You’re WRONG About Jalen Green & The Phoenix Suns
potential this, potential that. What’s the route to that for Jaylen Green this season, Eric? Let’s talk about it. [Music] [Music] Psycho. [Music] [Music] [Music] Those instite for a potential addition of bet 3. Oh, bet 365. Oh my goodness. PHNX Suns presented by Bet365. Download the bet 365 app. Use code PHX365. Deposit 10. Place the bet for five and get $200 in bonus bets. I’m Eric or I’m Bet 365. I don’t really know. At this point, I’m joined, of course, as always, by Stephen. We got old frecklem aka Jersey behind the Mac making all of the magic happen. And of course, we have all of you in the chat hanging out with us. Matt, Sean, Kev, and company. Hit that like button. Hit that subscribe button. So many of y’all already hitting that like button. Double digit likes already. We appreciate all of you as we inch closer to the second pre-season game of the Phoenix Suns preeason. That is Friday morning. We will have breakfast with the boys. We will have a postgame show following their 5:00 tip off in Macau, China. They touch down in China, but we’re looking up today into the sky as far as where is Jaylen Green’s potential. Stephen, you did what you do best and you broke down basketball and you talked hoop and you had my personal favorite film study that you’ve done breaking down Jaylen Green’s playoff woes against the Golden State Warriors, diving into the why, the what, the where, and the how of it all. that is up on our YouTube channel right now. Exclusive segment for Die Hards. They’ve been eating up as well. What would you want to share from that before we get into all the details and stuff today on why a Suns fan or a basketball fan should go watch that breakdown of Jaylen Green’s game? Um, I would say for one because you can you can be easily swayed by discourse and people that are speaking with um some semblance of an objective that they’re trying to speak towards and it might not always be what aligns with the truth. And the truth is this kid is 23 years old. Bro, that is a fact. The man is 23 years old with all of this upside in terms of his offensive potential. That’s something that can be harnessed, nurtured, and then built around. You don’t stumble across people with that talent at that age often. The other part of it for me too is it’s one thing to speak about someone’s mistakes. It’s another thing to assess the lay of the land around them, why certain mistakes are made. Were the mistakes that they made their fault in process or was it a fault in process of the ecosystem they’re operating in? Or is it just that they’re going up against a team that’s really freaking good? Yeah. And individual players that are really good at what they do. So, there’s a lot of that context that was ignored by It feels like people were putting a period at the end of their sentence and writing Jaylen Green off for a 23 year old that just got done averaging his career high in points and has shown a potential to be a number one. Far too for me. Now, he’s not perfect and I think you could absolutely admit that as well. We’ll talk about his strengths. We’ll talk about his weaknesses. is what he has room to improve for. When we talked to him at media day, we asked him what he worked on in his game. You asked him how he fits in Jordan’s system. Brian Gregory talked about how they’re going to play and how that might impact Jaylen. We’re going to get into all that, but I think a very fitting place to start is what your film study was on, which was the playoffs. Now, we’re going to have a great conversation here, but you still need to go check out the film study. Like, that’s a non-negotiable as a Suns fan. It’s incredible stuff. And if you didn’t know, Steven’s got film studies for a lot of people already on this roster. Nigel Hayes Davis, Oso Gadaro, Ryan Dunn, Kaman Malawatch, Rashir Fleming, Kobe Brea, just to name a couple. If you’ve missed them this off seasonason, you definitely need to go check all that out. But let’s start with the playoff series. So, we’ll bring the context, but first, let’s bring the stats. the 2024 2025 playoffs, one round against the Golden State Warriors as the going into the series, the top leading scoreer on the two seed in the West. Jaylen Green averaged 13.3 points per game, 5.4 rebounds per game, 2.9 assists per game, shooting 37.2% from inside the arc, 29.5% from deep, and 66.7% from the free throw line. While I agree with you, Stephen, that there is context to everything and you got to understand why those stats happened. Not a good playoff debut from Jaylen Green last year against Golden State in round one. It wasn’t. And I think I think some of it is most most first guards don’t always have the best initial playoff showing because game planning for said star leaps from we know he’s good so we’re going to steer the wheel a certain direction to no we’re exhausting every bit of your game. We know how many dribbles you like to take before getting to a shot at this spot. We know that you can make these passes with your right hand that you maybe can’t or can’t do as accurately or with as much zip as you do with your left. We know what your discernment and decision- making