants to handle the ball and might take over and then the fan base is like, “No, let him run the offense.” like we did with Taius Jones constantly in the beginning of the season. Obviously, he turns as a shooter, but we’re like, let him run the offense. Like, you guys don’t know what the [ __ ] you’re doing. That’s what I feel like we would lean towards if it starts out to be a mess. So, I think the Suns right now are kind of going away from that because they don’t want to worry about another point guard to come in and handle the ball when we had Deon Booker, who might be just the guy to do it. Who knows? Ex. No, I I completely completely agree. Uh and that’s an issue that they don’t they don’t have to worry about now. No one’s going to be clamoring for Jordan Goodwin to come in and play if Booker’s not playing great at the point guard position. And again, if that’s the case, if you bring someone in like a Malcolm Malcolm Brockton, who does want to play as as a starting point guard role, we’re having that same conversation about compromising the overall defense, moving Devin Booker to the to the small forward position offensively and defensively. And unfortunately, we saw what that happens with that last year. Again, you go back two years ago when Beal and Booker played together and they were the one and two, the team was a plus 176. Last season when they played together and they were the two and the three because Taius Jones was out there, they became like a negative 136. So, I mean, it it’s it goes to show you that it’s about fit, not necessarily positions, but at the same time, positions do still matter. And when Devin Booker has to guard the opposing three or be guarded more importantly by the opposing three, it slows him down. Defensively, we look bad. So, we’ve spent way too much time talking about it, but Jordan Goodwin, Jared Butler, newest members of the Phoenix Suns. We’ll see how they play out. Let’s talk about some summer league. Let’s talk about six guys who went to the summer league who we all kind of had our eyes on as we prefaced it at the front end of the podcast. This isn’t something that you’re going to, you know, put all your eggs in the basket and say, you know what, uh, you know, this this is the end all beall for these teams. Like, as I watched these games, I reminded myself that this is a proving get ground filled with hopefuls. Uh, and they’re playing in systems that aren’t really built to elevate them, just to test them. and and you mentioned a little bit earlier, but like guards dominate touches in the summer league because they’re trying to impress the scouts and front offices and that comes at the expense of team rhythm. Uh the imbalance in summer league can mask the value of bigs or disrupt chemistry entirely. But like even with those caveats, the tapes don’t lie. So So let’s dive in. Here’s how the six Phoenix Suns prospects fared in Las Vegas. Uh and we’ll talk about kind of the notes. At least I have some notes that I took while watching them and the first impressions I have of them while they’re on the hardwood. Malawatch on Malawatch. He played in three games. 23.3 minutes per game. Averaged 10 points, 5.7 rebounds, 0.3 assists, 0.7 steals, 1.3 blocks, 2.3 turnovers. shot 35.7% from the field and 23.1% from beyond the ark. Matthew, what intrigued you most at man Malawatch? Man, I tell you, um, I don’t, his game is obviously totally different from what we’re going to see in summer league, but I have to say right off the bat, he’s the worst player I’ve ever seen play in summer league. Really? I’m sorry. Wow. Yeah, I’m sorry. It was just a mess. It wasn’t very But you know what? after a few after the first game he improved a little bit, but I just I think the the fact that he had to do so much more off the dribble, it just looked a lot worse. So, I’m not saying that he’s a bad player. I’m just saying in summer league, it just looked like a hot mess. So, I just quickly did not want to overreact, but to overreact he looked like garbage. I’m like, “Oh, no wonder he followed to 10.” But, uh, he fell to 10. He’s the top center in the draft, though. Yeah, I know. I know. But I’m just saying it was uh it was um pretty hard to watch. I don’t know. So I’ll say this, you know, pros and cons when it comes to Molly watch. Like true to form, he looked like what he was, man. He’s raw. He’s 18 years old, right? Uh and that’s not a knock. That’s just it’s expected like development is a pro a process, not a verdict. So there were areas in with in which his youth showed like particularly with his rebounding and physical awareness like his positioning was bad. Uh and and that’s a kind of a knock you know even at Duke right he wasn’t a standout rebounder at Duke and the same held true in Vegas that can be coached and that’s where kind of that hope comes in. Uh and what can’t be coached is his size and and he has that. You know, you