Who Is MOST Important To The Suns’ Success In 2025-26?

Who Is MOST Important To The Suns’ Success In 2025-26?

If you ask a parent to rank their kids in terms of who’s their favorite, they’ll tell you that they love all their kids the same. We feel the same way about the Suns players, but that’s not going to stop us from ranking them. [Applause] [Music] [Music] Psychos and sickos, welcome into another edition of the PHNX Suns podcast, live from Studio K, presented by Circle K and our tummies, our podcast, and my car. All fueled by Circle K. You do what? Tummies. Yeah, the snacks. It’s very clear which one of us is a father and which one is not. Should I have said bellies, stomach? There’s there’s a couple other different ways you could have did that, but yeah, tummy time is part of my regular vocabulary now. So, I’m going to blame it on probably going to become more and more part of your daily vocabulary. Yeah, the things that I’m going to say, my vocabulary is slightly going to shift on this show over the coming months. So, I hope you’re all prepared for that. But, Stephen, how you doing today? I’m still preparing for it, actually. Uh, I’m doing good, though. It’s a it’s a Thursday that feels like a middle of the day week instead of the day before Friday. Mhm. Uh, so we got that going, but we got some tears to get to, so I’m looking forward to talking about it. How about you? I’m doing great. I’m not doing as great as Male Bridges. He just signed a 4year $150 million extension. So, good for him. That’s a It’s a I think it was 6 mil short of the max that he could have signed for with the Knicks to give them a little bit of flexibility. I I don’t know their cap situation, so I don’t know how much 6 million really does for them, but um, good for Muel Bridges. She always loved to see a former son, a former fan favorite get paid like that. So, good for him. There’s a level of selflessness that comes with that. I just caution. I love players being selfless, but I’m very much go get your chickens. Yes. As long as you can. I pray that there’s uh accountability on the back end for him because of the loyalty that he’s shown. Yeah, absolutely. Um, so today’s show is going to be pretty straightforward, guy. It’s it’s it’s tearing Thursday. Um, so we are going to go through all 18 players on the Suns roster and we’re going to rank them all. Even if they’re not on a guaranteed deal, even if they’re on a two-way, we’re going to include all of them in this. Um, thank you everyone for being here. First of all, Leo, Buddha, the skits, uh, Four Leaf, Kakashi, Jim Rose Circus. Appreciate all of you being here with us. Make sure to hit that like button. Make sure to subscribe if you haven’t already. Um, we do appreciate you guys being in here with us because we know that uh this is literally the last day of July and then after that we’ve got two months before we’re back with like media day and training camp and all that stuff. So, we’re in the thick of the off season now. We appreciate each and every one of you being here with us because we’re just trying to make this off season go by a little bit faster and rattle around every Suns related idea that we could possibly come up with over the next eight weeks. So, has this not has this not been the longest Thursday or Thursday? Excuse me. See, that’s what I’m talking about. Has this not been the longest January or See, it’s been very long January. July. July. Longest July in recent memory. I think I answered my own question twice over. I think you did. I think you did. Let’s get right into the tears day, everybody. We’re going to start with someone that we’re both, I think, pretty happy that the Suns brought back uh this year. We kind of were hoping he would be signed to a multi-year deal instead of just the one-year. But Colin Gillespie, who got bumped up or should have been bumped up from a two-way if they had made the playoffs, they resigned him to a one-year deal. And by all rights, he is the certified backup point guard. So, Colin Gillespie, we’ve got our five tiers here, Stephen. We’ve got vital at the very top, major key underneath that, DJ Khaled voice. We’ve got important in the middle, extra depth, and then at the very bottom, we have expendable. Tried to be as respectful with these tiers as possible because again, we are ranking our own players here. Um, so Colin Gillespie, Stephen, I think I don’t know that I would go as far as saying a breakout year, but I think he’s going to have a much higher level of importance. I don’t think he’s going to be starting like we saw down the stretch last season, which was kind of by default because the Suns team was just rudderless and they needed someone who would come in and give him a little oomph, play a little defense, show a little hustle. Um, but I do think Colin Gillespie is a legitimately good NBA player and I think he’s finally going to get his biggest opportunity from day one, from the start of a season to show what he can do. I think so, too. I think having nothing’s guaranteed per se, but I think having opportunity a little bit more streamlined for him rather than him have to get it literally out of the mud last season for that opportunity to surface is a good nod towards all of the work that he’s done. Mhm. Now I’m just questioning the sustainability of it because last season it popped because there was the the the ceiling was the floor as far as what he had to meet to ultimately get the opportunity. It’s a little different context this season, I imagine, but because of just how consistent he is with the little things that he does, it won’t really change too much. Um, I just wonder how much of a minutes total can he consistently take on versus how much might be divvied up with uh someone like uh Jordan Goodwin. Yeah, I think that and that is a good question because we’re both kind of assuming that Jordan Goodwin’s going to get that 14th roster spot. I wonder what the competition level is going to look like. But I do think that Gillespie has the edge on that. Like Jordan Goodwin would have to come in and just ball his ass off to supplant him as the backup point guard because I think if they weren’t as high on Gillespie, they would have gone out and got like a Chris Paul or a Malcolm Brogden or I mean I know they wanted Marcus Smart. So to be fair, that is a counterpoint, but they didn’t get him. They have Colin. They they’ve been very high publicly and privately on what Colin can do in year two. So, I guess our question is where are we going to put him? I would probably lean towards somewhere in important and we’ll probably need to adjust this list as we go along and start putting guys in certain places, but I’m probably leaning towards important as of right now just because he’s by default like their backup point guard. Yeah, I I I definitely see where where you come from with that one. I don’t disagree with it totally. we can kind of bookmark it for the back end once we get through everyone else, but important I think is just especially for so early on. He’ll probably wind up on the lower end of important. But I do think when you look at the roster construct like yes, Book and Green are going to be on the ball. Yes, you don’t need like a traditional point guard like you did 10 years ago. But I do think being kind of the only nominal point guard, true point guard on the roster will kind of give him an edge for some minutes. So let’s put him in important for now. Um, next up on the list, we’ve got Dylan Brooks. We spent basically an entire show talking about Dylan Brooks yesterday. If you missed it and you are curious about what he brings beyond just the villain and the alpha leadership and all that stuff that always gets brought up narrative-wise, we dove into some of the specifics of his game. Uh, I’m going to go major key for Dylan Brooks. I I think the shooting, we’ve talked about that. We want that to hold up. But I think in terms of like they basically went out and got a maybe a Royce O’Neal upgrade, I guess you could say, in terms of being slightly under size at 6’6, but being someone who’s going to tackle some defensive assignments, being a decent connective passer, uh, and being someone who shooting, uh, you hope holds up because that really makes a difference when he’s able to come in, knock three or four threes down. So, where are you kind of leaning with Dylan the villain? I would say just off of tangibles, he’s a major key, but because of the value of his intangibles, I think that bumps him up to vital. The back end of vital for sure, the back end of it, but I think it’s the tandem of those other kind of leadership qualities and impact on the game past the literal skill that bumps