is when you are seeing bodies in a crowd versus if you see a lane that’s open. It gets down to the nitty-gritty. You know how many times you’re tying your shoe a game and a lot and that’s what I that’s why I was throwing that up in there. But but genuinely that that’s what a game plan in a playoff series against a top tier talent if you’re steering a wheel for your team. Guys get paid to figure out how to poke at things to take you out of your rhythm if not take you completely out of your game. And needless to say, the Golden State Warriors are the standard in the in the NBA for many reasons. They have individual players that are that, but they also have a coaching staff that’s been steering that as well. Would you say that that was maybe the worst potential matchup for Jaylen Green in round one, not just the Rockets? Let’s just just only Jaylen Green and how he plays basketball. Draymond Green, Steve Kerr, that defense that they had. Jimmy Butler as well. That that’s the worst possible matchup that he could have run into. I believe so because at that time, I think post Allstar break, Golden State was one of the best defenses. And when they got Jimmy Butler specifically, they had been just flat out the best defense in the league. The only other team that could rival Houston on the defensive end was Golden State. And they went they went about it very differently. But Golden State being a no middle team for a player that likes to spend a lot of time in the middle, but also for a player that’s on a team that doesn’t have the best spacing context around them and they don’t play with a certain type of tempo that puts them in position to keep advantages. It was a match made in the absolute opposite of heaven for Jaylen in particular. And it forced them to naturally learn a lot, but I think also Houston learned a lot about their approach needing to be much better going forward, too. I think it’s interesting when you look at how Houston played offense and and how you beat Golden State is kind of death by a thousand cuts. You you’re not going to you’re not going to go on one big massive run and just get something easily, especially on a singular offensive possession. You got to be extremely smart and extremely potent with your ball movement to beat Golden State who has incredible individual defenders. And I know people talk about, oh, but like Steph and Buddy Healed. It’s like Steph is really strong and he’s also very smart, man. He’s very smart. Now Buddy, his moment, but again, you have a good smart guard and Steph Curry who’s extremely strong. And you got you have Draymond, you have Jimmy, and you have Steve Curry who’s a really good coach. The Houston Rockets passed the ball the least amount in the NBA by far last season. the lowest assists per game and and when you get to the playoffs where you don’t get to play in transition as much, where you don’t get to play fast, you are having to focus on ball movement and everything, that that’s going to shine even brighter. That being said, I I I think it’s also fair to look at Jaylen Green and and look at him as, hey, you are a dynamic scoring option, right? You are the guy on this team. You’re you’re young, but you’ve been in the league for a couple of years. you should hopefully still perform at least a little bit better than what he did. While I do think there is some explanation for why the numbers look like the way that they did, you would hope in an ideal world that no matter what the matchup is, you’re the leading scorer on a two seed, you’re able to perform better in the playoffs. Yep. That’s that’s also very true. And I think that’s where a part of the growth comes from because I think there’s there’s a quote from Eay Udoka post series where I think it might have been in ex interviews and he was asked about assessing Jaylen’s showing against the Golden State Warriors and Eay essentially said there’s a growth point where a individual player starts to not try to go against the grain with the coverages that they’re seeing. But you start to accept it. And when you start to accept it is when you start to see multiple avenues to counter punching. And the best top tier talents are counter punchers. You see a lot of attention. How can I go about playing chess with this? So for Jaylen in his context, if he’s seeing a lot of attention, are you just getting off of it just because you’re getting extra attention or are you controlling and starting to manipulate things? And that’s what we got to in the film session. Yeah. What could he have done better when manipulating the game? How could he have done better against the Golden State Warriors? I think the first thing for me is setting the tone on the terms of play as a lead guard. And this is something that comes with maturation, with time, naturally with experience more than anything else. And that’s what he was extended in that first round series. For Jaylen Green, one of the biggest things that I looked at was timing on passes. So, there’s one thing to throw it to someone when they’re open. Are you throwing it to them when it’s going to be the most advantageous for not just that player, but the rest of the teammates around them to be