look at him and the thing that I noticed is his positioning wasn’t great, but it wasn’t because he was being moved off the ball, right? Like size comes in all shapes in today’s NBA. Take BB Bowl, right? BB Bowl 73. Come on. Malawatch is 72, but BB Bowl is 220. And so, like a wellplaced hip check is going to send him drifting like a balloon. Malawatch though, he’s a sturdy 250. And you can see the way he absorbs contact on the boards. He just doesn’t get moved around. And considering he’s only 18, he’s only going to keep adding muscle and strength as he matures into his body. But again, like he needs coaching on how to attack the boards appropriately because he’s just kind of running at the boards. He’s not running to get into position with guys. But even that, you know, like you could see his growth in my opinion from half to half. like the first half of the first game like man it didn’t look great but with every game and every quarter you could see there was a visible adjustment like he’d come out wideeyed at the beginning of the game so much that I was calling him you know his teammates call him man man because like come on you know I call him bam bamb because he’d come out just like wideeyed but as he as he got the feel of the game and he got into the locker room and listened to his coaching he’d return looking more composed and more aware of of what was going on like that’s what you want. That’s teachability, you know, that’s coachability. That was the progress that I saw. Yeah. No, I think he definitely has that. It’s just overall from summer league if you’re excited as a Suns fan be like, “All right, let’s watch our pick that we stole.” And you watch that, you’re like, “Holy [ __ ] man. Are we going to do that again where we were short of Cedric Coward and he’s the best player in the draft for real?” You know what I mean? Like I just those are things that go through the head of the Suns fan. But it is development. That’s why we have Mark Williams. That’s why we’re not counting on this guy to do much this year. I’m not and I haven’t I haven’t I’ve been excited to get him because he’s a true big the guy’s inspirational guy that actually wants to play hard and learn and continue to learn it. Already gets along with everybody it looks like. So he’s definitely a pick that made sense at that at number 10. It’s just it’s going to take some time. It’s going to take a couple years and you give centers five years, right? Alex Lynn did not develop anything until five years and he was still garbage, but it usually takes five years for guys to develop at the center position 100%. And that’s and you could see that. And again, when you’re watching that, you sit there and you start to think of some of the draft night conversations. Everyone’s like, “Well, why did they get Mark Williams, too? They got to watch him.” Weird to me. It’s It’s like, well, because they know that this guy’s going to take two or three years to develop, so you want to put him in a position to be successful. you don’t want to just throw him out there, you know, and and so I can see that, you know, but like at least for me, the early signs like his mindset, his willingness to learn, his physical tools, they all point the right direction. And if this is what he looks like in July, I can’t wait to see what he becomes in October with three months of strength training and conditioning and like professional level development under his belt. So, I’m looking forward to seeing that. But yeah, unbelievably raw. Uh, so I’ll ask you this question. You know, relative to the stock market coming into summer league, did his stock rise, fall, or kind of stay the same for you. I think it fell a little bit cuz I didn’t think it was going to be that bad, but I knew he was raw. Completely you, but it fell a little bit. I was so excited to see him and then when I saw, oh yeah, 18-year-old center, man, this is going to take a while. It was probably one he was probably one of the worst players in summer league, right? Overall or no, I’m I don’t think that’s not really a knock. it’s a summer league because a lot of those guys out there are competing and they’re trying to to fight for jobs and this guy is like you said he’s green. He’s coming in 10 and six and 23 minutes played. It’s not horrible. I just feel like I wouldn’t say he was one of the worst. I I won’t go that far because there’s a lot of bad guard play in summer league and I watched some other games, man. I was like, “Holy [ __ ] dude. Just pass the [ __ ] ball, you know?” No, I I can’t believe they go five games deep. I think two games to start the playoffs. Uh well, next guy up on the list. Uh let’s do Rashir Fleming. Don’t have a drop for him yet, but Rashir Fleming also played in just three games. Uh 16.8 minutes per game. He had 7.3 points per game. Shot 50% from the field and 36% from beyond the arc. Four rebounds, less than an