What Will Be the IDENTITY Of The Suns? Plus, Why Nigel Hayes-Davis And Nick Richards WON’T PLAY!

What Will Be the IDENTITY Of The Suns? Plus, Why Nigel Hayes-Davis And Nick Richards WON’T PLAY!

on today’s show. What will the Phoenix Suns identity be like in 2025? And what will the rotation look like? And will those two things be faximiles of each other? Let’s talk about that and much more in this edition of Locked On Phoenix Suns. You are Locked On Suns, your daily Phoenix Suns podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. your team every day. What is up and welcome into lockdown Phoenix Suns. My name is Benjamin Garcia, host of the Ben Garcia Show. Mornings Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7 a.m. as well as a credentialed Phoenix Suns media member covering your team 365 days of the year. It’s why we say your team every day here at the Locked On Network. Thanks for making Locked on Suns first listen here on this beautiful Sunday night, Monday morning. Don’t forget Locked on Suns is free and available on all platforms including YouTube. So click that follow or subscribe button to do it. Thousands, dare I say millions, billions, even trillions of Suns fans have already done become every day or get locked on the Phoenix Suns right here each and every day. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel right now new customers. This is insane. Can bet just $5 and if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Download the app today. So, there’s a lot of things we got to get into before before I really say anything, guys. I am We are getting there. Suns media day is approaching and I am so stoked for the Suns season. I know that there is like the like some segment of Suns fans who quantify that I’m negative or I don’t think this team is going to be good like because I don’t I don’t think this team’s going to make the playoffs. This is going to be a very fun Phoenix Suns season. I am so stoked to see some of these players and how they mesh with Devin Booker. I’m stoked to watch Devin Booker just go into bleep it mode and and be one of the better players in the NBA. I think a top 10 player potentially once again in the NBA this time next season. So, we’re getting close and so that means we got to dive into things that really matter. Not to mention, not to say that things before didn’t matter, but now we’re getting deep into the Now we’re getting deep into the offseason and it is coming up soon and I’m stoked to watch the Phoenix Suns start to play some basketball again. So, with that being said, we’ve talked a lot about the Suns obviously this off seasonason at Nauseium. You know, what will Jordan not do? What will his schemes look like? What’s more important is, and we’ve said this before, it’s not important that the Suns make the playoffs this year. I think a lot of 2021 Suns fans that jumped on the bandwagon, which nothing wrong with that. You want to be a fan of the team that you grew up, you know, in your city watching, being a Suns fan, and you just jumped on when they were good. Nothing wrong with that. But you have been a spoiled Suns fan, meaning you’ve been spoiled and accustomed to the wrong things that this team every year is just going to go to the finals, the playoffs. That’s not what it was like for a lot of Suns fans watching this team for years. Myself who was a 7 seconds or less Suns kid with Marian and Tim Thomas and Jim Jackson and Amari Starttomire, Pat Burke, like just a plethora of players. Steve Nashley, Andrew Barbosa, Joe Johnson was there for a spell as well. I’ve been here for all of it and I was there for the decade where the Suns could not sniff the playoffs. This season is going to be fun because there are no expectations. Can the Suns be fun? Can they be interesting? And can they start to build a culture? You might think it’s important to get into the playoffs and get swept by the first team you see in the first round. That’s not what’s important. Your culture is what’s important. the San Antonio Spurs, who everyone’s picking as everyone’s darling this year in the Western Conference. And Victor Wimbeyama, who was a top 10 player in the NBA, if I could find that right here, Victor Wimyama was a top seven player in the locked on top 100, hasn’t played a playoff game yet, and they’ve already got him in there. What’s important is not making the playoffs. What’s important is establishing a culture, and we’ve talked about this toughness. So, what is the Sun’s identity going to look like? When I talk about an identity, that means when all else fails, I can fall back on this. In baseball, I think a lot of the times it’s like you have a really good bullpen. Well, we’re not hitting right now, but if we can just get a run in, we know our seven, eight, and ninth inning guys will shut out the opposing team. We can fall back on that. And 95% of the time, 90% of the time, it’s going to work. In the NFL, it’s kind of similar in that way where the Arizona Cardinals, they’re in their own backyard or more of a rushing team. They don’t throw the ball downfield a lot. Well, when all else fails, we can hand it to James Connor and Trey Benson. The Phoenix Suns last year didn’t have an identity. An identity cannot be talent. It cannot be we’ll we’re just going to outscore you. If every team’s identity could be that, they would do that. The Golden State Warriors identity was that kind of I’m being kind of tongue-in-cheek there, but they would just outscore you in games. They were just better. They had the more star power. They had the better players and they could just do that. The Suns identity, I think, needs to be two things. Obviously, in the mid-range game, getting the ball to Devin Booker. 