successful? So, Jaylen Green gets double team. Not a full out blitz, but he’s holding the attention of multiple defenders. That means that there’s one person unaccounted for because it’s five on four on three outside of that. assessing that, deciding when you’re going to get off the pass, but what you’re doing before you get off the pass is important. There’s a flattening and then stretching process when you get extra attention. If you can control the pieces on the chessboard with the timing of what you’re doing dribble-wise and then when you decide to get off the ball, you can create more of an advantage than what’s already being conceded based off of the numbers with you having two players on you. And it gets to a point where players like a Chris Paul, players like even more so a Devin Booker that’s more akin to Jaylen Green start to control that and then you get to manipulating it and that’s where Jaylen’s next step in growth is particularly with his decision-m. Yeah. Mohamd kind of follows up with that and just says Green needs more basketball IQ. The Warriors defense locked him up. You need to use your head, young fella, to avoid them and make your shots like that. Yes, that’s true. Everything you said is true. And and again, you know, I think a lot of people will look at kind of my opinion on Jaylen Green now and they’ll be like, “Eric, you switched up.” Which is fine if you want to think that. It is what it is. But that’s what the smartest people do. They And that’s the thing is I I wouldn’t say like overarchingly I’m like, “Wow, Jaylen Green is literally the complete opposite of what I thought he was before.” But you look at the situation, you say, “Does he need to do that?” Yes. Was that a really tough situation for him? Yes. Was the team that he on that he was on not equipped to deal with that? Yes. Could he not improve? Could he just plateau? Could he be one of those young guys that kind of is who he is and and that’s it? And you’re always saying, “Oh, but what if? Oh, but what if? What if? What if?” Yes, that’s on the table. Mhm. But when you start breaking down his strengths, his weaknesses, and where the Suns can help him improve, I just on my own am starting to believe more in this fit. And obviously, we haven’t seen him play basketball yet. So, a lot of this it’s conjecture, right? It’s it’s guessing, but it’s informative guessing. It’s educated guessing. And what we’re going to do is tell you the strengths, the weaknesses, the room for improvement. what Brian Gregory and Jaylen Green himself had to say about what he’s been working on, how he can fit in, and so much more. We’re going to get into all of it. Real quick, the best people in this media space, except that they’re not always right. And the learning part that comes with, okay, I wasn’t right. Let me go in for myself and then change my perspective on it. It’s okay to admit that. Like I don’t know where we got to this point where everyone has to be right all the time. No one’s ever right all the time. Coaches are not right all the time. Players are not right all the time. Well, Ericson’s right because that’s his job. But yeah, the point I’m making is it’s okay to admit you’re wrong, go and inform yourself and then change your opinion. That’s that’s okay. It’s I promise it’s okay. It’s going to make you smarter because of that. I’m really glad you’ve come to terms with the fact that game one was a must-win critical do or die. Not where we came from on that preseason game. That’s big of you, man. That’s growth, Ericson. That’s growth. Are we not proud of SPG over here? I mean, it it just it feels good that he’s willing to admit that finally. You love to see it. You do. You do love to see it. I hate to break it to both of y’all, but that is not what I was. I can’t I can’t wait for the must-win meter, man. I can’t wait for the must-win meter. It’s going to be awesome, Lucas. No, I’m not right all the time. I am not right all the time. Nope. I mean, last season, please. Love a guy. Last season, Last season, I I said Phoenix. I didn’t think they were going to be like a top five seed, but I thought they were going to make the playoffs and up until we I think we all had the I mean, but even up until March, I felt like they were going to find a way to eat their eek themselves into the playing round and then at that point, you roll the dice and potentially end up in the first round. So, I’ve been wrong before. I’ve been wrong before and I’ll be the first to admit it for sure. I like that. I don’t even want to hit a break anymore. Just keep it rolling on that. Uh listen, there are strengths and there are weaknesses and they aren’t wrong. I think we’re pretty spot on with them. We’re going to get to those and so much more on the PH andX presented by B365 right after this break. Some of you need to chill out and admit that you’re wrong. And that’s okay cuz Pure Edibles is here to help you do that cuz sometimes it’s a tough pill to swallow. But it’s not a tough gummy to chew with Pure Edibles because they’re not just covered in sugar and tasting like weed like all their other competitors. Absolutely not. They taste delicious whether they’re gummies, kicks, which is their