assist, 1.7 steals per game, 0.3 blocks for per game. You know, for me, the way that I I viewed Fleming, like think animal from the Muppets, like non-stop motion, like all energy, you know, pure chaos. And it’s that kind of motor that’s rare and valuable, but it has to be honed. And you could again same thing young guy not 18 years old but with like time and coaching that intensity can be re redirected towards something productive and once that happens you’ll start to see the reason why the Suns were so eager to snag him in the early in the second round like wings especially I feel like in summer league are they’re so tricky to evaluate because there’s like a razor thin line between being a true 3 and D player and a guy who just shoots threes. Now, obviously the hope with Fleming is that he lands in the former category and he has the defensive tools, man. Those Condor like arms, his elite athleticism, but now he just kind of needs play needs to play lower, widen his stance, uh, and use that wingspan to discourage drives. It’s not just shut the [ __ ] up, Brooklyn. Uh, but I mean, he just it was control chaos out there. Uh, at least that’s what I saw from Fleming. Yeah. No, I think um it was interesting to see him out there because first of all, I didn’t think he was that big. Obviously, you look at the stats of what he how much he how tall he is and how how much he weighs with these guys, but you never really know till they get out there. So, I noticed he was bigger. But the the most frustrating part though in summer league is like when other guys are just fighting for those rebounds and like he doesn’t get the ball for possession after possession after possession. I feel like when he does come over to the Suns and they actually maybe run some stuff for him or he is a guy like Shawn Marion in a way where he is crazy as hell but you got to kind of contain him and to kind of maybe well Shawn Marion I guess he didn’t he did everything himself right they didn’t run plays for him so I think maybe I’m going the opposite where Fleming might be a guy if you can set him up in certain situations he’ll he’ll blossom and he’ll it’ll explore like kind of different areas of the floor maybe capitalize on certain situations of shooting the three getting to the rim stuff like that off of a good point guard. Um, but in some really it’s just kind of hard to watch him because I feel like he can’t do that stuff. Kind of like Maui watch, right? Like those guys have to feel like get set up in the offense and you just couldn’t see that. So, it was kind of a hard watch at times with him. Yeah. And he’d find himself to a corner. He would shoot the three and it looked good. And so, again, I won’t go as far to say I’m excited to watch his development because I’m trying to not use that word going into next year at all relative to anybody. I’m not excited about anything, but I’m certainly intrigued. You know, I thought that yeah, he played a little bit wild. Uh, but he is unbelievably athletic and, you know, his athleticism is what got him to this point, but what’s going to keep him playing in the NBA and what’s going to earn him minutes and trust his basketball IQ and like understanding rotations, playing with a purpose, knowing when to shoot and when to move instead of like running to a corner on offense and and you could see he’s like, “Oh [ __ ] there’s a guy already here. I should run over there now.” you know, and it’s it’s again, it’s a young rookie learning the game and and like I’ve said before and I’ll continue to say, I don’t take too much from summer league. I just enjoy watching it was and it was just the thing that I think surprised me the most when I watched him, Matthew, was the first time he came on the court because he missed the first or second game, he had like knee soreness, right? But the the the second game or the third game when he first played, he walks out on the court and he’s like as big as Oso Igodoro. Like he’s a big guy, but he’s got even longer arms. It’s just like seeing just the physical archetype of who Fleming is. That’s what got me, dare I say, excited. Yeah. Hard for sure. Well, I mean, because he fits the mold of an NBA player, like he just he looks like an actual player out there, you know, and I just I hope the the basketball IQ follows. Uh yeah, I think so. I think they wouldn’t Well, I don’t know. After watching behind the scenes the Phoenix Suns uh um staff and owner and GM, Did you watch that? They had I’m the GM. We’re drafting Kobe Brea. Okay. But I love how maybe he had to tell Bartlestein that. But I don’t know. I just I feel like um it’s just it’s wacky in there. I don’t even want to think about it, dude. I don’t want it to be two years from now where like cuz I you know the article came out where like the one of the worst voting front office in the league. Same question. Yeah, I know. But it’s like I can’t wait for two