90% of the time, if you can draw up a play for him and get him in the mid-range, he’s going to make the bucket. That doesn’t mean you can do that the entirety of the game, but when you need a bucket, what are you going to do? Let’s say the game’s 100 to 102. You need someone to tie it up. What’s your bread and butter? Run a screen at the top of the key. Try to get someone on the hip of Devin Booker and try to see if you can get an elbow jumper to send this game into overtime. That’s what one of the Suns identities has to be. Get the ball to Devin Booker, hit an elbow jumper. That’s what it has to be. And that’s what it was pre Kevin Durant with Chris Paul and Deon Booker. It was kind of mid-range assassins. Kevin Durant was kind of that as well, but it was too much of the same player and it didn’t work out for this team. That is one identity of this team. Devin Booker, we will mid-range you to death. It can’t be the three-point jumper before people tell me that. It’d be nice for that to be, especially in this era of the NBA, but the Suns don’t have those guys that are going to hit buckets consistently outside of Grace Nen and and maybe even sometimes Royce O’Neal from beyond the arc. I would like for them to be that team, but that’s not the case. Offensively, it’s going to be tenacious, obviously, around the rim, throwing up lobs, but what do we need when the game is tied and we need someone to hit a bucket? Devin Booker mid-range. And we saw that a couple of times last year. Remember, he had a gamewinner against the Milwaukee Bucks. The Suns needed two points. What did What did Deon Booker do? Get to the get to, you know, kind of the inside of the wing area. Hit a bucket. But that’s only secondary because I don’t think the Suns are going to even have a top 10 offense this year. What I think that the Suns can do though and win a lot of games to potentially be in that playin spot later in the season is defensively. And I know that’s a strange shift a strange shift from last year to this year. Last year it was, “Well, God, you’re going to, you know, end up playing a game that’s 125 to 130 and you’re just praying you’re in it till the end.” The Suns don’t really have that problem anymore. They are big. They are bulky. Last year was a lot of Tai uh what’s that guy’s name? I already got forgot his name. Tyler, what the hell? Tyus Jones. I forgot his name for a second. He’s only here for 10 seconds, so I forgot it. Last year was a lot of Taius Jones, Devin Booker, and you know, Royce O’Neal. And that was your and Kevin Durant and no real center and this team struggled to be able to be bodied with other teams. But toughness defensively and suffocating as well as physical tough guys last year. What happened when Kevin Durant would get pushed around or or you know Yousef Nerk would be fighting with people. What would happen? No team respected the Suns team. did go up and they, you know, take their skinny jeans, pull them right up their ass and and push them around. That’s what they did. No team respected the Suns team. They would push you around defensively. Can you now go from the bullied to the bullies? And I’m looking at that and how important that is for a guy like Dylan Brooks to establish that kind of identity here. Meaning, defensively, you might shoot 35 free throws a night. I’m not saying that the Suns every night have the chance or have the identity to be the Oklahoma City Thunder defensively cuz they just don’t. They don’t have the same talent. But you could make teams earn it at the at the line. And there might be games where the Suns are just really good defensively. They have better talent than the opposing teams. The Hornets come to mind. The Wizards come to mind. Maybe even the Kings come to mind. But can you be a team that makes the other team, even if they beat you, say, “Damn, we didn’t think we were going to have to sweat it in that game, but damn, did we have to did we get pushed around in some spots?” Yeah, we won 99 to 90, but that was grueling. And it never really felt like we were going to lose, that being the Thunder or, you know, good teams, the Cavs, like teams with just a lot of firepower and star power that are probably just going to beat the Suns. And then in the inverse, could you turn some losses into wins? Like the Lakers, I would just assume the Lakers would beat the Suns right now. Luca Donic is really good. LeBron James and an or not Anthony Davis, LeBron James can still be a very viable player. Austin Reeves, they’ve just got better top end talent than the Suns do. What if you stole two games against the Lakers this year? Because the Lakers came in, they’ve played you in the past, you were a featherweight team, skinny