What’s next for the Phoenix Suns with Gerald Bourguet

What’s next for the Phoenix Suns with Gerald Bourguet

Alrighty and we are live. Thank you guys so much planeteers for being here for another episode on Sun’s Planet Pod. I as you know am Bruce Veles here, one of the co-hosts of the show and today we are lucky to have a special guest, the lead writer for PHNX Sports for the Phoenix Suns and a co-host for the Phoenix Suns as well on the PHNX Sports Show. It is Gerald Bore. Very excited to have Gerald here on the show to break down the Phoenix Suns, go over some questions about the Phoenix Suns, to give you guys a little bit of an input of this recap here this off seasonason. Gerald, it’s a buzzing to have you on here today. How you doing today, my guy? I’m doing great. How about yourself? I’m doing good. Doing good. A little bit nervous, but I am excited today to have a good time breaking down the Phoenix Suns and to get over everything. As you guys know, Jake is over on vacation. Kevin is working, so it’s just going to be me and Gerald here today. But I really do appreciate everyone being here in the chat. And if you guys have any questions, maybe we can get them to Gerald here after the questions we have prepared for Gerald. But I sent some questions over for him and we can kind of get into those first kind of looking over at the off season. And Gerald, we’ve seen a lot of moves from the Phoenix Suns. Obviously the Kevin Durant trade earlier on, the Brad Deal signing wave, some signings here, now the rumblings of Jonathan Kaminga. My first question to you is is what has been your favorite move so far of the off season? Yeah, it’s a tough one because you look at this off season and obviously where expectations were a few years ago when they first assembled this big three, you can’t look at the change of course as anything less than kind of a loss like like it’s it’s admitting defeat. It’s turning the page on a chapter where you had championship expectations and fell very short of that. Um, but at the same time, I do like the way that they’ve been able to turn that page. If you have to pivot, if you have to accept defeat and admit failure and move on, um, at least they did it in a way that brings in established players, yes, but also allows them to get younger in the process. So, my favorite move, uh, is probably what they did on draft night, honestly. Like, number 10, come on, Model Watch, still being there. That’s kind of a no-brainer. and then being able to on day two move all the way up to 31 and 41 and get two guys that could be contributors um either down the line or maybe even as soon as this year with as good as Brea looked in summer league and with the way that Rashier Fleming has that 3 and D skill set that should be able to transfer and give him a a decently high floor in this league. I think those are all really good moves if you’re looking at developing talent and and internal development, which is something that’s going to be more important to this organization than it has in in the last couple of years. Yeah, you mentioned the internal development and that’s kind of what Jordan Au, Brian Gregory were kind of sticking with at these press conferences that you’ve been luckily enough been able to ask questions and kind of get some more insight revolving around that. And I feel like Mile Watch, Dylan Brooks, who was mentioned in that trade, even the guys like Kobe Bray, Rashir Fleming that they got from moving up in the draft really do fit that mold of what the Suns really want to show. And I’m very excited to see even if it’s not, you know, replicated on the stat sheet per to say, of wins and losses to see what that different identity really does look like on the court. Personally for me, I think my personal favorite move was bringing back Colin Gillespie. I know that’s a little bit biased with how he’s been able to play, but I had a lot of questions for you the offseason about Colin Gillespie over on PHNX Sport just because of the effort that he gave and how impactful he really was there for the Suns on a two-way contract. And personally, I was very, very ecstatic to see him get rewarded with getting another opportunity here and one that he can hopefully bounce back from with this season as well, banking on himself with that uh another uh one-year contract as well. Yeah. No, I I think Colin absolutely earned it. I would have liked to see, you know, maybe an extra year or two on that deal. Um, obviously being a one-year deal, but I am glad that they were able to bring him back and they they clearly think very highly of him because they could have gone out there and gotten a Chris Paul. Obviously, they did try to get Marcus Smart, but they are pretty high on what he’s going to be able to bring to that backup point guard position. So, um, hopefully he’s able to carry over some of the success we saw late in the season when he was actually given a chance. And um you know hopefully it wasn’t just a situation where he looked good by comparison because he was one of the few guys that was hustling and playing defense every night. That’s true. That’s true. And I’m excited to see him get that new role especially like you mentioned kind of getting to see that because I think a lot of people have been questioning that backup point guard role a lot this off seasonason and I think a lot of people haven’t really been as banking on Colin Gillespie maybe as myself or or you or others. And then second, my second question kind of revolves around the first one, which is what acquisition do you think has the best chance of being effective for the Phoenix Suns? And do you does this kind of align with your favorite move that the Suns made? Yeah, that’s a great question honestly because I’m not a huge fan of the Jaylen Green fit next to Devin Booker. I think there are things that he will bring to the table that can help Book absolutely and could help this team. Um, you talk about someone that likes to get downhill, that has athleticism, speed, um, and and I think he’s a willing three-point shooter and he is an elite shot creator. The problem is he’s not an elite shot maker, which is the distinction there. So, and I like the Mark Williams pickup as well, but I you obviously have to preface that with the fact that he’s never played more than like 44 games in a season. So, this is a big test for him, especially coming up in a contract year with him being a restricted free agent next summer. So, I might just lean on kind of the safe choice. And this is maybe more of an X factor than, you know, anything else. But Dylan Brooks is someone that I think will come in. He will play good defense for you. He will be the villain. He will bring the type of edge and grit um and and smashmouth mentality that you haven’t had since Jay Crowder and Chris Paul were here really. Um and if the three-point shooting holds up, I think that will make a huge difference. You look at he had a career year 39.7% last year on 6.3 attempts. Both were career highs. Um that’s going to need to carry