version of Starburst, chews, or hard candies. And they’re clearly listed. All the effects are listed on that tin, so you know exactly what to expect. That’s the worst part with edibles is that you you don’t know what to expect. You get thrown off. You don’t enjoy the experience. It’s not the same with Pure Edibles. And you can sip it with Noble Road’s new Tower Station IPA all-in-one. It’s happy hour all the time with a Mother Road Pure Edibles collab. It’s a new crisp citrus piny hops with Arizona’s favorite IPA but with a smooth THC twist. Go find yourself some of the pure edibles products from one of the over 130 dispensaries across Arizona. And like I mentioned, PHNX Suns is presented by Bet 365 cuz we love Bet 365. And sometimes you’re wrong on Bet 365. That doesn’t mean they don’t have all the opportunities in the world to be right. And I’m talking NBA games, W games, NHL which is just about to be back, NFL which is back, MLB in the playoffs, college football, college basketball, Bet 365 has damn near everything. I once, and I’m I guess I’m not proud to admit this, but we’re all friends here. I once bet on bad mitten, Russian bad mitten at like 1:00 a.m. in the morning. I put a dollar on on the underdog and they lost. And I said, “That’s the last time I’ll ever do that.” But it’s okay because Bet365 is still here for me. And right now, new customers get $200 in bonus bets when you place a bet for $5. Win or lose. Sign up. Use code phnx365. Deposit 10. Place a bet for five. You get $200 in bonus bets if your bet wins or loses. Bonus bets can be used on spreads, totals, player props, futures, and more. Whatever the moment, it’s never ordinary at bet365. You must be 21 plus and physically located in Arizona. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1800 nextep. Text nextep to 5342 or visit problemgambling.az.gov. We got a bunch of people in the chat. Muhammad, DJ, Lucas, Sean, Weedo, Elco, Freckled Mamba always in the chat. Killer Rex in the chat. What a what a comeback. My dad in the chat as well. We got all the stars out here. Zeke’s in the chat. I guess Stephen’s in the chat, but you know, it’s okay. Uh, hit that like button, hit that subscribe button, everybody. Tell us a time that you were wrong in the chat. Like DJ says, “I was wrong, too. I thought the Phoenix Suns would make the finals last season.” Yeah, they made it final time. I wanted to watch basketball. That’s what that that’s what that uh that cap situation suggested, too. Let’s not talk about that. We’re talking about a new era of Phoenix Suns. Hit that like button. Hit that subscribe button. Become a YouTube member today. If you notice people in the chat with green names and a badge next to your name, well, they get access to exclusive emojis to spam in chat. The more Sun’s people we add, the more Sun’s emojis we get. So, make sure you join and unlock all sorts of fun emojis for all of our chats as well. Plus, you can become a diehard today. Go phnx.com/join. And you can see Steven’s extra film breakdown because he already gave 20 minutes to the people because he’s a man of the people, but extra for the die hards. They’ve been eating it up like it’s lunch. And uh finally, why not come hang out with Anthony Totri and I for an show at Rally House next Friday at 5:30 p.m. in 10p Marketplace. Come hang out with us. We’re giving away $550 Rally House gift cards. Plus, we’ll just be hanging out, saying hi as ASU gets ready to take on Texas Tech on the 18th. So, come by Friday, October 17th at 5:30 p.m. at the Rally House location in Temp Marketplace. Stephen, let’s continue to break down Jaylen Green here. Lots of strengths, lots of weaknesses. Let’s start with the strengths. What would you say are just five to focus on? Yeah. So, strengthwise for Jaylen, I think the biggest things for me is that he’s a top percentile athlete. That gives him opportunity to do things in situations where others would not be as apt to being successful because of it. Um he’s a scorer and his attacking mentality is something that’s unique from most other players. He has a stubbornness about getting to his spots that is positive and complimentary to being a scorer the likes that he is. He garners extra defensive attention. Double teams are not all created equally. He sees different double teams than Devin Booker does. Deon Booker sees different double teams than Jaylen Green does. They’re just it’s just unique. It’s and it’s something that you can build an offense around. pace of pace and pace and um change of speed are very important for him. Yeah, he’s continuing to learn to manipulate the game with the ball in his hands to score because of that. And then the last one for me is being able to find creative opportunities to get to pull up pockets. Which of these strengths do you feel like he has the best opportunity to get stronger this season in? Um I think it’s the attacking mentality. So, I think the perfect example when you want to talk about an attacking mentality naturally is Kobe Bean Bryant, the late great. Not comparing those two one to another, but what I’m saying is when you have someone that is in attack mode so consistently, when you can also be someone that is