jeans and and you know, backwards hats. That’s actually kind of funny that I just said that because I’m wearing one and you know not taking the game seriously and you’re soft and timid because they play you a lot and that’s what they remembered you from last year. But then in steps in Dylan Brooks who’s got a long relationship with LeBron James and Ryan Dunn who can be suffocating and then you get those guys out and what happens? Nigel Hayes Davis and Ryan Dunn. Two more lengthy players come in. Well, those those guys don’t play very well. What about Royce O’Neal? The savvy veteran who’s been allowing for a really long time. The Suns team I don’t think is going to be elite defensively, but I do think they could jump in to the top 12, top 13 because they’re going to be forced to have to do that. They’re going to have to muck up games. Can you push guys around? Take advantage of all your fouls. This isn’t a team trying to win a championship this year. This is a team trying to establish a culture and an identity to know when they ever bring in another star or when someone fills that second star role to Devin Booker, they know what they’re coming into. Last year, it was just we’re going to be talented. That’s not an identity. Can you push opposing teams around? Can you be physical? You’ve got the uh bandwidth to do so. This team’s way bigger than it was last year. Kamal Malawatch, Mark Williams, Nick Richards, who’s obviously back but only played half the season with the with the Suns last year. This team’s got a an ability to have an identity offensively, which is get Devin Booker the ball in the mid-range and let’s hope he can carry us. But even more than that, we’re going to muck up games. We’re going to make it You might beat us, but you’re going to feel us. And then really quickly, lastly, and I don’t think this is something that can maybe be an identity because but I do I just do want to mention it. This the the Suns haven’t necessarily been a brainiac team or a super smart team over their last, you know, couple of seasons. I think Jordan Knery basketball thing to him, meaning the Suns are just going to do things different. They’re going to be smarter on the court. They’re going to have intelligent players. I think Devin Booker is that guy. I think Dylan Brooks is again that guy. I think Colin Gillespie can be a really smart basketball player. That’s a very distant third, but it’ll be a much more prettier form of basketball, I feel like. But what’s most important is can you muck up games, be physical defensively, make opposing teams, even if they beat you, sweat it out a little bit and not get blown out in games? And then two, can Devin Booker be the focal point of an offense again, doing what he needs to do in the mid-range and not asking him to be this three-point jump shooter forever and always. So, with that being said, I think that’s the Sun’s identity, at least this next season. And that’s what I’m looking into it or that’s how I’m looking at it. Let’s get to the uh uh next part of the show. What’s the Suns rotation going to look like? We know at least a little bit for the starting lineup, but who makes the cut after them? And then who doesn’t make the cut and why don’t they? Let’s talk about that much more next. First, today’s show is brought to you by my friends over at FanDuel. Got to make sure I put my friends over at FanDuel up on the screen here. We don’t want them acting like or we don’t want to make it seem like we’re not giving them the precious air time they deserve. But the NFL season is here and FanDuel is making sure you’re ready for kickoff with a can’t miss offer. 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That’s fanduel.com to place your first $5 bet. All right. So, when we’re talking about this Phoenix Suns rotation, we have to establish what we think the starting lineup is going to be. We can be fun about it. And, you know, I think there’s fun lineups to throw out like, you know, the Twin Towers, Mark Williams, and come on, Malawatch on the floor. The The thing with this Sun’s roster is it’s really diverse. like you, they have one point guard on the roster if two if you want to include Jordan Goodwin, but this Suns team has the ability to be really diverse. And I’m talking you could throw four wings out there. You can go Devin Booker and four wings, four lengthy long wings. Royce O’Neal, uh, Nigel Hayes Davis, Ryan Dunn, Dylan Brooks if you want to include him in that. Or you could also go, we’ll go Oso Agadaro and Kaman Malawatch and Ryan Dunn and Royce O’Neal. You can you can switch things up in there. But what I think and what I what I would assume we would all would agree is the starting lineup is going to be Devin Booker at the one, Jaylen Green at the two, Dylan Books at the three, Ryan Dunn at the four, Mark Williams at the five. I know we’ve argued about should the Suns get a point guard, which is I mean just nauseating. We’ve had this conversation multiple times. They got one last year and they they weren’t any better. Um I think we have the Steve Nash syndrome where every era of Suns fan has had that big name point guard beyond this team whether it was you know Chris Paul or Kevin Johnson or Steve