over because I think in six of the seven seasons prior he failed to crack 36% from three. So you’re going to want that three-point shooting to hold up. I think it can, especially if he leans more into the the catch and shoot stuff than he does the pull-up threes. But if it does hold over, I think he’s going to be a a quality starter for you. He’s going to help reestablish your culture. he’s going to provide some of the the alpha mentality that the Suns need outside of Devin Booker. So, I I think I might bank on him just because I’m not sure Mark Williams can stay healthy. I’m not a huge fan of the Jaylen Green fit. And even with the rookies who I’m I’m high on their long-term prospects shortterm, I think they’re going to need some time to figure things out. Yeah, I would agree. I think when you kind of look at the two most effective, it would be either Jaylen Green or Dylan Brooks, the two starters that did come over from Houston. And and like you mentioned, the the ability of Jaylen Green to be such an effective downhill scorer is going to be nice in this offense, but I don’t know if that’s realistically going to translate the best alongside a player in Deon Booker. And those have been kind of the concerns from a lot of people in this Phoenix Sun space with the trade kind of going through. So, I would agree with you. I think that Dylan Brooks is going to be the most effective just because of his on ball presence, like you mentioned, his ability to be a catch-and shoot scorer. Hopefully that uh three ball percentage of 40% can hold up. I remember last year when he played against the Celtics because I watched them too. He absolutely torched them from three-point range. Everyone was like, “Where’s Dylan Brooks? Where did this Dylan Brooks come from?” So obviously it was some great last season working alongside the ball handling of Fred Van Fleet. Hopefully with Devin Booker as well being running a little bit more of that point book role. He’ll be able to find him out there on the perimeter for those catchoot threes to kind of make it a little bit easier for Brooks to find those offensive values. Because I know one thing that a lot of people have mentioned in the Phoenix Suns media space is the defense is going to seemingly be there, but with te Durant missing, Bradley Beal missing, now there’s a lot of offense being taken out. So hopefully a guy like Dylan Brooks can not only be effective on the defensive end where expect him to shine, but also on the offensive side filling in those holes of those uh discrepancies, missing those types of players as well. Yeah, you you kind of need the shooting to hold up for that reason because as much as people had their problems with Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal and Taius Jones, those were all above 40% shooters from three on pretty decent volume. You lost a lot of shooting this off seasonason and are replacing it with a lot of guys that don’t have that same track record. So, you kind of need Brooks’s three-point shooting to hold up. And the other area, I wrote about this over at gophx.com today, but the other area of his game that I think people have slept on is his postup game. He loves to take advantage of mismatches against guards. Uh he’ll dribble his way from the three-point line into an immediate post up, try and back guys down. He’s got a decent little turnaround jumper that he can turn over either shoulder and get to. Um so if if opponents are going to try to stash their worst defender on him or a smaller guy on him, he is someone that doesn’t mind taking advantage of that and being physical in the paint. And he’s got pretty decent footwork there, too. So, it’s not something you base your offense around. Obviously, Phil Dylan Brooks postups, but it is it is a fun little wrinkle that he can bring to the table. Yeah. And I like how you mentioned that because I know you and Stephen recently talked on PHNX about how Ryan Dunn and Brooks are most likely going to be the three and four, but talking about who could be the three or four. And I think that that you just mentioned talking about Dome Brooks, using those mitch match mismatches, lurking low in the post could kind of incentivize him playing a little bit more of that full role like Steven was kind of saying on your guys’ show the other day, which I think is some good correlation for some fans as well to make those connections. So, next question I have is for you kind of dates with the rookies. I know we kind of went over it as well, but who intrigues you the most as a rookie for the Suns this season? I feel like it’s a pretty obvious answer, but yeah, I mean, it’s got to be Model Watch for me just because he’s, you know, a top 10 pick. He’s a guy that on draft night you he landed at number 10 when you weren’t expecting him to be there, but you also traded for Mark Williams at the same time. So, I think Mark Williams is obviously going to be the starter. I think that Nick Richards might get the backup minutes at first to start the year. And I think Malawatch might get his spots here and there to try and prove himself. And I’m going to be intrigued what he does with those minutes because obviously at summer league I think it was unfair to say that it was all bad. It wasn’t all bad, but there were some definite ups and downs there and I think they used him in a way that maybe they won’t be using him with the main team in terms of having him on the ball a little bit more, more dribble handoffs. He looked a little uncomfortable. Um the physicality kind of threw him off his line. He had trouble coring, you know, contested rebounds or alley catches, that kind of thing. But I do think he’s going to get stronger. He’s only 18. Like this is a guy that if he had been um you know, if he had forgone this draft and gone in the next draft, he probably would be a top five pick still despite the the topheavy or talent heavy top of that draft class. Um and that’s the reason why the Suns turned down the Pelicans offer of a 2026 first round pick for him. They they really like this guy. So I’m intrigued what he can bring. I I want to see how many threes is he going to be shooting when he gets on the court. And we know that like Nick Richards, he could be traded at any point during the season. Mark Williams could go down with an injury at any point this season. So, I think Milew watch is going to get his opportunities. It’s whether or not he can make the most of them and kind of assert himself as the backup center uh that I’m going to be keeping an eye on. And especially with them having now Oso Gdaro and Nick Richards in that front court as well, it’s a little bit more difficult for a guy like Mwatch to kind of seemingly get those guaranteed minutes. And I feel like when you I know a lot of people have said this like they watch model watch at summer league they maybe thought like this guy was going to average 20 and 10 immediately and if you do your research and kind of just understand the 18 project piece learn to play basketball at 14 we all know