him up there for this team’s identity more than anything else. That is true. the offc court component, the leadership, the playing with grit and an edge and a competitive fire that the Suns have kind of lacked over the last year or so. I think that is important. So, let let’s put him in vital. He’ll probably wind up be near the end of vital, but um I’m cool with that, especially because as we’re going to get to, there are a lot of young players on this roster. So, but we’re not going to have too many guys in that vital category. A lot of young guys, but also a lot of nice guys, too. Yes, a lot of nice guys. I mean that respectfully for everybody. And that is why Dylan Brooks probably belongs in Vice. Correct. Exactly. All right. Next up, we’ve got CJ Huntley. He’s playing on a two-way deal. Um, a lot of people don’t know much about his game, but he actually shot a pretty decent three-point percentage in college. Um, he’s kind of been build as like a a poor man’s Miles Turner a little bit for draft experts and and people that watched him at Appalachian State. Mhm. did not really impress me too much at summer league outside of the first game. I think the first game he was finishing a lot around the rim. He setting good screens and then from there I do think the Suns lack of ball handlers really made an impact on him and um you know a lot of the passes that he he wasn’t able to catch a lot of the low bounce passes that he was getting thrown and they didn’t have the guards to get it to him any other way. So I do think that impacted him. I I mean I’m definitely leaning towards expendable on this one. I’m curious to see what he can do on the G-League stage and and what he might offer. But we should also bear in mind that as much as Devin Booker is a great playmaker, a lot of the problems that we saw with the Suns and their ball handlers maybe not being able to set him up for success, I think that would transfer over to the main team as well. I think there’s a little bit of overlap there as well. Mhm. But my thing with Huntley, and I think it’s going to be the proverbial meal ticket for any player that’s going to stay claim to minutes in some capacity, which you’re not. Defense. Yeah. Defense, defense, defense. CJ Hunley is a dude that’s very switchable. I think I enjoyed that part of his summer league showing more than anything else. Um, just not having prior knowledge of his game. Yeah. Going into it with a clean slate of mind, just assessing in real time and compiling. Tons of bookmark moments where he’s cutting guards off from turning the corner on the outer thirds of the court and then he’s able to switch with Oso from anywhere from Oso to even the guards late in the shot clock get up a solid contest and whether it’s a make or miss he’s done as much of a job as he can with that and I like the the the feel for urgency that he had within it as well. He’s really good with his feet. I think that’s something that he can build around. Not saying he’s going to get immediate minutes because the front court is kind of stacked. Yeah. If Kamal Malawatch isn’t really getting many minutes, that does not suggest anything for CJ Huntley on the minute side of things. So, don’t know if he’s going to really play on the NBA level. So, I like him a lot and it’s hard for me to say he’s expendable. But, if Malawatch is playing, if we pencil him in for seven minutes a game right now, and that’s on the high end potentially, that doesn’t say much for Huntley on that part. So, yeah, I I think given that he’s a two-way guy, given that the front court is stacked, like you said, expendable is probably where we put expectations and if he exceeds those, then fantastic because like you said, the switchability on defense is something that he brings to the table. Like obviously you want Malawatch to be able to do that as well. His development is way more of a priority. Um, but if there’s injury, but if Malawatch isn’t working out and if you want to just give this guy a flyer, maybe he can exceed expectations. But yeah, he’s he’s definitely in the expendable group just being on a two-way alone. Um, let’s go with Nigel Hayes Davis next. And this is kind of the biggest one of the biggest question marks surrounding the Suns right now is this is a guy that, you know, didn’t spend much time in the NBA, goes overseas, spends years there, and absolutely thrives. Like has won at every level that he’s been at over there. And then we’re talking multiple different leagues in multiple different countries. So, um, and he’s coming off one of his better seasons yet. So, there’s a big question of whether he can transfer a lot of what he showed in Euro League over to the NBA. I don’t think it’ll be a one for one carbon copy transfer, the Nigel Hayes Davis and what he was successful with in Euro League over here. I don’t know if that transfers immediately, but if you even get like 80 90% of that, you’re looking at a NBA rotation player. So, I’m I’m torn on this. If the front court wasn’t so loaded and I didn’t want to see like Ryan Dunn more at the four spot, I’d probably put him in important. But right now, I just have too many question marks about how it’s going to transfer for me to I would probably either go end of important or like beginning of extra depth is kind of where I’m at so far. I think Nigel Hayes Davis is going to be important for this team. Okay. And I think it’s going to be important because I think there’s positive ambiguity about Rashier Fleming right now. Yes. Is he a four? Is he a three? Is he a five? Is he a five? Like halfway through the season there were talks of him being like a top four center prospect in this upcoming in this most recent upcoming draft at that time. So yeah, there’s there’s some credence there as far as him being a three, four, or five. I think it remains to be seen. Ultimately, I think his versatility is a positive. So, he’s gonna naturally spend time at each of those spots. That’s where Jackson Hayes or Jackson Hayes Davis, Nigel Hayes Davis comes in in the mix because I feel like no one’s going to outwork him and that’s going to be something that stands out in training camp. If he’s able to carve out an early niche, I don’t know if it’s going to be starting quality, but I think he’s going to be someone that gets minutes immediately that might shift things in a positive way. And I think that that versatility part that they want to lean into is naturally what he embodies. Yeah, I I’m I’m okay with putting him at the end of important for now. I think I think the fact that he has a lot more basketball experience than a lot of the guys he’s going to be competing with could give him an edge there. Um because he’s he’s one of the older players on the team now, which is kind of crazy to say because this was an old team last year. Now they’re very young. Um so maybe that experience gives him an edge. And like I said, the Euro League stuff, a lot of that should transfer the confidence that he’s built, what he’s developed in his game overseas. Um, he’s more than earned the opportunity and I think it’s a good flyer that they’re taking on him, but there is a lot of competition. So, end of importance good with me. Uh, let’s go to Ryan Dunn next. Ryan Dunn, uh, I mean, major key for me. Like I I think I think the Suns have a lot of options to go with that, the three or the four, wherever they decide to play him, but I think his development is going to be as important for the Sun success this season as almost anyone among these younger players. You’re talking about a secondyear player, a guy who looked like a confident secondyear leap kind of guy at summer league. Mhm. And I think if he is starting, he’s going to be really important to making that starting lineup work, especially because, you know, Dylan Brooks might guard fours because he’s stronger and can handle that. But Ryan Dunn is going to have to help on the glass. He’s going to be have to be a three-point threat. He’s going to have to do a lot of things to prove himself. Like last year, it was by default like this dude actually defends. He’s one of the few that we have that hustles. He’s one of the few that brings energy and athleticism. That’s not necessarily the case this year. So, we also want to see some skill development. So, I would probably go major key for Ryan Dunn. Very refreshing for me that three of the four players we’ve spoken to all akin with blueco collar blueco collar efforts, blueco collar nature. And honestly, u if CJ Huntley was going to be a main stay with the roster, I think he would naturally acquies to that as well. He’s a player that exudes those qualities too. Um, for Ryan Dunn though, yes, definitely a major key. His