Nash years ago or Jason Kidd even for that matter. But I think that is the locked in Booker Green Brooks Dunn Mark Williams. So, who’s in the who who’s behind those guys, backing those guys up. Colin Gillespie is really interesting. He is the backup one on this team. I know he’s not a true number one. Shoots pretty well from three. And I think he just fit like I don’t want to just compare him to the first gritty white guy that there is, but he kind of does remind me of TJ McConnell in a lot of ways. TJ McConnell is a I mean that when you talk about a winning basketball player, that dude is just a winning basketball player. And Colin Gillespie, I think, kind of fits that mold until he gets to the level that TJ McConnell is, but he’s going to be the backup one for this team. And a lot of that just goes in the fact that the Suns will need some sort of point guard on this team. And when sharing the back court with either Devin Booker or Jaylen Green at a at a time, there’s got to be some consistency to the offense. Meaning, run Devin Booker off screens, run Jaylen Green off screens, get them cutting back door, and Colin Gillespy’s job is going to be to find them. and he’s a smart basketball player. That’s something we talked about as well. This team’s going to be smarter. Oso is a really smart player. Colin Gillespie is a really smart player. Devin Booker, Dylan Brooks, the Suns have got some smart dudes on this team. So, Colin Gillespie has earned the right to be the backup point guard for this team until further notice. And the Suns are going to run him out there. He’s a bulldog defensively. He’s not a good defender, but he’s not a bad defender either. He’s pesky. He’s annoying. He gets in your face. Kind of similar to José Alvarado. And then uh I I know we have a couple of different guys here. Osoaro, Nick Richards. You spent the 10th overall pick on Kaman Malawatch. We are not doing this. I understand if you don’t want to start him. In fact, I’m probably for that. He can be mentored a little bit by Mark Williams. And the Suns obviously have more uh uh big guys than they know what to do with on this team, more bigs on this team. So I I’m okay with the fact that Mark Williams is starting, especially since the Suns got to figure out if they’re going to extend him next year or not. But you spent the 10th overall pick on Kam Malawatch. You need to find out what you have in him. And so even if that’s a player that’s playing 15 minutes a night, he’s got to get his feet wet. This is a guy that I think just turned 19 years old like yesterday or maybe even today. Come on, Malawatch. We have to live. And this is why it’s important that it doesn’t matter if the Suns make the playoffs or not because they’re going to be some growing pains. Part of having a young team is having some growing pains. And the Suns are don’t want to be in a position where they’re, you know, their eyes are set on the playoffs, but they’re trying to deal with these rookie mistakes. So, come on. Mawatch is going to have some ups and downs. and the Suns are in a spot where they’re not expected to make the playoffs. So, if he has these up and down times, you can allow him to grow through them. So, Kamal Malawatch is the backup uh uh five on this team. And then, you know, it got me into the a couple other guys. Um I think Grayson Allen is especially going to be on uh in this kind of backup starting five. Royce O’Neal as well. Some of the reasoning why you have to have Royce O’Neal and Grace Allen kind of playing a lot of minutes and I think the Suns are going to play like nine 10 guys deep every night. They’re the only two guys that can shoot the three ball. Like Devin Booker can’t shoot the three ball. Uh Green can’t, Dunn can’t, Mark Williams can’t. The more three-point shooting you can have on the floor with Colin Gillespie, Grayson Allen, and Royce O’Neal, you’re going to want to have them out there. you’re going to need to have someone out there outside of Devin Booker that that can score the ball efficiently from beyond the arc. So, that goes without saying. Grayson Allen and I think he’s going to fit really well in this offense. Again, that’s another smart player that fits the mold of the Cardinal of the Cardinals of this Suns team that is going to be gritty defensive, push teams around. And when you ask Grayson Allen to be the third, fourth best defender on the floor, uh Grayson Allen can deliver there. And he needs to be someone that’s going to shoot 44% from three. Royce O’Neal hopefully 37 and Colin Gillespie kind of close to 40%. And that is where you’re going to get your three-point shooting from. So you need those guys on the floor. Rashir Fleming and Oso Gadaro are two other guys that are going to play on most nights. Rashier Fleming should have been a firstround pick. And I think also the reason why he’s going to play a lot is because it’s between him and Nigel Hayes Davis who we’ll talk about in the next segment. who’s not going to make the cut. You’re just going to give it to the younger player unless he’s way over his skis and he fits what the Suns need. The Suns have a glaring hole at the four spot with Ryan Dunn. I think there’s a there’s a chance where you move Ryan