like his transition to kind of playing professional basketball it’s it’s been a slow it’s been a grind but it’s been you know a a great grind and even though he’s had some time to pick up the game there are comparisons at the summer league where I heard multiple times where he’s better than what Joel Embiid was at 18 right and obviously you don’t want to put associate Joel Embiid with Kamwatch. But if you just obviously look at the the positives of of a viewing of Joel Embiid, that could be nice in two to three seasons like we wanted to see DeAndre in turn out to be this dominate in this this dominant big alongside Deon Booker. And like you have mentioned and like a lot of other uh media members have mentioned as well. It’s not about this season. It’s about next season and the future seasons after kind of building that culture out. And I think highlight highlighting that guy on my watch at 10 was that right pick. Someone that I personally didn’t think was going to be available at 10. I thought he was going to be gone at 8. So, I was even shocked that he was available for the Suns. And I don’t blame them for not doing that deal with the Pelicans. I think that you have this very intriguing piece of my watch who at the summer league, like you mentioned, it’s the summer league. It’s not like it’s all rainbows and sunshine. There’s no We got Yuri Collins giving him pick and roll passes. It’s not the It’s not the It’s not uh the best. It’s not C uh CG or Deon Booker or anything like that. So, I do think we can see the growth of Model Watch. And like you mentioned as well, I think his role in the summer league because it’s so experimental, they just wanted to kind of just let him loose, kind of do whatever he could kind of do to give some intrigue and then they’ll kind of fine-tune his role through training camp and through this uh building of his rookie season. Yeah. And I think the fan base kind of needs to reset and go back to unfortunately the dark days of when Devin Booker was first coming up. And like, yes, you don’t want to put all your eggs in the developmental basket because we know better than most that draft picks don’t always pan out. These players don’t always pan turn into what you envision them being. But at the same time, I think the last few years have conditioned the fan base to expect results right now, to expect them to contend right now. And to a certain degree, I get it because Devin Booker is 29 soon. Like, you’re running out of time to capitalize on his prime and put him in contention. But at the same time, that doesn’t mean that you can evaluate these players as like it needs to happen now. They need to show us what they can do in year one because that’s not fair to them or their development. Um, and we’ve seen players that haven’t panned out immediately here. A lot of them being role players that are more established, but we’ve seen how quickly the fan base turns on them the minute that that they don’t pan out. So, I hope that they give these guys a chance to truly develop. Um, same thing with Ryan Dunn and Osui Gadaro because they’re, you know, number four and five longest tenur sons now on the team, but they’ve only been here for a year. They need opportunities to fail and grow as well. And I hope that Mwatch has afforded that kind of patience. Um, because I I saw the reaction a lot of fans to finding out that they turned down that Pelicans offer. The way that a source explained it to me was that like yes, that pick could be valuable, but we just saw teams that had the best odds to go number one in the draft lottery fall back to four, five, six. Like, it doesn’t guarantee you you’re going to get one of those top guys. And they believe that Mwatch would have been in that top five range if he had, you know, gone in next year’s draft. So, to get him at number 10, pay him a cheaper rookie salary than they would have next year if that was the case, like they they wanted to jump all over that. A lot of times it’s that thing from Family Guy where you know your two options are a boat or the mystery box. The mystery box could be anything. It could even be a boat. Like just take the boat if you really like the boat. Yeah. And and I don’t blame the front office for kind of thinking that way too. I think that’s the smart way. That’s is kind of the the the way that they should be thinking for the building of this team like we’ve kind of mentioned of not only just building for this season cuz feel like when people like you mentioned Deon Booker’s 29 obviously he doesn’t want to be staying rebuilding but when people hear 29 they think in two seasons he’s going to be off a cliff falling off like no this is not going to happen. they have plenty of time to not only ensure Devin Booker that they can build the right team around him, but also like you mentioned the development hopefully of these young players and like you mentioned Ryan Don Osio Gdaro even though they didn’t really get that much development last year in spotty minutes. Hopefully they can kind of see that promise with Jordanot going into this season. So then that kind of leads us into our next question here which is which new player acquired via trade or free agency excites you the most? H I know this is counterintuitive because I’m not a fan of the fit, but I I have a morbid curiosity about what Jaylen Green is going to look like in next to book in a new system under Jordan A. Like how all of those factor in because he still is only 23 years old. Like there were some players that were taken in the draft that are older than Jaylen Green, then Mark Williams. So, as much as we think of these guys as established talents, and as much as I have my very legitimate doubts about how he’s going to function here, I am very curious to see how he looks. And I am excited that he’s going to bring some electricity to the building because you think about the Suns of the last couple years. Like obviously watching Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, guys of that caliber play is exciting, but it was always on kind of an individual basis. And those teams outside of Ryan Dunn and Oso Gadoro really lacked athleticism. They lacked play finishers. They lacked electrifying highlights. And and it sounds stupid because that doesn’t always contribute to winning obviously. Uh but Jaylen Green started every game he played in for a team that was the two seed in the West. And the same thing with Dylan Brooks. Started all 75 games. Like these guys did on the fly as a young group learn how to win. And a lot of that goes to Emodoka. But if Jordan not is a good coach, maybe you can recreate something similar here because I do think Devin Booker is that guy, especially now that he’s going back to being the number one option. So I am curious to see how Jaylen Green fits. We saw the Gamidoro report that he’s going to be the the point guard. I hope that that just means he’s dribbling the ball up the court and then letting Devin Booker kind of be the primary initiator because he’s Jaylen Green’s not a point