development as is as important as Jaylen Green’s development against double teams will be or adding another layer to his scoring um attack for this team this season. Um, so yeah, major key for him. Um, like I mentioned yesterday, most important thing I’m looking for from him, the craftiness and getting paint touches, not just point A to point B, changing up the speeds, playing at different paces, very important for him. Defense is what it’s going to be. He’s going to be better isolated. Let’s have some fun. Ryan Dunn. Yeah. And I I like I said when we talked about Ryan Dunn more in depth. I want the Suns defense I don’t know if it’ll happen this year. It feels unlikely, but I want the Suns defense to get to a point of being good enough to where Ryan Dunn can be more of that free safety off the ball and lean into his defensive playmaking instincts that he showed at Virginia because that’s how they used him. and he was a terror flying around for weak side blocks, for steals, blowing up plays at every point on the court. I want to see that, but to be able to get to that point, you have to have guys that can defend on the ball, that can switch, and that can protect the rim without needing to rely on him in that way. So, I hope that we get to that point. I don’t think it’ll be this season. Um, and for those wondering, like I it probably feels weird to have Dylan Brooks above Ryan Dunn, but if we’re talking about just this upcoming season and the Sun’s success in terms of their importance, I think Dylan Brooks is more important because I think even if Ryan Dunn flounders or you have to bring him off the bench, you do have other options to cycle through. I don’t think there’s many players on this team that bring what Dylan Brooks brings. So, correct, that would probably be why he’s higher. No one else wears those characteristics and traits the way that he does on his sleeve and shoulders, respectively. Both of them. Not just one. Both of them. Yeah. No, absolutely. All right, last one before we take our first break. Your guy Jordan Goodwin, we got a lot of blue collar boys in this first group. That wasn’t by a design. I’m here for it. I’m hanging the table. Jordan, I was listening to the pie last year. I’m telling you, even all the way in Cleveland. Yeah. Yeah. So Jordan Goodwin, I think we both agree he brings something, especially to the back court that the Suns don’t have a ton of. They do have guys, longer guys that can, you know, hold their own at the point of attack, but they don’t have kind of that specialist in the back court as a guard that can do that. And I think that’s where Jordan Goodwin might be able to differentiate himself from pretty much anyone else on the roster. Um, the question kind of like with Josh Kogi, another great point of attack guy, great screener and roller, great offensive crasher, is can he shoot enough? Can he do enough offensively to hold his own? Um, for me, the fact that he’s competing with Jared Butler for a 14th roster spot tells me that I can’t put him super high. I will put him in extra depth because I do think Colin’s going to get the first crack at those minutes. and only if he really struggles will we see a guy like Goodwin come in. Um but I I do think he’s got the you know that 14th roster spot is his to lose basically and I think he will get an opportunity because we have seen with Colin Gillespie he hasn’t been able to stay healthy for most of his NBA career to this point. So, I I asked about the um sustainability for Colin Gillespie in an expanded role where there comes some expectations rather than it coming about as a surprise and something that you can lean into unexpectedly. For Jordan Goodwin, I think he starts his extra depth, but if there’s any slippage in the evolution of Colin Gillespie, I think they naturally exchange spots. Yeah. And I don’t think that’s out of the realm to happen potentially earlier in the season than later just because we saw what Colin Gillespie did last season. We’ve seen what Jordan Goodwin’s done for the past three or four seasons, especially on the defensive end. Yeah. No, I think that’s fair. I I think for now we put him in extra depth. I don’t think I think Gillespie has the first crack at those minutes. I think and I think he’ll do well with those, so I don’t think it’ll be an issue. But if he does struggle or if he does get injured, which is not out of the realm of possibility, especially that latter one, um you’re right, we could see a swap there. Um because I do think Jordan Goodwin has something to offer this team that nobody else on the roster really does. Um we’ve got 12 more players to go. We’re s we’re onethird of the way through. We appreciate everyone being in here with us. We got almost 150 people in here, but not very many likes. Make sure to hit the like button. It really does help us out. Um, if you are naming lots of random Suns players in the chat, you can also hit the like button for every random Suns player that you see. We’ll get to our like goal in no time. Uh, but we’re going to start with uh our second group of six players right after our first break. 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And it’s good to have one of those things. Be an adult. Go to Mountain America Credit Union. All right. Now, we’ve got our second group of six players. We went through our first six. Let’s just recap for our audio listeners. Shout out to all of our audio listeners, including uh Bayern Entertainment, who was in our Discord, and Sunundus Dunks talking about how they always tune in for our audio shows after the fact. We appreciate you guys uh for tuning in. And we appreciate all of you here in the chat. Make sure to hit the like button if you haven’t already. Uh so, so far in vital, we have Dylan Brooks in blue. Yes, blue collar boy. He is vital. In major key, we have Ryan Dunn. Another blue collar boy. In important, we have Colin Gillespie and Nigel Hayes Davis. Bluear. I love it. Uh, extra depth. Jordan Goodwin, blue collar. And expendable CJ Huntley. Blue collar. All right. So, we are six for six on the bluecollar boys. We’re not going to We might have to uh That’s more bluecollar boys than they had on the team’s entirety last season. Yeah. Steps in the right direction, y’all. That’s called growth. It is. We love it. It very much is. We’re talking about playing to an identity. They definitely have that. Whether they have the talent and the wins to back it, we will see. But they do have an identity and we love that. Um, we’re not going to keep going with that trend because we don’t want to embarrass the first person that comes up on the board that is not a blue collar boy. We don’t want to draw negative attention to them. But, uh, let’s start with Jared Butler here. Jared Butler coming in non-g guaranteed contract. He is fighting with Jordan Goodwin basically for that 14th roster spot. Like we’ve been saying here on the show, it would not be a surprise if they leave the 15th roster spot open. Uh gives some trade flexibility if they work out a trade where they take back two players and send one out. It gives them the flexibility to sign someone to the MLE if there’s a buyout situation. Um so I would not be surpris if if Jared Butler was going to be on a full roster spot, it would not have been reported the way it was reported to me. So, Mhm. I’m probably leaning towards Expendable on this one because he’s the only player outside of Goodwin that does not have a guaranteed spot on this roster. Even the two-way guys are technically guaranteed for the time being. So, I’d probably lean Expendable. I would probably put him after Huntley just because he has competition with someone that I think we both agree brings something to the roster. I do like Butler and I hope that, you know, they find a way to evaluate him fully. Um, and maybe potentially a G-League type situation could unfold out of that. I don’t know. Um, but where are you kind of leaning with Jared Butler right now? I say he’s expendable as well after Huntley. Um, no disrespect to Butler because I think he’s a bucket for sure. He is. I just don’t know if the type of bucket from the position that he is is something that the Suns are looking to invest in going forward. Yeah. Is looking for more so those marginal efforts from the guard position. And um like we talked about with Jordan Goodwin, that’s someone that fits that role and has a track record for having fit that role well more than Butler has so far. So yeah, I and I do I really do want to see some of Jared Butler, even if it’s just in preseason or G-League or whatever. I want to see what he can bring to the table because you look at the numbers that he put up with the