both willing to and adept at playing chess, knowing that people are trying to take away your top tier skill, and you have ways to counter punch with that, that’s when you go from someone that’s good to someone that’s really freaking good and almost, if not outright, great. Yeah. I I can’t help but look at creative finding pull-up pockets because this is a guy who is one of the top shot creators in the NBA, right? Just the shot quality and the percentage of those shots that he was shooting, not great, right? So, if he can find better ways to still create the same type of shot, better ways to to to hit that pull up to keep the defense honest, because there will be some possessions, as much as we want Jaylen Green to attack the rim and shoot a bunch of threes, there are going to be plays where it breaks down, they’re going to need Jaylen Green to get in his bag and hit a mid-range shot. And if he can find a better way to get a cleaner look, then maybe that percentage ticks up a couple of percentage points. and and that makes Jaylen Green maybe two, three, four points per game better on a game-to-ame basis. So, the creative and finding pull-up pockets is something that he’s able to do, but finding a better way to capitalize that. And maybe it’s it’s less about where you pull up and more about when and how often you do it. Are you resorting to it or are you using it as a counter to then maybe build off some of the rest of your game to keep the defense honest in the mid-range? I just that one specifically has always been drawing my my eyes. There’s an example in the film session where he gets a switch against um Stephen Curry. Dylan Brooks sets a screen for him and it’s like probably 18 seconds on the clock. He settles for a step back three going to his left. Now that’s obviously like we just got done speaking to is in his shot making bag when you have so many options to your game trying being able to refine it and knowing which button to press at which specific time is important. Mhm. He settled for a step back three with 15 seconds on the clock on that one as the defense was loading up to guard him. And it’s like, okay, is that that’s a shot you can make. Is that a shot you know you’re going to make? Yeah. And I think that subtle tweaking of processing what you’re doing and the why behind your decisions is going to do him great with Jordan not in this system going forward. What else on these strengths list? I mean, top percentile athlete, you know, he’s not going to lose that. He’s the best athlete that’s been on the Phoenix Suns since I mean, is he the best in recent memory? Gerald Green is in that mix. Say Jaylen McHugh. I mean, Jaylen McQue is a crazy athlete. He was an athlete. We’re But like as far as like in the rotation, Gerald Green is in that mix. Obviously, Eric Blessing was in that mix 10 years ago. Yep. And that’s where that’s where it pretty much stops at. I mean, DeAndre Aiden was a great athlete, sure, right? I think Jaylen Green’s a better athlete than him. Uh, I mean, just pure raw athleticism. Yeah. Chzi meant to me definitely had athleticism to him, but it wasn’t constructed in the same way that Jaylen Greens is. His a little different. Yeah. I, you know, he’s Jaylen Green is the most dynamic athlete the Suns have had in recent memory and and one of the most dynamic athletes ever. It’s not just he’s a good athlete. Sure. It’s not just, oh man, this guy is a good athlete. He’s one of the best athletes in the NBA currently. Point blank period. Like he’s on and off the ball. On and off the ball. Which that first lob, dude. I think you know as we get closer to the season and obviously we we might not see him Friday. We might see him Friday. Who knows? But as we get closer to the season, killer Rex, that one was funny. Uh, as we get closer to the season, I am just starting to just salivate at the idea of posting Jaylen Green dunks on Twitter because like now it’s getting real. Like July, it’s like, yeah, this guy is going to catch a body for the this guy’s going to be in the top 10 plays in the NBA this season. Period. Like this season. Not just of the night, but like season. He’s going to do something so stupid. It’s going to be one of the best plays we’ve ever seen. I I can’t wait. I just I can’t And like that’s fun. We talk about this team being fun. Mhm. That type of stuff is fun, man. That was one thing that people poked at the 2021 and 2022 signs about. They were like, “This this team is just so they I remember hearing professional analysts say that the team was bland.” And because they were bland, they didn’t feel like that’s why they didn’t feel like they would get to the finals because of that. Now, obviously, they went and proved that wrong and then some. But they were just saying like they’re missing an a top tier athlete. I’m like, what does that have to do with playing the game, but I guess if you’re looking at it that way, I guess you’re right. Like, no, they didn’t have a top tier athlete and that ultimately was some of why they couldn’t contain Giannis. But I mean, I don’t you can have a top tier athlete that contain Exactly. So, it’s like what’s the point in I mean, I think it’s and I think it’s actually