years where it’s like this whole it’s they’re all turned over. They’re not even with the Suns anymore. So definitely possible. Definitely possible. Possible. All right. Continuing down the line, Kobe Brea, uh, taken with the 41st overall pick, three games played for him, 24 minutes, 12 points per game, 42% from the field, 43% from beyond the ark, four rebounds, under assist, under steel. Uh, he probably was the biggest surprise out of summer league, don’t you think? Oh, yeah. Absolutely. I think his size, too. I think he’s a bigger guy than I thought. And the fact that he can step into like he does, he is. Yeah. Yeah, he definitely I thought he’d be a lot smaller, but he already looks like the same size as a Deon Booker out there. I know a lot of guys are saying, a lot of fans are saying he looks similar in his shot form, the way he got some of his buckets. Looks like Devon Bookeresque, but he he’s very confident guy out there. He’s very confident and I think that’s what I’m looking for in Summerlink. So, he checked that box right away. And that’s all I needed to see from him. Obviously, his shot is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Um, but he he has all the intangibles really to kind of be, you know, deep on the bench, but a guy that can come in once in a while, maybe get hot. Uh, he’s going to be a two-way guy, but we’ll see how his development takes. It’s just summer league he looks he stood out a lot to me over a lot of other guys. Yeah. I will say that coming into summer league while many were surprised by what Kobe Brea did. I thought that he was the one who we would all walk away with being impressed with because what he does so naturally translates to the summer league. It’s like dude when we get you the ball shoot. He’s like all right cool. I’m very good at that. And that’s just what he did and he did it well. And I think you know he looked comfortable. He looked confident. um you know the shooting numbers aligned with his college efficiency, but what impressed me the most is kind of what you said is like how he got those looks. This wasn’t just a catch andoot specialist standing in the corner during summer league. He was curling off of dribble handoffs. Uh he was pulling up in transition. He was navigating offball screens and even creating space for mid-range turnarounds. So that’s why everyone’s like, “Hey, he kind of looks like a young Devin Booker or even a modern day ne Devin Booker.” So, of course, the defensive side still needs work. There’s still development that needs to occur. But what I love about Kobe Bray, there’s two things. One, I really want to start going to more Valley Suns games next year. Uh, they’re unbelievably fun. And if he’s somebody who they just want to continue doing some development as a two-way guy, they’ll send him down to the G-League and we can go watch those games for 20 bucks center court. Man, it just a [ __ ] blast. You go, you can literally be at Buffalo Wild Wings, uh, down there in Tempee and walk across the street and up a block and you’re at the game. So, you can go get some wings beforehand. It’s a great time, man. We’re going to [ __ ] summer league or or G-League this season. So, you’re going to have an opportunity to see him. But the other thing is when we talk about a year of development equating to a better better options next off season, Kobe Brea to me, in my opinion, is the embodiment of that. He’s somebody who’s going to develop this year and when next season begins based on what he does this year and I think that good things are going to happen. Again, he’s a shooter is when Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neal both have contracts that become a little bit more digestible by opposing teams and therefore the Suns can trade them for either players or assets. You already have the natural progression and succession plan in place in Kobe Brea. It’s like what does Kobe Brea do? Oh, he does what Grayson Allen does. He shoots the [ __ ] out of the three ball. What does he What does uh he do relative to Royce O’Neal? Oh, he shoots the [ __ ] out of the three ball. Like, you already have your built-in guy who’s going to be your your sixth man or seventh man who can shoot the [ __ ] out of the three ball coming off the bench. You just give him a year of development this next year. So, again, that’s why so many people are rushing to make decisions right now. The Suns are trying to build out something sustainable and I think Kobe Bray is a part of that that overall arching plan. He is. And he also knows where to be on the court. like he you can tell his IQ is very high. Yes. And you know, Grayson Allen obviously tried to improve a lot of more of his game. He was a guy tried to get into the paint, try to distribute at times. Uh I’m not saying Brea could do that, but he’s going to bring more than just a catch and shoot guy. I think if he gets the playing