Sixers. Yes, it was a bad Sixers team. They were injury depleted, whatever. But um guy can who? He’s a talent. Yes. Yes. Guy can score. So we love to see that. And like we we’ve talked about this a little bit in terms of the Suns have lost a lot of shooting. They’ve lost a lot of just like outright scoring ability, like in terms of bucket getters. Devin Booker, Jaylen Green, who can create a shot, but to this point, his career has not been efficient in doing so. And that’s kind of your scorers, like a lot of these other guys are going to have to really lean into the functionality of their roles um in order to put the ball in the in the cup. And so, you need guys that can create their own shot, even if it’s a non-g guaranteed guy who is competing for a 14th roster spot. So, I’m good with Expendable. But we are prefacing this with the fact that everybody in Expendable, we’re still looking forward to seeing what they can do and hopefully proving us wrong at some point. Maria, buckets, buckets, buckets. That is Butler’s strength. Whole lot of buckets. Yes. Everything else that’s we’ll see. But buckets, he has a strength. That’s what you want at the bare minimum. Yes, he has an NBA skill. It’s bucket getting. Absolutely. Uh let’s get into some role players and some rookies now. Uh, Grayson Allen is up next. And Grayson for a lot of pe if we were talking about like trade type stuff, a lot of people would put him in expendable cuz he’s probably one of the first three guys that we’re going to hear come up all season long when it comes to trade rumors in terms of what the Suns are trying to do, especially now that they can stack contracts. Like we’ve already heard it with Jonathan Kaminga non-stop for the last couple weeks. But in terms of their importance to the success of this team as long as they are on this roster, I do think Grayson Allen is important. And I think he’s bordering on major key for me just because he’s one of the few established vets that you have. He has an NBA skill that you don’t have a lot of established shooters on this team. Um he’s a smart player on top of that and I think he’s going to be one of your first guys off the bench as it stands right now just because in that starting lineup if Brooks shooting doesn’t hold if Ryan Dunn doesn’t make a big enough step and if Jaylen Green continues to be you know right around league average as a three-point shooter you need a plus shooter. You need a guy that’s going to hover around 40 41 42% from three. So, I’m leaning towards top of important, end of major key right now because I I think his shooting has really gone overlooked by a lot of fans that just want to trade him for something. Mhm. Um, and I think his ability to attack closeouts, hopefully he’s a little bit more efficient around the rim. I think he brings a lot of traits to the table that now that he might be better insulated on defense will maybe shine a little bit more than last year. Yep. That’s the That’s the most important part with Grayson. Mhm. Um, talk about building out a role player, having a having a definitive skill that you’re bringing to the pot on either end of the floor and then having a complimentary skill to where when that skill gets taken away, you don’t lose your value that you’re adding, right? So for Grayson, if he’s a pass away from Devin Booker or Jaylen Green or opposite corner of them and there’s any help that’s going off of him, the defense knows there’s going to be a price to pay. So if he’s playing off of the strength that is his and they’re trying to close out on him now he’s creating new advantage that’s not selfcreation in a literal sense because that attention is coming off of the two best players but someone that can just put the ball on the deck after an advantage that those two create is very very important right now. Not too many other players on the Suns roster do it as well as um Grayson Allen does and definitely don’t do it in the mo in as dynamic a fashion as he does when he does get to the paint. A lot of the footwork stuff I’m speaking to with with Ryan Dunn, if he can get to 50 60% of what Grayson Allen does with that, with the size that Ryan does have and the athleticism, now you’re talking about a bonafide 3 and D guy. Yeah. Um so I think there’s a lot of opportunity for him to learn from Grayson there. So yes, I would say Grayson is a you said major key. I would say either end of major key or top of important. I’m good with either one of those. I think he’s a major key and I think it’s twofold because it’s for the skill that he brings, but it’s also for the contract that he has and how a lot of contenders are going to see value in that later on in the season likely. Okay, that’s one that I think we should revisit because I think just the fact that he’s going to be in trade rumors, as much as we’re evaluating from their importance to the team, I do think the fact that he could be on the way out might ding him a little bit, but I’m I’m I’m torn between the two because I really do think the shooting is a lot more important than people are realizing at this point. Um, and as much as he did not have as good of a season last year as he did the first year, I think I think this year will be it could be something of a bounce back for him because a he’s he already had his child like that was part of it. We’re a year incident now. Yeah. He started the year uh injured on top of that which threw him off and then on top of that he was still a double- digit scorer despite only starting in seven of the 64 games that he played. Mhm. So, he’s averaging just under 11 points a game and shot 43% from three. Just under 43% from three. That’s pretty good for a bench player. And that I think with a year under his belt of readjusting to that bench role because for the last four years or five years before that, he had been a starter. I think having that under his belt, hopefully being healthier to start the year and not having to go through this life-changing process that I have firsthand experience of having a kid and not getting as much sleep as you normally do. I think all of those things could combine to him having a bounceback year, especially with the prominence of his shooting compared to the guys around him. So, I’m I’m good with end of major key. I think we’ll probably revisit that near the end. Um, let’s move on to our guy. Come on, Mwatch. Um, come on. In ter he’s on, we’re on model watch now, everybody. In terms of long-term importance, he would be at the top of vital for me. But in terms of this upcoming season, I don’t want to put him in extra depth, but that’s kind of what he is to start the year. He is. And I hope that I’m wrong and I hope that he’s able to kind of supplant Nick Richards, whether Richards is traded or whether he stays in Phoenix. I hope he’s able to assert himself as the bonafide backup center. Mhm. But the summer league performance kind of dissuaded me from that being his immediate path. If you’d have told me before summer league he’s definitely the backup center, I would have said, “Okay, I could see it.” Mhm. The summer league struggles maybe have me rethinking how much of a project this is going to be, especially in year one. I hope that I’m wrong. I’m hope I hope that we see plenty of mile watch in year one. But I feel like as long as Nick Richards is on the roster, even if Nick Richards is expendable and we’ve heard him come up in trade rumors, I think they’re holding on to him for the time being to guard against the potential that Malawatch is not ready for that. Yep. And I think as a rookie, he’s going to have to earn his minutes. They’re not just going to be handed to him. So, I would say top of extra depth for me. Um, and hopefully he works his way into important. Yeah, I was I was cautiously optimistic about them drafting him again at 10. I think there’s great value for them in doing that, but I just the little bit that I had seen of his game, just saw little things on film where it’s like that’s going to take a minute to develop. Yeah. And I mean, that’s for any center that’s coming into the NBA. They’re going to have multiple things that they’re going to have to develop. It’s at 18 at 18 years old and this is only his fourth or fifth year playing basketball in his life so far too. Like that’s that screams project. Now you can reap the blessings of that project if the if the process expedites the way you kind of see it in in your vision. But at this present moment, he’s extra depth for sure because if that would if that wasn’t the case, then Nick Richards would be very expendable right now. And I don’t think they see him as that. I think they see him as more of a piece that they’re looking to help build