Dunn to the three, Dylan Brooks gets kicked out of the lineup and later on the season we’re talking about Rashe Fleming in the four spot because he’s 69 with the 74 wingspan. That’s a true power forward. not what Ryan Dunn is, which is not a small player, but not to the size of Rashier Fleming. So, Rashir is gonna play in this strictly out of need. The Suns need a guy like that. So, I know Soy Gadaro, I think, is just going to find some minutes on this team. You know, Nick Richards, you’ll see, didn’t make the cut. Kobe Bryant didn’t make the cut. Nigel Hayes Davis didn’t make the cut. And a lot of that’s going to be because the Suns have those players already. Unless in camp one of those three guys is just absolutely balling and figures out a way to move themselves into the starting lineup or I’m sorry into the rotation. Sure. But these are the guys you feel good about. We obviously know the starting lineup and then the next few guys Colin Gillespie, Grace Nan, Rashir Fleming, Royce O’Neal and Oso Gdaro. That is the next five guys along with Kaman Malawatch who I think is over uh Oso Gdaro in this in this setting because we you have to see what you have in the 10th overall pick. That is your rotation. I think on any given night you are seeing one through 10 those players. And then let’s get into a couple of other guys who who did not make the cut. And the reasoning why I say that I don’t think will shock you, but it’s because of a completely different reason than the Suns had last season. So, let’s talk about that and much more next. First, today’s show is brought to you by our really good friends over at Fivehour Energy. As I uh look for the overlay here, uh it doesn’t maybe it’s not looking like I don’t have the 5Hour Energy one. Well, how absolutely crazy of me to be able to disrespect our friends over at 5-hour Energy after all the things that we that they do for us. Caffeine just got fl a flavor upgrade. 5-hour energy shots deliver tasty caffeine in 17 bold flavors. Each 2 oz shot packs the caffeine of a premium 12 and a half or 12 ounces of a Each 2 oz shot packs the caffeine of a premium 12 ounce cup of coffee plus B vitamins and nutrients with zero sugar and zero crashes. That’s what I love most is how portable they are. Big taste, tiny shot. You can take it anywhere and get that boost when you need it. It’s literally like it’s like this big, guys. You know, one of the things I love about 5H hour energy is uh I don’t use it super often, but I use it when I definitely need it because I know it’s going to exactly get do get the job done. I use it about once a month. And one of the things I’ll say is like a couple weeks ago when I was at my fantasy football get together with my buddies in Prescuit, Arizona, I uh uh we stayed up really late the night before knowing damn good and well we had a tea time in the morning at like 8:00 a.m. and I was up till 2 a.m. No issues. buzzled myself a five-hour energy shot and I was perfectly fine for the entire 18 holes. Didn’t even feel the fact that I would I should have been tired. And like this says, “No crashes. Enough with boring flavorless caffeine. It’s time to give your caffeine a flavor upgrade to five energy shots. Get the favorites you love or be bold and try something new in stores online at ww.fourgy.com or Amazon today. All right, let’s close out the show. I want to talk about the guys that didn’t make it. And um the first one, I’m going to get past it quickly because I don’t think it it’s going to shock anyone very uh a ton. Kobe Brea, he’s not going to play on this team. Although I hate sending guys to the GLeague because I don’t think it I just don’t think it does anything. If you were a good player like in the NBA, like you made the NBA and you were a, you know, a first or second round pick, yeah, no crap you’re going to beat up on dudes in the GLeague who should be delivering mail to me every day. Like, I just don’t see this this strong correlation outside of a handful of guys where the GLeague really helped him. Oso Giggodarl should have been on the team all last year. There’s no reason he should have been in the G- League last year. I just don’t think it was helping him with Kobe Brea. Given the fact that he’s a shooter and that’s a lot of his game, a microwave scorer, and he’s an older player, he needs to get those reps. Just keep him in the motion of shooting the basketball day in and day out. So, he I think he’ll be a two-way guy that I think towards the end of the season, the Suns see as more valuable and I think has a chance to be converted to a real NBA contract. So, he’s not going to make this team because the Suns have better options and bigger options. So, as much as he could help the Suns with the three-point shot, I I just don’t see him contributing a lot this year. And I I hope I’m wrong because that’s another young player that could take that step up. Nigel Hayes Davis. Um, I’m struggling with this one because he is someone who’s completely transformed his game. And we saw uh that kind of same thing happen with Gchin Yabiselli from France to America this year playing on the Philadelphia 76ers where he was a bad NBA player, went overseas, now he’s a very solid rotational