time um overtime because I think he’s just kind of ready for that position to come in and just be a guy off the bench big time. Uh CJ Huntley, I don’t have his stats up in front of me. Yeah. How much So CJ Huntley So here’s what I I will say about CJ Huntley. Okay. Yeah. Uh, for those who don’t know, another two-way guy. He’s a rookie. I forget where he went to college. I’m sure some Appalachian State, I think, is where he went. Big another guy who came out. I was like, “Oh [ __ ] that guy is huge.” Uh, long good defender, a good defending archetype to come off the bench and again develop in the summer or the GLeague next year and get some minutes as, you know, if and when injuries do occur. But CJ Huntley looked good, not great. Uh much like Rasheed Fleming, I felt like he was kind of discombobulated at times, which is unbelievably uh understandable. Looking at the two sophomores who were out there during G-League play. Oh. Oh. Oh. You know what I’m talking about. Osoadoro. Oso got a ton of playing time out there. four games, almost 30 minutes a game, 12.3 points per game, 57% from the field. He had 8.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.8 steals, 3.5 turnovers. So, you know, a lot of ball handling for Oso Igodoro. What did you see from Oso this summer league, Matthew? Yeah, a lot of ball handling. Um, he’s he’s the dude on the team where he might be outplayed at times and he might not get any mints this year, so he has to prove himself in other ways on the court. And I think one of them was really handling the ball point Oso bringing the ball up almost every time we had a possession. So it’s good to see that. I mean his ball handling skills improved. He’s a bigger dude now. He looks jacked as hell. Um he’s a different player, man. I don’t know what he is and I don’t know how the Suns are going to use this guy, but he obviously knows that he has to do other things on the court to kind of get the not the notice from the coaches and just know that he’s going to get some minutes coming from any direction on the court because if he’s going to be on the court just as our big and getting rebounds or kind of like to do big stuff, it’s not going to work that way. Like he knows that he has to do other things. and we already have the two shooting guards now as our point guards as as a point guard and a shooting guard. The Suns are going to have to kind of mix things around and you know having um Jordan not as our coach, it’s going to be interesting to see how he uses him because I saw a lot of potential out there and I think he was obviously a guy that looked 10 years older than a lot of the dudes out there. Um he looked like a guy that had the higher IQ at times, but as the games progressed, I feel like he turned the ball over more and more and more. Um, so I don’t know if that’s really him or the other guys um just not running the right plays, but there’s just some promise out there with a man ball. Yeah, I the first thing that comes to my mind is yeah, he still can’t shoot and that unfortunately is always going to put a ceiling on floater though, dude. The floater. Yeah, it’s a floater. Okay. Like I left a floater before I came in here and you know, two points. But his his basketball IQ is off the charts and we saw that in summer league. Like he processes the game quickly and in the NBA that’s everything. I’m sure you you heard Zack Low talk about DeAndre Aton and that’s one of the things he said. He goes, “Man, DeAndre Eaton is a split second away from being like an elite player, but that split second of processing time is what hurts him because it allows opposing teams to attack him defensively or, you know, somebody being uh in a passing lane. Oso has that like given this the team’s current lack of depth of power forward and again that point guard situation he’s and he may end up being a key piece off the bench this next season for the Suns because he can be a post facilitator and that’s going to be essential for the what the team needs as you mentioned because we’re going to have to find probably some creative ways to create passes, right? Yeah. Uh his rebounding in my opinion also was noticeably improved as I talked about positioning. uh it was smarter and the physicality was stronger and he led the team in reboundings easily in summer league without much effort and that alone is a testament to his personal growth year-over-year. But again, the shooting, it’s always going to be the lingering concern with him. Without a reliable jumper at any range or beyond a floater, like defenses will always have an easier time containing him and that limits his ability to stretch the defenses that he’s playing against and thrive in the modern offensive system. So, anytime he’s out there, you’re going to have to have somebody. That’s why Malawatch was shooting so many threes in summer league because one, they were allowing him to. They’re