around with right now. Yeah. I I think he’s a case for Malawatch, but he’s also a case for Nick or for Mark Williams as well. Yeah. So, which is an important part of this because people that that was the funny part of people wondering why they drafted Modwatch and why they traded for Mark Williams. Well, one guards against the other, but there’s a possibility where Mark Williams is injured and Kaman Wall watch isn’t quite ready. So, yep. Having a third big, whether you think that should be OSO at the five or whether you think that should be Nick Richards who’s an actual five. Um, we’re going to see. We’re going to see how Jordan Kn. We do know that they played with OSO at the four and that Jordan Knott’s coming from a system that had dual bigs and that OSO is a very versatile big in terms of his skill set. So, we’re going to have to see how he mixes and matches those front court pieces. But, I agree. I think for now, at least to start the season, Kaman Mwatch is the third center on the depth chart there. So, we’re going to put him in extra depth ahead of Jordan Goodwin. Let’s move on to our guy Royce O’Neal, who if they didn’t have Dylan Brooks, I think would be much higher than where we’re probably going to wind up putting him. I’m probably leaning towards end of important top of extra depth just because you have a a slightly better Royce O’Neal. I think Royce O’Neal shooting is more established. I think that’s more reliable. And if Dylan Brooks falls off, then I think Royce takes on more importance. But I think Dylan Brooks is the better defender. I think he brings more of the smashmouth mentality that they want to have. I think he’ll be the starter. And so if Royce is in a bench role, I would I’d probably go Would you have him before or after Nigel Hayes Davis? I think that because he’s been in the league. Yes. No, before. Yeah. He’s got to be he’s got to be above Nigel Hayes Davis. I think that’s fair. I think he is an established player. I think he is going to get minutes. I can’t say the same for Nigel necessarily. Um so I think that’s a fair place to put him for now. Can he go ahead of Kylie? I would probably leave him there just because of the positional thing. Got you. And I and I also think that Royce like I don’t know that he has the speed anymore to stick with threes. So, if he’s mostly a four, you got a lot of competition for that spot. And I think he’s because he’s more established, he’ll get the lion share of some of that, especially off the bench. But I I do think let’s leave that there for now. That’ll be another one to revisit because we’re we’re going to be splitting hairs by the end of the show. Like I said, we love all of our son’s children here. We’re just going to have to try and rank them as best as we can. Um, let’s close out or no, we got two more in this uh segment here. Isaiah Livers. Yeah. Um I’m probably going top of Expendable for me. I think Isaiah Livers might have an opportunity to impress some people. You know, hearing him speak at summer league, I was pretty sold on, you know, him talking about spending the last year getting healthy and feeling like himself again and working on his three ball, which is going to be essential for him to kind of carve out minutes. So, I think he has he’ll have a chance. I wouldn’t put him at the top of the two-way guys who could be converted to a full contract, but I think he’s got an outside shot at doing it. And I am curious to see what he can bring to that position. So, I’m probably leaning top of expendable. I would agree with top of expendable as well. I think he’s one of the he’s one of a few pieces where he’s low risk, high reward where if his health sustains and he kind of gets closer to that level that he was a few seasons ago, Mhm. now you got a piece that can add some depth um maybe in a potential important um stance for you depending on how things shake out with the lineup and if any trades happen. So yeah, I I think that’s a fair place to put it. Maria asked who is this? He is a guy that they signed on the two-way. He spent most of his career, early career, first three or four years with the Pistons. Um, and then he basically missed almost an entire year because of uh hip surgery. So now he is back. He’s feeling like himself. Uh, I think we posted the media availability on YouTube a few weeks back if you’re able to search for that and find it. Um, pretty illuminating stuff on in terms of his injury journey back to the court and what he believes he’ll be able to offer this team. U last one for this segment. Rashier Fleming, another big question mark for me. Him and Nigel Hayes Davis are my biggest question marks at the four spot because truthfully, I want to see both of them a lot and I don’t know that we’re going to be able to get both of those things at the same time. So, for me, this just kind of comes down to a coin flip in terms of who you think is going to be more ready to transition to the NBA, the rookie or the guy that was experienced overseas. I kind of lean towards experience in this case, but I will say that Rashir Fleming’s athleticism, the three-point shooting that he showed, not just last year at college, but carried over to summer league, and just the fact that he is a two-way beast, an athletic machine, I think he’ll have a shot at probably passing Nigel. For now, I might put him behind and important, but I could be talked into otherwise. Where where do you got him? So for me with with Rashir, I want to say he’s important. Okay, I think he has the potential to become a major key for this team this season. Okay, if his defense hits to the level that it needs to and his three-point shot is at like 35% on a modest two and a half attempts a game, maybe close to three to three attempts a game. Mhm. I think there’s some real real upside even in his rookie season, which is going to be raw and filled with flaws that we can obviously all assess, but his top tier skills and qualities um finishing at the basket. Yeah. And then the ability to defend and just be whatever you need on defense, I think it puts him in a position where he he has those top tier skills to kind of build out a role with a team with early on. Okay. So, where are you thinking in terms of important? cuz we’ve got we’ve already got two guys at the four. Important. I kind of like the fact that we’ve got a little bit of a cluster F going on in that range because I truly don’t know how the minutes are going to shake out between Dun O’Neal, Nigel, and Rashier when it comes to, you know, three, four, five spot, whatever you want to call it. My apologies on not bringing up Blueco collar boy with Royce O’Neal as well as Rashir Fleming. One of the co- captains. Absolutely bonafide through and through. Uh, I would I would put Rashir because he’s a draft pick of the Suns. I would put him right after Royce O’Neal. Okay. I’m cool with I’m cool with slotting him in there having those three right next to each other because we’re really splitting hairs. And I have no idea how those positional battles are going to shake out to be honest with you. And I don’t know what this is part of it too that we haven’t really talked about. We don’t know what Jordan Au is going to value in terms of the lineups he’s trying to construct. Like we know we know the principles that they want to abide by. But we don’t know how a lot of these guys are going to transfer those skill sets to those principles. We don’t know how much he’s going to lean on experience early on as a first year head coach versus pure dynamic athleticism and upside. Um so this could change throughout the year as well. What what starts out to start a season as we saw last year will not be the case down the end of the of the year, I’m guessing. Um all right, so we’ve got through our two segments. We’ve got one last segment with our final six guys, but first we’re going to take our final break. I want to tell you about our friends at All Prochade Concepts and they are great out here in Arizona because you want to be outside, but sometimes it’s just too darn hot and the only way you can really do it is on your patio, but you got to find a way to block out the sun. So, our friends at All Prochade Concepts can really help that. 