player in the NBA, like a championship level player. he would play on a championship team consistently. Nigel Davis might have that arc, but it feels like this is Rashier Fleming insurance. Like if this kid can’t play and I know they they got him before the draft. That’s not what I’m saying. My point is it or I guess technically it would have been after the draft. So, it is kind of like that four three spot um insurance for this Suns team where they have the guys and they think, you know, they really like these players, but why does it hurt to add another 68 69 wing with the big wingspan that you know can defend and again is a really smart basketball player. The Suns are going to try out Royce O’Neal, Rasheir Fleming, Ryan Dunn, Dylan Brooks and all those kind of ways in the wing spots. Dylan Brooks kind of being a smaller player out of those four. But if those guys don’t work out, you’ll see Nigel Hayes Davis. But I I I want to see this guy play. I think there might be something there. But tie goes to the younger guy and I want to see more Rasheed Fleming and I want to see more Ryan Dunn. So I don’t know if Nigel Hayes Davis is going to find a way to crack a spot in this rotation outside of us seeing him in preseason being like, “Yeah, you got to play this guy.” like you just got to play him. He’s just dominating everyone else where she Fleming is going to have to take a backseat. And then finally, another guy that I don’t think we’re going to see a lot of or that we shouldn’t see a lot of. This is why I was in favor and this is kind of like similarly that Nigel Hayes Davis’s insurance for Rasher Fleming. I don’t understand why the Suns kept Nick Richards around. It kind of leads me to believe it’s one of two things. one, they didn’t get the offers that they thought they were going to get for Nick Richards, and then two, Mark Williams insurance, because Mark Williams misses a lot of games. Nick Richards can easily step into that fold of potentially starting if it’s too early in the season and Malawatch isn’t ready or be the backup to Malawatch and still feel like you’re not, you know, fish out of water there. So when you when you look at Malawatch Oso Mark Williams and um um the guys oh Nick Richards you’re talking about a player in Mark Williams who’s just better than Nick Richards who’s going to play and has a chance to be a like a one of the better centers in the NBA. Kaman Malawatch who’s the 10th overall pick and younger and the Suns have more invested than him than Nick Richards and then Oso Gdaro who I think at this point is just a better player than Nick Richards smarter passes the ball better and I this is kind of crazy but actually probably even a better offensive player at this point in his career so we know who’s playing we know who’s probably not going to play a ton now everyone’s going to play in the regular season there’s going to be games where players get injured and guys are going to play Mark Williams Devin Booker you know sometimes has that hamstring injury for 10 games or five games, everyone’s going to play. But consistency, this is who we’re going to see. Or consistently, these are the players we’re going to see. And it’s not going to be a lot of Nigel Hayes Davis, Nick Richards, or Kobe Bryer. In my opinion, it’s going to be a lot of the other guys. With that being said, guys, don’t forget to follow don’t forget to follow me on all social media platforms. Ben Garcia show uh follow the show at Locked on PHX Suns on Tik Tok and Twitter and Instagram. With that being said, guys, don’t forget to like, share, subscribe. Again, follow me on all social media platforms at Ben Garcia Show. Appreciate everyone in the chat tuning in. It’s almost basketball season, man. You better get ready. Break over that encyclopedia. Figure out what you’ve been missing over the offseason because the NBA season is almost here in the Suns season is going to be electric. Can’t wait for that. And with that being said, guys, I will talk to you guys on Tuesday or Monday night, Tuesday morning.

Phoenix Suns fans, get ready for a deep dive into the team’s potential 2025 identity. What’s more important: making the playoffs or establishing a winning culture?

Host Benjamin Garcia breaks down the Suns’ projected starting lineup, featuring Devin Booker at point guard and Jalen Green at shooting guard. He analyzes how the team’s physicality and toughness could become their calling card, potentially frustrating opponents and stealing games. Garcia also discusses key rotation players like Dylan Brooks and Ryan Dunn, while examining which young talents might make the cut.

Tune in to hear Garcia’s bold predictions for the Suns’ future and his take on building a championship-caliber team culture.

0:00 Intro: Phoenix Suns identity and rotation in 2025
5:07 Suns’ offensive identity: Devin Booker mid-range game
8:42 Defensive identity: From bullied to bullies
13:16 FanDuel sponsorship and NFL betting insights
14:48 Projected Suns starting lineup for upcoming season
19:52 Key rotation players and minutes distribution
24:29 Players unlikely to make regular rotation
30:05 Outro: NBA season approaching, stay tuned

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