fascinating. And we don’t have this, but we were going to pull it up on an earlier show um about Pat Spencer who um talked about, you know, IQ and athleticism and said, “If you’re a guy who can connect the dots, but also do some other things, knock down the three ball, there’s always going to be a place for you in the league.” Unfortunately, there’s a lot of organizations that are stuck in the bottom that continue to value length and athleticism over IQ, and they tend to stay in the lottery every year. You know, length and athleticism, it’s just a prerequisite in the NBA. Like Pat Spencer is one of the best athletes in the world. Like let’s not get that twisted. But we know what he’s talking about. Like if you have that, your ceiling is exponentially higher. But just having that is not enough to succeed in the NBA. Some of the best athletes in the world as far as basketball goes are playing overseas. You know, it it just the way that it is because they don’t have the skill there. I think Jaylen Green has such a unique combination already that if he can continue to build up that skill, the ceiling is so much higher for him because of just how raw and athletic that he actually is. A lot of guys have NBA level athleticism. Not all guys have NBA level IQ and not all guys have NBA level skill. It’s when you have the IQ or the skill or both in tandem with being a top level athlete. That’s why players like LeBron, that’s why players like Giannis are so unique because usually guys only have one of those three things, if not one and a half, not all three. Giannis had to grow into having all three. LeBron came into the league with all three. Like that’s the that’s the separator. That’s the differentiation piece. Yeah. Aiden says, “I get Pat Spencer’s point, but are you gonna say Aman Thompson not a high IQ player? LeBron or Draymond?” Not saying that all mega athletes are not high IQ because that’s stupid. Right. Right. But there are teams that only value that and it’s only valuing that where you kind of nah it it’s a bal it’s always it’s always a balance always. And I mean look at the the the most recent dynasty Golden State Warriors. They go and add Andre Egodala top tier athlete but he’s a extreme highle thinker of the game. That separates them that takes them to a different stratosphere. That’s the the it factor. Boston had it in multiple ways with players that they brought in recently. Yeah. I I mean, listen, you can’t just be an athlete, but being an athlete helps. Obviously, it’s one of Jaylen Green’s biggest biggest strengths, but it’s clear like he’s a polarizing guy. He’s a polarizing player. There is absolutely room for improvement. Let’s take a look at at five different things that he can improve on, Stephen. And there there’s a there’s a common theme here. Yeah, I mean, we kind of touched on some of it when we were breaking down his um his uh strengths, but shot selection. So, it’s one thing, it’s a gift to be able to knock down tough shots. It’s also a gift to discern between when to have to knock down tough shots versus when you can get to a different spot, get a different type of look for yourself or get a different look for your teammates. So, the shot selection part for Jaylen, I think, is something that’s going to continue to grow. Only 23 years old, we’ll be 24 in a couple months. That’s going to be something that naturally comes with experience. Uh, second one for me, turning attention into playmaking. So, I talked about him being someone that gets extra attention. That’s the gift. And now it’s about how do you leverage that attention that you get into opportunities to put other teammates in better positions to be successful. And how consistently do you do that? Because it’s not that he doesn’t do it. Understanding how to put that in tandem with the shot selection part is important. Um, timing on passes is another one. It’s not always about making the pass to the player that’s open, but what’s the timing of that and how are you putting them in the best position to be successful on the catch to then make the next decision that’s going to come in succession with it. Uh, another one is assessing coverages. So, if you’re seeing different types of double teams, every double team is not the same, every coverage is not the same, every team that might run the same scheme is not the same. Being able to assess that and manipulate the game there. And then the last one is being varied in the approach. And that’s what I talked about in I know the skip pass is there. Am I going to make it here and then make it the very next possession or am I going to make it here to see what the rotations look like and then wait a couple possessions later. Take the information I received from that and then apply that in real time to manipulate the game. That’s what it gets to thinking it through, understanding it, and then manipulating it. Well, and that was part of what he said when I asked him at media day. Hey Jaylen Green, uh what did you work on this summer? I’ve been working on my in between game a lot more. Um the mid-range float just that in between game cuz you know as as the season went on it was either three years to the cup and you