guard and he’s not a better playmaker or ball handler or passer than Devin Booker or scorer for that matter. But I I really am excited to see how he makes it work because a lot of people think when I say I’m not high on the fit that I like have something against the kid. I’m really excited to watch him play and see how it all works. Um I don’t know that it’s going to work but I’m excited to see how it goes. Yeah, I think a lot of people when they when they hear like Jaylen Green, Devin Booker, they just think another shooting guard and it’s just like the same thing as Brad Beal and that’s kind of just like the same initiative, but like you’ve kind of displayed and how how you voiced your uh opinions of liking him and and not liking him. He brings a different type of basketball than Brad Beal is going to be, right? Attacking downhill. I expect him to be kind of working on the elbow, driving and cutting to the basket, looking for potential lob threats, trying to be making some high-flying plays, and just kind of being able to bridge a little bit of a different offense than Brad Deil because Brad Deil notoriously has said back in the past that he doesn’t like driving to the basket because it helps him get injured a little bit more. And that’s something where Jaylen Green is going to focus more on as well, which I think is going to give, like you mentioned, a new outlook for the offense and how they really want to play. I know Espo kind of said it earlier, the the point guard situation. I’m hoping that it’s just kind of just like written on paper kind of thing because like you have stated, I don’t necessarily think he’s going to be a better passer or playmaker for this offense. I feel like he’ll get a little bit of tunnel vision similar to how he did over in Houston where he’s just going to, you know, maybe have some forced turnover turnovers, have some bad plays. So, I would like Deon Booker to really run that offense and have I think Jaylen Green works even though they both work good offball. I think Jaylen Green looks better off ball compared to Deon Booker does in my in my opinion. No, I think that’s fair and that’s the reason why I I’m hoping that it’s just kind of multiple ball handlers, multiple initiators. Like this is what they wanted to do with Bradley Beal, but they had Kevin Durant on the roster, which is not a bad thing. Obviously, if you have a Kevin Durant, that’s going to be your number one option and rightfully so. But if you take that out of the equation, now you’re looking at more of a multiple ball handler system. Um, and hopefully that’s kind of what we’re looking at here where, like I said, like if Devin Booker was the full-time point guard just because he’s the better playmaker, then you’re looking at what teams used to do with Chris Paul, which is they zigzag him all the way up to half court, try to wear him down, take seven, six seconds off the shot clock and suddenly you’re barely starting your offense with like 16 to go on the shot clock. So hopefully Jaylen Green because he’s younger, more dynamic athlete, he’s getting the ball across quickly. They’re playing with tempo. they’re getting into their offense quicker and then Devin Booker can kind of be the lead decision maker in the half court in that way. Um, but yeah, I I am excited to see what it looks like even though I have my doubts about, you know, how effective Jaylen Green will be here, especially in year one. He’s still a young player. He’s got time to develop, but it might take some time to unlearn some things that Houston had him do because they didn’t have as many scoring options there. Yep. and he might have to be I guess more of an offensive focal focal point which we could see even if his stats look good. Obviously the shot tendency and you know the shot percentage of the troop shooting percentage everyone is looking at as a glaring issue with his inefficiencies maybe rising or declining with the obviously impug of his offense and defense. I like how you mentioned the Kevin Durant thing as well because with Durant, Booker and Beal, it kind of even though they were running random offense last year, they were running sets with Booker, running sets with Beal, running sets with Durant and they kind of had to kind of accommodate to that with all three of their different coaches when they were running these types of styles. now with Jordan Knaut and now that you only have I guess less offense, it’s more focused on those two guys and what they can really bring out for the Phoenix Suns which I think is a little bit more intriguing to see just because it’s not like as set in stone what the offenses is which a little bit weary of makes make it a little bit more questionable but I think does give you a little bit more insight on I guess development of what this team can truly be. Yeah, absolutely. And I I think that Jordan hot piece is going to be a big part of a lot of these players that we’re talking about. Yeah, I think so too. And that kind of works really well into our next question here, which is about Jordan Aut. So, I know you guys have been doing a little bit more on like the coaching stuff side of things. So, when evaluating coach Jordan Au, what stands out the most to you that he can help bring to the Suns this season that they maybe lacked last season or the past couple of seasons? Yeah, I think the way that he’s been described multiple times is this cutting edge basketball mind. Like, he grew up in the film room. He’s someone that does his homework there that works harder than anybody else and he’s always trying to identify modern NBA trends and figuring out how they can get ahead of them or harness them basically. So, and that’s on both ends of the floor. He’s been credited with this. So, I think when you’re looking at wanting to play a modern style of basketball, but also being able to understand where it’s going to go next, what the next thing is going to be, I think that could give the Suns a leg up a little bit if he’s able to deliver on those types of descriptions that he’s been getting. Um, because I think you look at some of the things that he wants to bring from Cleveland that he’s talked about in his pressers. Um, you know, leaning into more player movement and cutting. I think those are good things, especially when we talk about if Jaylen Green’s playing off the ball. He’s a quick guy. Like, he’s a very quick guy. Not the best finisher around the rim, but if he’s cutting at the right time and into the right spots, he’s a much better finisher around the rim then because he’s got that athleticism. Um, I I think you talk about Mark Williams being a pick and roll heavy big and and a dump off heavy big. You’re going to need to have a lots of player movement. You’re going to need to h be able to throw different things at defenses. And then defensively, they actually have rim protectors now in Mark Williams, Kaman Mwatch, um even Nick Richards to a lesser degree. So I think if you have that trust there, you can be more aggressive on the perimeter, which is