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So, call 623204-1476 or visit allproshadecepts.com now to schedule your free estimate. Uh, we’ve also got to talk about our friends over at Empire today because if you’re doing uh do-it-yourself projects, sometimes it can be overwhelming when you go to one of those big box stores and you’re trying to figure out what flooring your house needs. So, just like your favorite team needs home advantage, your home needs a home floor advantage and Empire today can help you get it. Uh, they are the best in the business when it comes to flooring because they live and breathe it and they’ll be with you every step of the way. They can help you pick the right flooring and the right colors for your space. Figure out the right dimensions. They come to your home and help you uh make sure that everything looks good in your house cuz it’s a lot harder to figure that out when you’re at the store. So, schedule a free in-home estimate today because some things are just better at home. PHNX listeners can receive a $350 discount using promo code PHNX. I stumbled over it because it’s an insane discount. $350 discount with code phnx. Restrictions apply. Visit Empire todayx for full details. Uh Eric is not fired. He’ll be back on Monday. I promise. Yes, we we’ve had we’re we’re we’re good. We’ve we’ve got a stable group. We’re hitting our stride. We’re a welloiled machine here at PHX Suns. Uh Eric just needed some time away. Some much needed much needed. Much earned for sure. Yes. Absolutely. All right, Stephen. We’re going back to our tiers to close things out. We got six players left and I left some of the juicier ones here by design. Let’s start with Oso Igadaro who it it’s funny him and Ryan Dunn. Man, I have no idea what to expect. I think Ryan Dunn has a better shot at um minutes at at a at a stable role because mostly because I don’t know whether they plan to play OSO fulltime as a four or whether they’re going to switch him between the four and the five. They Brian Gregory did mention that he feels like with OSO getting stronger and bulking up a little bit more. He’s going to defend around the basket better. So that suggests five, but Jordan is coming from a Cleveland system that leaned on dual bigs. They went into summer league and they played Oso at the four quite a bit next to Kaman Malawatch. And because OSO can’t shoot, if you do play him at the four, you need a floor spacing five probably to make that work. So a lot of questions in play here. I have no idea where to slot Oso Gadaro. He could he could be important or he could wind up being extra depth. I have no clue how that’s going to shake out. I hope that it’s important because I really want to see like he flashed some skills that he’s improved over the over his first NBA offseason at Summer League. I want to see it. I just don’t know where to slot him in. Yeah, that’s what makes that’s what makes this preseason such an intriguing one. That’s what makes training camp such a fun thought exercise to kind of run through. Mhm. I think he’s firmly important as his floor. Um probably ahead of um ahead of Nigel Hayes Davis, but after Rashir Fleming. Okay. Um I feel like there’s because Rashier is so much more versatile on the offensive end. I think that gives him a little bit more upside. Can shoot. Yes. specifically the shooting part. Yeah, for sure. Because if Oso could shoot, he would he would be probably starting for this team right now. Yeah. Um because everything else that he does, he does very very very well. I’m really looking forward to doing this film session that’ll be coming out uh on Saturday. We’ll record it tomorrow, but it’ll come out Saturday as I dive into a couple of specific things with him. Um but yeah, I think he’s important at the floor for his um season coming into this upcoming one. Okay. I’m I’m good with putting him in between Rasheed Fleming and Nigel Hayes Davis. I think because he was drafted by this team and there’s such a emphasis on player development, I think that gives him the edge over Hayes Davis, someone that you’re bringing overseas and kind of taking a flyer on. As much as you’re confident in what he can bring and he’s got more experience than the two guys right in front of him, I think there will be more of an emphasis on making sure that OSO’s development gets the attention and the time on the court that it deserves. So, I’m I’m good with that. Um, man, there are a lot of options to play at the four, man. It’s kind of crazy. Um, and it almost makes you wish that like you could find a way to put Ryan Dun more at the three to free up more minutes. And that’s what I was going to say. I’m genuinely curious how much three. Obviously, Dunn can play. I think that’s his most natural spot. But Rashir Fleming like I mentioned as well as Nigel Hayes Davis because those are two guys that are more versatile, can put the ball on the deck some in varying manners. I wonder how much of the three those two could play because that opens up minutes for obviously Oso at the four and it just kind of better balances the rotation. Yeah. And it’s and it’s tough because I think if Oso or I’m sorry if Dylan Brooks and Ryan Dunn are both starting Yes. I think offensively at least he’s a four. I think defensively he’s more of a three with Brooks taking on the stronger matchups. But um and then then with Rashir like we talked to coach his coach at St. Joe’s Billy Lang when we played some clips a few weeks back he was saying in terms of his position at the NBA you train his skill set like he’s a three but that will hopefully just make him a super versatile four or even a small ball five. I don’t think the small ball five opportunities are really going to be there if those are there. I think they go to OSO. Um, and especially because they have three centers that are actual center. Like it’s correct. The front, it’s a little bit of a lopsided roster in terms of needing maybe a little bit more at the one, a little bit more at the three. Um, but yeah, I’m I’m good with this order that we’ve got it so far. Let’s talk about one of those other centers, Nick Richards. I think this one is really tricky for me because in terms of tradable, he’s right up there with Grayson and Royce and possibly more so be I don’t think he’ll bring up back as much value which hurts his tradability, but in terms of like guys they would be maybe okay with letting go. I think Richards would probably be at the top. The problem is, like we talked about earlier, if Kaman Mal Watch isn’t ready to have an NBA role yet, and if Mark Williams can’t play more than half a season, which through three years in his career has been the case, you kind of need Nick Richards as the only like legitimate center that you have on your roster. Yes. And we’ve have seen Nick individually at least succeed filling in for Mark Williams. It was in Charlotte. That team didn’t win a lot of games, so that’s not really encouraging. But in terms of individual numbers, we have seen him step in and and do okay. We saw last year with the Suns on a very dysfunctional team. He was not a starting caliber player by any means, but he’s a he’s still a good backup in this league. Yes. So, I have no idea where to put him. Probably somewhere in I can’t say I don’t want to say important. important feels because it feels like too much of a stretch especially if they would be okay with trading him and just feeding more minutes to maltwatch like sinker swim. So is he extra depth before or after Kaman? I’d probably put him extra depth before Kaman. Okay. Because I think he will get the minutes at least to start the season over Kaman. But I have a hard time saying that Nick Richards is important to what the Suns are doing this upcoming season. Sure. He could be. Yeah. But I don’t I think they would be okay with like like Nick Richards is not going to be a difference in five wins if they give his minutes to come on Mwash. You know what I mean, right? No, that’s real. I’m with Maria. Mhm. I think Nick is important, but I can I can be okay with having him at the top of Extra Depth just as long as he’s a front in front of Malawatch because that just kind of reflects we think for this season at least he’s probably going to be ahead of Malawatch. So, let’s let’s put him at the top of extra depth for now. Yeah. Um, okay. Now, we move on to Kobe Brea. Man, this is a tough assignment, actually. Like, you think you go in with a simple enough premise. Just rank the Suns 18 players. A lot of these guys, I have no idea because Kobe Brea, if you’d have told me, if you hadn’t have told me that he was on a two-way and just here, watch him at summer league, I would have said he might be important. Yeah. Or extra depth at worst. Mhm. But he is on a two-way. He’s not guaranteed minutes by any means. I would probably put him in extra depth just because he showed too much at summer league for me to be like, “Yeah, he’s not going to get minutes.” Especially when the guy that’s going to be taking his minutes is Grayson Allen, who, as we’ve talked about, could be involved in pretty much every Suns trade rumor from now until February. Yeah. So, I’m probably