know they was forcing me to have to score that in between game not allowing me get all the way to the rim and they would take away the three a lot more. Um, so yeah, just just trying to have an in between game, be a full complete three-le score, and then um just reads, simple reads, corner, pocket, pass, things like that. So just trying to be all around complete for when it comes to the playoff situation again. Desert St has a funny comment. Says JG needs to work on that in between the ears game, not just his in between game. But here here are the things from the weaknesses. If we put up the room for improvement thing, these are all the things that he he mentioned. Shot selection, right? When he’s shooting, what he’s shooting, when he’s going to do it, turning attention to playmaking, making reads, timing on passes, making the right reads, making the right pocket passes, assessing coverages. That also goes into when you go to the mid-range game and when you get into the cup and when you go to the three, and being varied on approach. Mhm. All five of those things in one way or another were addressed by Jaylen Green’s answer in 30ish seconds when I asked him, “What are you going to work on this summer?” Mhm. Does it translate to the game? Maybe. Some Sometimes we hear about guys working on stuff in the offseason, it doesn’t translate. Sometimes you’re Brook Lopez and all of a sudden you’re showing up and you’re shooting threes at an insane clip after never taking them in your career, right? Usually there’s a middle ground, but I at least like that he has focused the right way on that. And I know that answer made a lot of people mad when it happened, but I think when you actually dive into it, it’s it’s good. It was a very It was a very good answer. I like where his mind is in terms of assessing his game and how to find those pockets to improve on. Um, I think he’s in a good situation. Again, it’s not just about him, it’s also about what is the situation doing to better suit him. And I feel like because for one he has Devin Booker next to him who’s going to be shouldering the brut of a lot of attention but also putting him in position to where he can learn from some of the things that Booker himself had to go through recently. That’s going to help expedite things for him. I think that’s important and I think also naturally the system is establishing is going to matter most in that. Quick aside, saw somebody mention Jason Richardson. Shout out Michigan State in the chat as far as athletes. That’s one name I wanted to bring up that I thought about. And another one, yeah, mirror. Another spot, another Spartan dog, Shannon Brown. Yeah, he had hops. He had Yeah, bunnies. That’s a That’s a whole another topic, but I just wanted to bring Most underrated athlete in Sun’s history. Most underrated athlete in Sun’s history. That’s a good question. But uh I don’t think he’s underrated. They call that man Mini Bryan. I feel like in the moment in the moment he wasn’t underrated, but I think now when you look back at it, it was. Especially cuz like post knee injury, he he didn’t have bounce like that. I hear that. We also don’t really see 6’2 guards throwing down like he does anymore and chasing down blocks, too. Like dude, he was so good at blocking shots. He blocking shots. Yeah. Um I would probably say I feel like the Suns had a big that could go get it above the I think Amari Start was a little underrated in his athleticism. and his athleticism. Dude, Omari is known for catching bodies. He’s one of the best athletes that have ever stepped on the court. Yeah, Omari is great. But when when Blake when Blake came around, I think that’s where he started to get rated because it was like he was the first forward in recent memory that was doing that. Killer says Hakee Morick. Elco says Dragic. Uh underrated athletes. We can let that fester a little longer. Yeah, maybe we’ll get into that next off season. Before that though, you made such a wonderful transition that it almost, you know, felt unfortunate that we had to step on it even though I like that conversation, but about how being on the Suns is going to help Jaylen Green and why that is probably the key for him to capitalize on that polarizing potential. So, we’re going to talk about that. We’ll hear from Jaylen Green about fitting into odd system. We’ll hear from Brian Gregory. break down five points on why being on the Suns helps Jaylen Green. And then we also have a new game that hopefully I’m better at. And we’ll get to it all after our final break. Mountain America Credit Union is the exclusive home of the Suns card and the Mercury card. And you can get these elite cards from the official credit union of the Phoenix Suns. They’re available as both a debit or a credit card. to whatever you need. If it’s a my style checking account on your debit account, you can get restaurant deals, mobile phone protection, offers on travel and events, loan rate discounts, identity protection, telealth access, and so much more. Or you can go to a credit credit card, credit, credit and debit together. Uh a credit card, no annual fees, available as low rate, cash back, or a rewards card option. Mountain