something he’s talked about, something that Ryan Dunn mentioned in the first summer league practice. He was joking that he felt gassed after finally being able to get back to pressuring on the on the defensive perimeter. And they have the horses for it now. They have Dylan Brooks, they have Ryan Dunn, they have Rashir Fleming, they have guys that can get after it on the perimeter on the wing. Um, which is something that, you know, last year’s team did not really have in terms of personnel. So, they got longer, they got younger, they got more athletic. There’s no reason for them to not be flying around defensively, for them to not be running all over the place offensively with cutting and all that good stuff, player movement. And I think that Jordan Au, if he’s able to harness all these things and kind of direct a lot of these younger guys, I think it’ll benefit everyone involved. And you see with other teams around the league as well, they’re embodying this cutting faster pace movement style of basketball. Look at the teams that were just in the finals last season. Looking at the Cavaliers, team that Jordan was just a part of, obviously a top tier team in the Eastern Conference. And that’s similar to like you mentioned how the Suns kind of want to build this team. And I can kind of see that with how they’ve done with their draft picks and kind of look with their their new kind of foundation of their team. But like you mentioned, Jordan not wants to implicate those things. And I think one of the the in most intriguing things about Jonaut to me is the complexity of how he ran his teams in Cleveland. obviously with the two guards, the double bigs, but with the Suns having so many possible different outcomes of running, you know, Don and Brooks potentially running Malawatch at the power forward and running Oso at the power forward, running that double big action like we saw in the summer league and then also having guys like Rasheed Fleming, Nigel Hayes Davis, guys that can play the three, play the four, maybe a little bit of small ball five. They have so many even Royce O’Neal who kind of gets slotted in that system unfortunately just because of all those new guys coming in. have so much depth there at that position compared to last year where it was what Ryan Dunn, Cody Martin, and that’s really basically it. Mason Plumbley in in the in the front court. There wasn’t as much of that. So, I do really like that they have kind of tapped into that. And I think Jordan’s going to bring the best out of those wing players and kind of uh installizing institutionalizing what that kind of defense and offense can be for the Suns. playing with those long athletic wings, playing with that hustle like you mentioned that he wants to bring in here because not only did he get credit from other anonymous sources around the league, but guys he worked underneath, right? Guys like Deari Carroll have now joined his squad. Darvin Ham was someone that was rumored to be uh coming here. Steve Nash gave him high praise as well when he was hired. So those are all good things alongside where you mentioned where even when he was hired, not a lot of people knew if he was an offensive mind-minded coach, a defensive minded coach. Those are really good cuz then teams view you as possibly someone that could be talented on both sides of the floor, which the Suns desperately do need. Yeah, absolutely. And and his background in player development, you know, Deari Carroll talked about how he worked with him directly and kind of helped revitalize his career when it felt like the league was going in a different direction. Um, working with him on the shooting. I think those are all positive things that you can apply to a much younger roster. And not just the fact that they’re younger, but you have so many new faces on this team. Like you’ve got multiple new starters like Jaylen Green, Mark Williams. You’ve got secondyear players like Ryan Dunn and Oso. You got three new rookies. You’ve got guys that you’re bringing in on two-way deals. Like up and down the roster. There is a need for being able to develop these guys and figure out what they can be and whether they can contribute in a long-term sense beyond just this upcoming season. And I think that’s the lens that a lot of Suns fans need to view this as because I don’t see this being a 45 or a 50 win team. They might not win as many games as they won last year to be honest with you, but as long as they have the right trajectory and are showing that they can play to an identity that younger guys are developing um and that they’re hitting on the margins with even some of maybe these two-way signings or additional players they’re adding. I think that’s a positive for me. We just have to kind of res reset our expectations from how we were spoiled the first couple of years with expecting a championship every year. Yeah, my expectations definitely are very low going into this season. I know you guys were talking about potential records there over on PHX Sports. I’m kind of in the similar alignment with you guys where I’m just kind of going in there with lowtempered expectations. If they can get potentially 40 wins, I’ll be ecstatic, but I’m not seeing anything very positive outlooking. I’m just looking for at least not giving up at halftime, not coming out in the third quarter completely just tired and it seems like Mike Boonhoer didn’t even pump them up at some points. You know what I mean? That’s the type of energy I want to see from Jordan. And from all the characteristics that you brought and presented, I think that he can do that job for the Suns going into this season. So, with that being said, the Suns made two signings recently as well. They brought in a guy in Jared Butler who is on that non-G guaranteed deal. They also picked up Jordan Goodwin off of waiverss. So, what stands out from their game that can be added to this new identity for the Phoenix Suns, do you think? Yeah, I think Goodwin fits in well with the defensive-minded approach that they’re trying to take. Um, you know, this is a guy that even when he was here, the shot selection wasn’t great. The offense wasn’t great. He didn’t fill that backup point guard role that they kind of needed at the time, but he was a dog defensively. Like, he got after it. him and Josh Kogi were kings of steals, deflections, creating havoc, all that good stuff. Um, and they were also very active on the offensive boards, which is something that Jordan not has talked about wanting his team to be more active in crashing the offensive glass. So, I think Jordan Goodwin checks a lot of those boxes, even with some of the offensive flaws. He did shoot the ball well uh last year. it was a limited sample size, but you’re hoping that he can kind of carry that over for the first time in his career because if he can, then he is actually a playable player within your rotation potentially there if he earns that 14th roster spot. Uh even if the shot selection is a little shaky at times and and I also think he one underrated