like, “Hey, you got a good looking jumper. Let’s try it out.” And two, because it stretched the floor because Oso couldn’t. So, he’s not flashy. He’s not a shooter, but the guy is a guy that you can trust to make the right play. And that still matters like a lot. So, we got our new Dario Sarich, right? The connector of the offense at times, a guy that can pass the ball, that can rebound. It’s not going to look great, but I feel like he can kind of get the job done. Dario used to shoot a three every now and then and had a way. But did we like him to shoot the three? He could fall on a ball. Yeah, we never liked. No, he could sit on a ball like no other. All right, last guy to talk about [Music] Three games played, 26 minutes a game, almost 15 points per game, 5.3 rebounds per game, two assists a game, two steals a game, and of course, most importantly, 37.5% from beyond the arc. So, quite simply, Brian Dunn looked great in my opinion. Uh, one of the key things that you wanted you always want to see from year one to year two in summer league is growth. like he doesn’t need to go out there and dominate like a second coming of Michael Jordan, but you want to see polish and confidence and progression and done in my opinion showed all of that. He looked like a guy who put in the work and take has taken a meaningful step forward. Uh the three-point shooting stood out although, you know, cuz like last year he shot 34.4% from beyond the arc in summer league and we were all ecstatic about that, right? This year was 37.5%. Now granted, it was like six of 16 from beyond the ark, but he continued to shoot without hesitation, and that’s been the theme with Dunn. He the form has always been there, but the consistency is needed to catch up. And at least in Vegas 2025, the shots finally started to fall. So that’s that’s a promising f uh sign. But what excited me though the the most out of seeing Dunn in summer league was his progression attacking the rim. like it. That’s going to be a major point of emphasis for the Suns this upcoming season with a roster that’s going to lack elite outside shooting. I mean, Booker and and Green both are 35% three-point shooters on the season. He’s going to be a guy who is going to be getting a lot of opportunities to shoot threes, but there’s also just an emphasis, and Jordan even mentioned this at his inaugural press conference, on getting downhill and putting pressure on the rim, and that’s going to be critical. and Dunn gives you that. He’s got a quick first step. He’s got long strides and a knack through for slashing through tight lanes. So, we saw that repeatedly during summer league. He’s just not a catch and shoot guy. He’s a threat with the ball in his hands. And I liked what I saw. I like the progression that I saw from Dunn. And kind of everybody, all the national pundit guys were all saying like, “Yeah, uh, Dun’s already put himself in the class of like he doesn’t belong to be here because he’s too good kind of guy.” Yeah, he Yeah, he knew his way on the floor. Um, he was basically a guy that I feel like shouldn’t have even been there. I wanted to see him just for a quarter and just see what he improved on. And but like you said, like getting to the rim, that was the first thing. His quick first step that you saw instantly where he was trying to attack the rim, getting around defenders almost in an instant. I think that was really nice to see because he has to like also diversify a little bit with his game and make sure that he brings more to the table next year. the three-point shot though, you know, he said that he’s putting a little bit more force behind it, right, in that release. Um, so maybe that’s something that’s in helping him improve, but he’s a guy that we’re all going to root for. Um, I think he has the the opportunity behind Dylan Brooks to be like the fan favorite because I know you guys hate Dylan Brooks other places, but he’s going to be a guy that’s going to be a fan favorite in those technicals. Yeah. But behind that, Ryan Dunn getting the crowd going, he’s going to be one of those dudes. But on the offensive end, he just needs to improve so much more. But we saw it in summerly. We saw it. So, every year, like we said, since we drafted him, he’s going to be in the gym every offseason working on a shot, working on a shot. It’s going to increase by by year four or five. He’ll get that three-point shot up to 40%. I’m sure he will because he’s not going to give up until that thing is 40%. I feel like Yeah, that would be huge cuz like I’ve previously said that his ceiling is a rotational wing and I like I still believe that. But if he keeps trending this way, I might have to eat Crow and I would love to because if Dunn becomes a 6’8 wing who defends his ass off, hits threes, and puts pressure on the basket, that’s exactly the kind of player every good team needs. Yeah. And so kind of circling back