leaning extra depth. I don’t know whether before or after Jordan Goodwin, but I like what I saw at summer league. I think he will get the most opportunity out of the two-way guys, especially if he lights it up for the Valley Suns. Yeah, very very fun thought exercises tearing to the points that you made. Yeah, dude can shoot and this team does need shooting, which is another problem. He is the 1B to Grayson’s 1A on that front right now. There’s a sizable gap after those two for sure. Right. You said extra depth for Kobe. I have Kobe somewhere in extra depth just because the two-way thing I think he will be like this this feels like an easy prediction. I think he’ll get the 15th roster for spot by the end of the season. Not only because he’ll prove himself, but because of the fact that it’s cheaper to give a guy a rookie contract if you’re talking about trying to stay below the luxury tax and fill that 15th roster spot. Kobe Brea should have the inside track there. I’ll put him after Milo, but before I think that’s an okay spot. I do before a goodie. Yeah, especially cuz Goodwin is technically on a non-G guaranteed deal and I think if he’s not getting minutes if Colin succeeds, I it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility that they just wave him before his guaranteed date to kind of dip below that luxury tax again. Yeah. And then Espa turns into Kobe if he gets converted. If he gets converted, right? And we and we know that Ishbia doesn’t care about the luxury tax, but the luxury repeater tax is pretty harsh. And I think, you know, if Goodwin is not really playing, then that might make sense. So I I think that’s a good place to put Kokria for now. All right, we’re down to I in my opinion the three most important players for the Suns, whether it’s, you know, encore production or just the question marks about what kind of seasons they’ll have. Devon Armani Booker at the tippity top of Vital. And there’s a there should be a significant gap, honestly. Dad talking through and through this whole episode. Yes, the tippity top. Not tippy, but tippity. That’s not even a word. Um, the tippy top. And I I like we we’re going to focus all season long on the new faces, on the rookies, on their development, on the new role players, on all these guys because I think they’re the biggest X factors. But at the end of the day, this team’s win total will be decided fully by how much Devin Booker can go back to being the guy, by how much he will be insulated on defense and how much his ability to draw two to the ball will open things up for others and how they capitalize off of that and how much he’ll be able to score out of those double teams because we flashed or I uh brought up this statistic the other day that he was fifth in the league most double team player but out of the top 10 by far the lowest shot percentage out of those double teams in terms of how often they shot. So, I think that number is going to have to go up by necessity. I think a bounceback season is not out of the question, but it’s going to be tough because he does not have the scoring gravity around him that he’s had for the last couple of years. So, it will be an adjustment, but yeah, he he’s at the very top. And I think if Devin Booker misses like 20 games, this is a team that’s gonna struggle to win like devastating for sure. They’re in trouble if Devin Booker does not have one of his healthiest seasons this year. Yeah, that’s the that’s the kind of dice roll nature of this season. Mhm. Um, but I think that if he is healthy or regardless of health rather, I think he’s going to have a season that is is bounced back, if you will. And the bounce back is going to be less about the the statistical output in terms of the numbers on production. I think the bounce back is going to be on the efficiency side of things more than anything else. Yes. Um, so me imagining the efficiency hitting for him and him having that uh that pull up three-point shooting start to resurface. Yeah. Consistency, consistency, consistency. Um, I think that’s going to be what drives it more than anything else for them. Um, last season the Cleveland Cavaliers led the league in pull up three-point shooting largely between Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland. You give them drop, they kill drop every time because they can just find those pull-up threes. They also get to it in isolation. Deon Booker’s cut from that same cloth. He’s had no trouble creating that shot. Last season it was finishing it. Yeah. That resurfaces. I think you could see a lot of the production that those two saw with Cleveland for him this season with the Suns. Yeah. It got to the point where a lot of people wanted him to stop taking threes after spending years asking Deon Booker to take more threes just because he wasn’t making them and because the majority of them were of the pull-up variety. That is an important component to his game. It’s something that his coaches have encouraged recently. I hope that Jordan not does the same and I hope he’s more efficient because like you said, I think Devin Booker even alluded to it like in terms of not having the year that he wanted a lot of it was just missing shots and that happens like growth is not linear in this league. Just because one year goes by it doesn’t mean your percentage continues to climb necessarily. So I hope he has a bounce back year. I hope the defense is better now that he has more dogs and defenders around him. Um I hope the playmaking is on point and I hope that he’s able to stay healthy as well. Um, but yeah, he’s he’s number one and it’s not even particularly close in terms of what comes after, but we are going to talk about what comes after. We do want to thank all of our TV viewers for being in here with us. Just a reminder, the party always continues over at gophnx.com. And that means it’s overtime. We’ve got two players to talk about in overtime here, Stephen. Um, first of all, let’s talk about Mark Williams. This is kind of one of the biggest X factors and question marks of the season for me. It’s kind of weird. Like we brought this up when we did our Mark Williams breakdown. It’s kind of weird how little we’ve been talking about Mark Williams because if he goes down, you are left with a pretty dire situation at center. Despite how many options you have, none of them are particularly proven or good if this team is trying to compete for a playin spot. Like if Mark Williams goes to like Devin Booker, obviously if he gets hurt, you’re screwed. Mhm. But if Mark Williams goes down, it’s going to be very hard to fill those center minutes with a rookie or with Nick Richards or with small ball oso or Rashier, whoever they go with. Yep. Yeah, that’s the I mean, I’m bringing it up again, the dice roll nature of it. Having Mark Williams as your starting center, which his talent suggests that he should be, is a dice roll not because of the talent, not because of his trajectory, but because of the availability part. And especially if you don’t have a bonafide backup five that break glass in case of emergency. If we have to put him at the five for 25 30 games, we don’t expect a drop off. Yeah. I can’t say that’s the case with Nick Richards because of what we saw last season. Now, in Nick Richard’s credit though, we’re not sure that that’s going to be the case because they have some better pieces around him on both ends of the floor that should help for the things that made him good in Charlotte to resurface in a sustained manner. Sure. Question just becomes though, is he going to have to start or if he can just play in what position best suits him as that backup center? Remains to be seen. can’t guarantee anything within that. But if Mark is healthy, I think Mark can be a piece that shifts things for the Suns. Yeah. I I think so. That being said, I think he I mean, for how lenient they are on his services, he’s got to be a major key, right? I’d put him in vital, honestly. Vital. Okay, I’m with I’d put him in vital just because like you look at the other guys that would be filling in for him and they’re both in extra depth. Yeah, the situation gets pretty dire if he’s not on the court. Um, and I think the fact that there is that question mark kind of speaks to how important that he is and and like I I don’t think Mark Williams is going to come out and have an all-star season. We’ve heard the Suns say that they view him as like a top 10 center. I don’t see that for him. But I do think he’s a good player and I think he’ll be important to freeing up Book and Book will be vital to getting him good looks because he is a pick and roll heavy dump off heavy type of finishing big. Um so I I’ll put him in vital