thing that he does is he sets screens well, he rolls well, and he’s able to make some plays out of the short roll, which is a luxury to have for a guard that’s able to do that. Um, as for Jared Butler, I’m truthfully not as familiar with his game, but obviously he had a really good stint to close the year for Philly. Um, the times that he succeeded have been on teams that have not been very great, obviously, that have not been competitive. So, it’ll be he’ll be kind of up against it to knock off Goodwin for that starting spot. Um, but he’s a guy that can create his own shot a little bit, which is something that Jordan Goodwin does, but doesn’t do very efficiently at this point. So, uh, I am curious to see more of him and some of more of some of these guys in training camp. Obviously, it’s a non-G guaranteed deal, so we don’t know how long he’ll be around, but, um, I view it as a positive when you have multiple training camp battles to be honest with you because that competition, um, kind of brings out the best in everybody and you wind up with the players that earned that spot. I would completely agree with that last sentiment there and I would wouldn’t be shocked. I think they have what, up to 21 training spots that they can bring in for training camp. Correct me if I’m wrong. I think it’s I can’t remember if it’s 20 or 21, but it’s in the 20s. Yeah. Okay. So, they still have they still have room to potentially bring in, you know, someone else on a training camp deal or something like that to even ante up the I guess competition in there, which would be very intriguing. I think I wrote for bright side on both player previews. So, I would say that you hit both of them very well. Obviously, Jordan Goodwin more defense kind of that scrappy defender for the Lakers like you mentioned had a very solid shooting career uh season this year, but was in very limited attempts. He was on a two-way for most of the season, then got picked up towards the latter half around the trade deadline. Had some impacts though on the defensive end. I remember uh for the Lakers, was, you know, was being one of their main primary onball defenders for alongside guys like Luca Donic and LeBron James, which could help out the Phoenix Suns, like you mentioned, figuring out that side of the ball. For Jared Butler offensively, I think he could be a pretty solid finisher at the rim and someone that can kind of work into that pick and roll uh for this team as like a tertiary point guard in my opinion. over on the Wizards before he was traded to the Sixers. He was actually on a 2-way for their entire season and was playing pretty well for them. The only reason they really moved off of him from my kind of knowledge and understanding was they wanted to give him that opportunity. So, I think that was really interesting to see as well for the uh um Phoenix Suns there getting a guy in Jared Butler who I think can make a very very strong impact for this Phoenix Suns team as well. There we go. Very good. You good? You good? Yeah. Sorry about that. Awesome. No, no, you’re good. you’re good. I was just saying Jared Butler just a solid tertiary guard in my opinion. I think can uh bring some of this fun to the competition and I I think for the 76ers really shined because they were in that like rebuttling phase kind of trying to figure out their identity with all their injuries and for the Wizards they were kind of in that similar stance in the beginning of the season and they ultimately moved him to give him that opportunity with the Sixers. I think like you mentioned, this is just an opportunity for Jared Butler and if he can kind of make the most of it for the Phoenix Suns, even if it is just a tertiary point guard, that’s someone that could kind of come in and if Colin Gillespie is either injured or has some, you know, uh, potential foul trouble, a guy like Jar Jared Butler could be that replacement and who knows, could have those shining moments in five to seven minutes where Suns fans are like, I like this guy. Yeah, absolutely. Like people always hold it against teams when flyers don’t pan out. And that’s kind of the point of a flyer is to take a chance, see if they’ve gotten anything. A lot of times it doesn’t work out, but sometimes it does and you get lucky and you find somebody that can actually be a part of your core moving forward. And that’s the whole point of utilizing all of these roster spots that you have available. Exactly. And I think the Suns are doing a great job in doing that as well. So next, probably the biggest talking point of the Phoenix Suns right now, I would say, is Jonathan Kaminga. As even today, Sham Shirania came out with some information regarding the Golden State Warriors offer, the Suns offer. What are your main takeaways from Jonathan Kaminga here? What are your thoughts on this whole situation? Yeah, I mean, I I understand their interest. he fits a lot of what they’re trying to build in terms of being younger, having potential, being an established player who still has room to grow. Um, and this is the type of of guy that you could take a swing on just because his situation with his current team is completely messed up. Like, at the same time, based on all the reporting that we’ve seen and that I’ve heard, like the Warriors are not interested in in Grayson Allen, which is what the offer would revolve around. Uh, the Suns don’t have a tradable first round pick, so they can’t sweeten the pot in that way. And to be honest with you, I wouldn’t include Ryan Dunn or Os Gdaro in a deal like this just to get Kaminga. I understand that Kaminga has higher scoring upside than either of those guys, but I am I am worried about falling back into that pattern of making short-sighted moves instead of letting some of these guys that you handpicked, that you drafted, that you’ve touted actually develop. Like, they have one season to their name and it was a season where Mike Benhoer actively stunted their growth. Like, I want to see what they’re able to do, how they’re able to build on this summer league. um what Jordan Au can kind of get out of them, how they’re used. And Kaminga to me, if you hadn’t gotten Jaylen Green in the Kevin Durant trade, maybe I’d feel differently because you do need more scoring around Book. Like right now, it’s just kind of Book and Jaylen Green in terms of guys that can create their own shots and I think that is a problem. I think Kaminga is another guy that could do that, but I feel like in that starting lineup, both Jaylen Green and Kaminga would be too much of the same thing. Um, and and Kaminga is not a good shooter. Like, he’s not a good three-point shooter. And that matters if you’re going to start him at the four as kind of an undersized 6’7 power forward. So, I’m I’m kind of out on it, especially like we saw the the uh report from Shams this morning that they were offering something in the range of like four years, 90 million. That’s not terrible. It’s like 22.5 million a year, but that is a significant amount of money when you consider the