to the front end of this conversation, this upcoming year is is key in the development for Ryan Dunn and we have to allow him the opportunity to do so. And that’s why you don’t go and you get these names and try to plug some gaps because this team is not going to be great next year, but I think that it’s going to be great following players like Ryan Dunn as we see them start to mature into what they could be. He is a male Bridges type player. Uh maybe not as long, but he he might end up being better because he plays his ass off and if he can start to hit that three ball, it was I don’t know. It was just it was fun. It was fun to watch him in summer league. He was the only thing I enjoyed about watching Summer League. Summer League, don’t get me wrong, like I get so excited for it like everybody does and by like game three I’m like [ __ ] man, another one of these things, you know? It’s just because it doesn’t count, you know? It it matters but it doesn’t count. And now we hit the void. Now we hit, you know, the, like I said, we’re ble we’re looking across that desert. So, you know, Jamsters, we will still create content over these next couple months as best we can. You know, Matthew and I were talking about it before the show. There’s not much to talk about. Uh, but that’s when it’s a good time to have guests on. And, you know, maybe we’ll do one of those shows where, uh, we bring on the Jamsters and you guys come on here and we just shoot the [ __ ] You know, spin that wheel, whatever that the wheel world. Yeah, we do that. Uh, but again, if you’re an audio listener, continue to listen to the audio because I sometimes I’ll write an article for Bright Side. I’m like, you know what, that’ll, in fact, I’ve got a great one that I wrote that’s that’s publishing tomorrow and it’s about Damian Lillard going back to Portland and what loyalty means and how we have it here in Phoenix. And it’s something that I enjoy. I like I’m a Devon I have a Devon Booker bias, you I’m not a Devon Booker stan by any means, but I am definitely somebody who is pro-deon Booker. Uh what what what did what’s the term I used? Wasn’t a Devon Booker apologist because I don’t apologize for him either. Um loyalist. That’s the word I used. I’m a Deon Booker loyalist, man. Like I like Larry Fitzgerald. I like guys who are going to be here for a long time. And you know what? We never win [ __ ] anything anyways. I might as well have a guy who’s here for 10, 15 years that I enjoy watching. I know you’re very much on the other side of that uh that spectrum. No, I I want to I want to be you. I just don’t think it’s poss like the D the Lillard thing. I’ll read the piece. Um I think if it goes the other way where maybe he goes to Miami or maybe he’s more he doesn’t get hurt and there’s more success on the other side. Maybe he stays and doesn’t come back. So yeah, it’s definitely possible. But it didn’t happen. I know. But he came back Deon Booker will probably get traded this year and come back in five years and finish out his career in Phoenix. Yeah. Right. Well, things like that. Uh I will do a podcast on a jam session short, right? a jort where it’ll just be me kind of reading a little bit of my article talking about it. It’s 15 minutes. So again, it’s a reason why even during the offseason, make sure you subscribe to the Apple podcast feed or the Spotify podcast feed, wherever you get your podcast, if you have it in your heart, you want to give us five stars and a little review and write and tell people why you like us, go for it. If you want to tell us to get [ __ ] you can do that, too. I really don’t care. It’s not nice, but you know, uh I’ve only booted one person from the chat tonight, so yeah. What happened to King Nacho? Uh he was, you know, saying that Oso Igodoro shoots like a girl. And I’m like, that’s inappropriate. Like I’m like, dude, have you seen Caitlyn Clark? She [ __ ] rocks. Uh King Nacho just needs to get a life, man. That guy, he’s just got He lives to be negative. He just wants to sit around like, “Yeah, well, Fire Bstein.” Yeah, Jordan Goodwin sucks. Like, okay. That’s actually me, dude. I’m down here. Yeah. You’re down here. Is that why you’re always like looking away? I’m No, I have I have my girlfriend do it now, so I leave her a list of things to say. Very simple. Yeah, just it’s easy. Fire fire bill fire bill. Once we fire bill, fireball thing. But uh on that note, champers, again, thanks for hanging out on with us on a Wednesday night. We might be back next Wednesday. We’ll see. If not, uh tell them what to do, Matthew. Go look out. [Applause] [Music] Hey, you’re listening to the Sun’s Jam Session podcast. Shooting the [ __ ] about the sun since 2019.

5 games down for the Summer Suns. Whose stock has risen? Who has gone down? And what about these new guards, Jordan Goodwin and Jared Butler?

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