um before or after Brooks. after Brooks. Okay. Because the intangibles for Dylan Brooks, I’ll continue to hammer him till we get home. Okay, I’m I’m good with that. Our last guy, Jaylen Green. I saw somebody in the chat say Jaylen Green’s de better than Deon Booker. There’s not a single metric that you could really bring to me that would convince me that Jaylen Green is better than Deon Booker at this point in their careers. But Jaylen Green is vital for this team. He absolutely is. his fit with Devin Booker is going to determine almost single-handedly kind of their offensive floor and ceiling. How they fit, how it looks with him operating on the ball and Book off the ball and vice versa. I have no idea. I’m not as high on it, but I think he does bring some positive attributes to the table. I think he is very durable. When we talk about some of these guys that have had injury concerns, Jaylen Green has been very healthy. He’s young. He’s athletic. I would put him probably right after book for me. Oh my god, that’s crazy. We love our chat. We love the chat. We love our chat. Yes, Jaylen Green is vital for this team. Um, I think there’s going to be a lot of assessing as far as what the fit looks like between him and Devin Booker because that’s naturally going to drive what the ceiling of this rendition of the team is, which naturally might entail what decision that what decisions Brian Gregory and company need to make regarding the roster going forward. If this is a twoman group that you can build around, then you try to find other ways to go around building around those two. If Devin Booker is the guy and there’s not a clear-cut fit next to him in a guard room, now you got to look elsewhere. And that just kind of opens up another another kind of um hole for finding opportunity to add talent via Jaylen. Yeah. Um I don’t know if they’re there yet. It sounds like they’re all in on this rendition and seeing what they can get out of it. Like if Jaylen can find ways to add layers to his scoring outside of in the paint at the rim in particular and from the three-point line via pull-ups didn’t even say anything about the pull up or playmaking or the defense if he could just kind of find more efficiency on his shot creation and three level nature. That’s something you can build around with Deon Booker. Yes. And and I think like on the nights when Jaylen Green has it cooking, he will make Book’s life a hell of a lot easier, especially in the off minutes if not when he’s on the court with Deon Booker. Yeah. especially if they’re staggering those minutes. Yes. But I also think Yeah, he’s he’s number two on this list for me. Y just because you need that fit to work out. You need him to be more efficient and if it doesn’t work out like you are really hurting for certified scorers and playmakers, guys who can create. Yes. Outside a book because it’s really like Dylan Brooks can create in the post. Um, Mark Williams is pretty much pretty dependent on being fed. Grayson can attack closeouts, but not necessarily someone I would put in a in a lot of pick and rolls. Ryan Dunn, spot-up shooter and cutter. Royce O’Neal spot-up shooter. Like, it’s pretty much just book and maybe Colin, but he’s more of a create for others kind of guy. So, like, you need Jaylen Green’s creation. you need his scoring ability, his his ability to get his own shot at any time because you don’t have a ton of that on this roster. Even if Jaylen Green is not particularly efficient with those shots, you need that creation ability. So, as of right now, and we’ll review this one last time, we’ve got at the top of Vital, Devin Booker, Jaylen Green, Dylan Brooks, Mark Williams, four fifths of the team starting lineup for this team. Yeah. Which is which is good. Makes sense. Major key and number five hopefully. Ryan Dunn at the top of major key then Grayson Allen important we’ve got Colin Gillespie Royce O’Neal Rashir Fleming Oso Igodaro Nigel Hayes Davis and then extra depth Nick Richards Kaman Malawatch Kobe Brea Jordan Goodwin and then in our expendable category we’ve got Isaiah Livers CJ Huntley and Jared Butler rounding things out we did get a super chat from Nate thank you for your super chat Nate if you had to predict which players will likely move the most from their current ranking meaning the most volatile in their importance. Oso because Oso could go from being a major key to extra depth. Yeah, like that. Yeah. Um Nick Richards if Mark Williams gets That’s where I That’s where I was. Not going to lie to you. That’s exactly where I was looking at. Nick Richards could potentially become a major key just because of a lack of options around them. The Suns have multiple centers. They don’t have multiple playable centers. if Mark Williams gets hurt. Mark Williams gets hurt. Yeah. So, I think there’s a level of importance with an asterisk next to Nick Richards in Extra Depth. But I’m I’m cool with where everything is. Yeah. After we kind of let the dust settle on it all, I think I’m okay with where everything is. I think it makes the most sense. Um you could obviously swap some guys. We’ll have to revisit those four guys at the end of import because we have no idea how those minutes are going to shake out. Yep. But I think it I think that’s a good way to encapsulate the fact that we have no idea how those minutes are going to shake out. Um, any other final thoughts on our tears day results here, Stephen? I think the ambiguity is a positive thing for the Suns. It’s going to lead to some a level of interest that’s past what we can kind of predict or assume or anticipate as people covering the team. But I also think it keeps things fresh or go regarding training camp because outside of those top four vital pieces and maybe the two major keys being a fifth starter and a likely sixman right now, everything else is up for grabs. So it’s about who’s going to come in most prepared, who’s going to be the most receptive to learning new things and ultimately how that entails to how they perform in the preseason games. Yeah, every team talks about training camp battles and how important they are in that level of competition, but for the Suns, it actually will be literally decisive. Boy, if you are a wing and you are a dog, I got the perfect place for you because that’s all they got at the wing position right now. And everybody brings it in a unique way, too. So, absolutely. Like Ryan Dunn said at summer league, there there might be some fights in summer league and in training camp, but that’s a good thing for a team that thoroughly lacked fight last season. Is Dylan Brooks throwing the first punch? I hope no punches, but set the tone. Set the tone. Set the tone. Set the tone. just comes in and socks somebody on day one. Hey. Oh man, I don’t know if he’s got that Draymond Green clout necessarily from day one. I don’t know who our Jordan came after a ring. That is true. You got to win. You got to win the ring first before you can punch somebody in practice and still be on the roster for sure. And the guy that gets punched gets traded away. That’s crazy. Uh but that’s going to do it for this edition of the PHNX Suns podcast. Thank you everyone who is in here with us. We really do appreciate you guys being here with us in the dog days of summer. Make sure to hit that like button. It really does help us out a lot. You can follow the show at phnx_sons. You can follow the manton who is responsible for all these awesome graphics that we put together at freckledmamba. You can follow me at Gerald Borgay. You can follow the man Steven Pjon Garner at StephenPG3. I am off tomorrow, but we do have another show for you with Stephen and a special guest. So, make sure to check back with us tomorrow and have a good one. [Music] [Applause] [Music]

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Who is most important to the Phoenix Suns’ success in 2025-26? On the latest PHNX Suns Podcast, it’s time for Gerald Bourguet and Stephen Pridgeon-Garner to go through all 18 players currently on the Suns’ roster and rank them all from most important to least important. Here’s how they decided to rank Devin Booker, Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, Ryan Dunn, Mark Williams, Collin Gillespie, Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neale, Rasheer Fleming, Nigel Hayes-Davis, Oso Ighodaro, Khaman Maluach, Nick Richards, Koby Brea, Isaiah Livers, CJ Huntley, Jordan Goodwin and Jared Butler.

0:00 – Intro
1:40 – Congrats to Former Sun Mikal Bridges on Getting PAID By New York!
4:00 – Let’s Get to Tiering!
24:30 – Second Batch of Players
54:10 – Where do the guys place THE Devin Booker

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