length of the contract. Um, the fact that you would be hardcapping yourself if you acquire a player from a sign and trade, you’d be hardcapping yourself with the first apron. Altogether, I’m kind of out on the idea. I understand the interest there and I, you know, I would be interested to see how he fits if they do find a way to make it happen. But from what I’ve heard, it feels like the Warriors are just not going to play ball with that type of offer. Yeah, I think I personally said 22 million was my max that I’d offer him. I thought he I think with restricted free agency, we’ve kind of seen over the past. I feel like these players want more than what they’re going to get and it’s just kind of known now, especially with the CBA and all the restrictions and this the aprons because you’ve seen with all the buyouts to guys like Dame and Wheel and even the contracts of, you know, guys like Jaylen Green, which some teams thought was a little bit weary. Teams don’t want to commit themselves to, you know, $30 million. And to these young players, that $30 million deal, I view it as like a $50 million deal max deal for someone that teams are kind of uncertain for. So when you’re looking at a guy like Jonathan Kaminga and kind of comparing that with Jaylen Greed on the roster, I don’t think it’s the best idea for the Phoenix Suns to go and get him. Even if they do get him at that $22 million, which I think is a comfortable price to pay him in my opinion, I don’t think that, like you said, with the fit with Jaylen Green and having, I guess, two stars you’re trying to believe in to take that next step is the right, I guess, path for this team. I think what we’ve seen from other franchises like the Pacers and from the Thunder is you can have this one centralized star and kind of build through the draft or build through with these nice role players and just filling pieces to complement your star player. And I think the Suns are heading into that direction. And I think doing a trade for Jonathan Kaminga, even if it involves a Grayson Allen in a Nick Richards in a a certain package, one isn’t going to do it for the Warriors, but also isn’t really necessarily moving that needle enough for the Suns to really take that leap to go and get those guys. And I feel like the Warriors, to your kind of point as well, view Kaminga as like a star level player. And I think with his name being mentioned in Lorie Markin with pods last year, I feel like they want a player like that. And that’s why they’re going to hold on to a guy like Kaminga and not take him for the value of Grayson and Royce or Grayson Richards because they know if they even if it does hinder his playing ability for this season, they can get at least a little bit more value in their eyes than I guess a Grayson on a three-year value because the Suns fans hold those guys a little bit higher in value compared to other teams around the league, too. Yeah. And and I will say maybe this is unfair because I I don’t know the kid personally. I don’t know his situation with the Warriors or what’s going on behind the scenes, but I am a little bit wary of a guy that did not necessarily fit in with the culture of a team that’s won multiple championships in the recent past. Um it is a little concerning to me that you look to your left and your right and the competition that’s trying to sign and trade for him is the Kings and the Bulls. That’s a little worrisome to me. Um, and I and I feel like I don’t know like a lot of people like the Warriors are not some infallible organization. They make mistakes just like any other NBA team. But at the same time, for all the people that are saying, well, Kaminga and now Kavon Looney are saying that, you know, the Warriors, they’re taking shots at the Warriors development and their championship culture and all this. And I’m just kind of like I’m probably going to side with Steve Cerr and Steph Curry and Draymond Green and the Warriors culture more than I am with Jonathan Kaminga and Kaman Looney. Like no offense. Uh, so I I think those are things that need to be said because I I I think you’re trying to build a new culture and if you’re starting it with a guy that is like honestly well within his rights to want a bigger role to believe that maybe they stunted his growth, but if he’s already coming here with the expectation of being, you know, a go-to guy on a team that already has Devin Booker and Jaylen Green, there are scenarios where that doesn’t play out very well for you. So just something to keep in mind. I would agree and I think like you mentioned he has those high expectations for the Suns and I think like that because you mentioned they have this new identity they have this new culture they’re showcasing that they want to build this new thing. So for Kaminga he kind of sees for himself oh I can just slot myself in fit right here be that rising star for this team and like you mentioned I still think he can get to those points but I don’t necessarily know like you mentioned with Jaylen Green on this team if it’s the best fit for him and if he’s coming in with those expectations. Maybe we could see something similar to, you know, when Buu and Durant kind of came, how they all thought this was going to be a big three. They’re going to win for championships. Something similar translate with this and they could be forced into some unfortunate decisions down the line. Kind of linking to that question, Gerald, do you think there will be any other moves transpiring before this season? And if so, who is most likely to be moved? I know Grayson Allen’s been the main sticking point just because he makes kind of the most money. um you know has been one of the longer tenur players here. But do you think there’s anything else in the woodworks if a Jonathan Kaminga situation doesn’t transpire? If Kaminga doesn’t happen, I’m not so sure. Maybe a couple of signings for training camp guys. I a lot of people look to the fact that oh they duck the luxury tax with the Bradley Beal waving stretch. Um they’re going to you know use the MLE to sign somebody. I don’t think there’s anybody out there still other than DeAnthony Melton who we know is probably going to the Warriors as soon as this Kaminga business wraps up. I don’t think there’s anybody out there that I would really use my MLE on at this point. Um so I I wouldn’t be surprised if they go into the season with that 15th roster spot open. We know they did it last year as well. Um it gives you a little bit more flexibility in trades potentially. If there’s a guy that gets bought out, then you have your MLE to sign them at that point in time. Um, and we know that, you know, if they feel like it at by the end of the season, they might try to duck the luxury tax because they’re the tax brackets for that luxury tax repeater tax go up a lot this year. Uh, they changed those a little bit. So, I think getting out of that, especially if the Suns know they’re not contending this year, would be a priority of some sort. That’s why they went with a non-G guaranteed for Jiren Butler. That’s why they picked up Jordan Goodwin’s non-G guaranteed contract. it might give them flexibility to duck that luxury tax down the line as well. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if they just leave that 15th roster spot open. Um, so I think outside of a Kaminga trade, they might be pretty close to done outside of, you know, some training camp type deals. Could be wrong. You never know with this organization, they they traded DeAndre Aton like the weekend before it was media day. So, you really never know what’s going to transpire. Um, but I would imagine outside of Kaminga, there’s not a whole lot left for them to do. And like you mentioned, that flexibility also comes into the pack with at the deadline with those trades, right? Potentially, they could do a two for one trade if they if they see fit, similar to how what they did for Yousef Nerkage last uh trade deadline. They could also, like you mentioned, sell some people off. Sell not I don’t want to say, but sell some of their uh uh guys like a Grace Now and a Royce O’Neal at the trade deadline if they want to bring up a Kobe Bray on a two-way contract or maybe an Isaiah Liver does stand out. Something along those lines as well. So definitely something to keep an eye out for the Suns. And with those non-G guaranteed deals, I’m pretty sure they expire in January, correct? So they would technically be like waved before the deadline or potentially be traded at the deadline as well. Yeah, I believe so. Okay, awesome. Just wanted to double check with that. And then Gerald, sticking away from the Suns a little bit, these last two questions here. My first one is, what is your favorite memory of being a Suns fan? Like before you did media and then whence you obviously were a media member. Yeah. So, honestly, this this might upset some Suns fans, but my first son’s game might be my best memory because it was when I was When was that? Was I in middle school at the time? I can’t remember. I was much much younger. Um, and it was Michael Jordan was on the Wizards and that was my first ever NBA game. We took a trip from Albuquerque to Phoenix for this game. It was like a Christmas present and so we got to see Michael Jordan play against the Suns in Phoenix. He hit a game winner. I think it was over Shawn Marian if I remember right. Um, and that was the last game winner that Michael Jordan ever hit in his career. Um, you know, most people obviously point to the Bulls one as the last one. They don’t count the Wizard stuff, but technically speaking, it was the last game winner that he ever hit in his career. Uh, and it was so funny because I remember how loud the cheers were. And I was walking out and some Suns fan was so mad. He’s like, “Why are you all so happy that lost?” And somebody’s like, “It’s Michael Jordan, man. Like, what do you want from us?” So, um, it was it was a really cool experience. I got like I walked out of there with like a stuffed Suns gorilla and like a Wizards Michael Jordan jersey. So, it was uh it was it was quite an experience for young Gerald. And that was like I already grew up playing basketball, loving basketball when I was a baby. The only thing that they my parents could shut me up with was putting on uh NBA basketball on the TV. So, I already loved it. But that was kind of when I was like, “All right, this is this is a an thing that I want to be my future somehow, even if I’m not going to be playing it myself.” Yeah, that’s how I kind of similar with me. That’s cool to see Michael Michael Jordan. But not only just that, the Wizards and the Blue and Gold jerseys, I I can’t say that I ever got to see them back then. And as a as an avid fan of those old Wizards logos and jerseys, I’m a big petitioner of bringing that back because I’m not a big fan of the red, white, and blue. Then lastly, Gerald from our guy Jake, he had this question to ask you. If you had to stay a night in a haunted mansion, would you rather do it with a Kevin Durant stand or a Suns fan that says the sports media doesn’t ask tough questions? Oh man, that’s a great question. I could probably do either. Um because I think Kevin Durant stands like that was the the most annoying part was a lot of times on our show we were overwhelmingly positive about Kevin Durant and the minute that you said anything negative they would kind of jump down your throat and they would stop listening and they all logic would go out the window. So maybe I might rather do it with somebody like but a lot of Kevin Durant stands eventually were cool with me. They just would have a conipion online over the way that their guy was covered or whatever. Um, I might do the people that say that sports media doesn’t ask enough questions because then I could just spend the whole night educating them on why they’re wrong and that would be a thrill for me. So maybe I would do that one. I I feel like that would be the easier alternative honestly cuz you get you get stuck in a haunted mansion with a with a KD stand and you hear a little creek down or something like that and you’re like what is that? They’ll just start absolutely blaming you for the creek and the noise and they and might start, you know, thinking you’re the ghost possessing the house. So, I think that that the other uh the latter is definitely the better way dealing with some people and educating them more on what it is to be like a media member, what it is to be in this spotlight because even though a lot of people say you don’t ask the tough questions, it is a tough job to ask the right questions and we all know that from a professional standpoint. So, I want to say a huge shout out to Gerald for hopping on the show today, coming into Sunsplanet Pod for all of you guys here. If you obviously know Gerald for all his great work over on PHNX Sports, definitely go and check him out. Obviously a lead writer for the Suns over there. Just had a piece like he just mentioned coming out about Dylan Brooks. Yesterday had pieces on Ryan Dunn and Osdaro going in on them. So definitely go check that out. Get all your Suns updates from Gerald. And you can see him on the PHX Suns show daily at 6 PM where him, Stephen, and Eric break down the Phoenix Suns. So definitely go check them out. Gerald, it was an absolute blast having you on. I really do appreciate it and hopefully we can have these conversations in the future as well. Absolutely, Bruce. I appreciate you having me on. Had a great time and uh looking forward to doing this again soon. Sounds good, Gerald. Once again, thank you guys so much for being here in the stream. If you missed the stream, tracking it on the VOD. We really do appreciate all the love and support. Planeteers will be signing off today, but have a great rest of your day and go Phoenix Suns.

Suns Planet Pod! We’re pleased to welcome Gerald Bourguet for the second time to talk about the Phoenix Suns’ offseason moves in the past month and what moves are there that they could still make.

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