America at the end of the day is just here to guide you forward on your financial journey. Get your Sun’s card today. Apply it in the Arizona branch. Get it as a debit card. Get it as a credit card. Rep your team. Repound America Credit Union and visit macu.com/sons to learn more. Insured by NCUA. Terms, conditions, and exclusions apply. Loans are on approved credit. And I approve of Rally House. And you can come say hi to me at Rally House at Tempe Marketplace next Friday at 5:30 for PHNX Sunundevil’s live show there. But Rally House isn’t just for PHNX Sunundevils live shows. It’s the best place to get your local team’s merchandise. And I heavily emphasize local team cuz it’s not like these other stores that are putting bum cubs merch in any store. Chill out, man. You got all these other teams. Get out of here, man. I love Rally Islands because it’s all Arizona sports all the time. And and that’s just who I am as a local sports fan. I like walking in and seeing all of the options that I have from all the teams and some shirts, shorts, hats, drink wear, signage, cooler stuff that I’ve never seen before. I’ve only seen it at Rally House and at rallyhouse.com. So go to Tempe, Mesa, or Glendale today and find your local Rally House location. Shop their entire product assortment online at www.allyhouse.com. That’s www.allyhouse.com. And I appreciate chat everybody rallying together. We’ve steadily increased the amount of people hanging out with us talking Suns basketball as we steadily inch closer to the second game of the preseason. As a reminder, we’ll be live at 3:00 Wednesday, 3:00 Thursday, and then around 8:00 a.m. on Friday for a 5:00 a.m. postgame show. No watch along for that game because I’m going to be tired. But I will be wearing a onesie. Eritton will be wearing pajamas. Stephen, do you want to tell the people what you’ll be wearing? Yeah, I might pull out the robe. We’ll see. Dude, if you don’t pull up for an 8 a.m. post game where I’m in a onesie and Steven’s in a robe, I don’t I don’t know what else we could do. I don’t know what else we can do. Uh, but what we could do is all of us collectively in here, hit that like button, subscribe button, Cory. Um, Chicago is a huge city and also a small town at the same time. I swear everybody’s interconnected in some capacity. It’s crazy. Sean says, “Got to give Eric a lot of credit for his ads.” Yeah, exactly. That’s funny. Uh, Zeke says, “Friday is a must-win.” Yeah, the must-win meter is off the charts. You don’t want to disappoint the people of We started the regular season. Must win game. Got to have it. Critical do or die preseason game two. That’s correct. I don’t make the rules. Zeke makes the rules. What I will say is uh is it is it Chinese book? Uh yeah, there is Chinese book. Yeah. Yeah. It’s a got to have it and a must win for him. He’s got to be there, right? Yeah. Book said Book said he he’s aware of him. He was made aware of him and he said he hoped that he was coming to the game. What a sentence. Devin Booker is aware of Chinese Booker. I mean, what a sentence. What a world we live in. You see how the Suns posted a video of them trying like moon cakes? I didn’t see that one yet. Yeah. Yeah. It looked good. I think there was also a video in Nigel Hayes Davis vlog, which by the way, you should check out. I watched it. Uh Nigel and Rasher Fleming couldn’t find the locker room on media day, so they had to like get help. Super funny. up on Nigel’s uh YouTube channel. Sean, maybe a little something like that. Maybe I might throw some glasses on. Look, you going to pull up in that car, too. No. Uh, but on Nigel’s vlog, I think they had him like speaking Chinese and he he sounded good. The dude speaks like a billion languages. So, it’ll be interesting game on Friday. We’ll have a postgame show for you. Before we get there, hopefully we can see Jaylen Green. And if we do, what will he benefit from from playing in the Suns context? Stephen, you have compiled. Wow. I cannot speak today. Four different points. I did. Yeah. Uh, one thing he’s going to greatly benefit from, he’s never played with a guard talent on the professional level like Devin Booker. Someone that scores better than him. Someone that garners more aggressive defensive capital in terms of attention than he does. Um, Jordan Knots spacing principles is something that I’ve been emphasizing since he was the coach that was hired. um that manipulation of space, that respacing dynamic that they work with as a foundational layer to their approach on offense is going to greatly benefit him. Um talked about it on yesterday’s episode, but him seeing less bodies and less crowded paint means that he’s going to be able to play to his strength of getting a paint touch more often, more frequently. And if teams try to take that away, there’s going to be consequences to pay um because of the catch and shoot team that the Suns have around, which I’ll be getting to shortly. Um, number three here is Jordan A’s refinement of his game. And I think that is going to the shot profile part, the discernment of what shots he’s taking, the why behind the shots he’s taking. Is that the best shot he knows that he’s going to make at that moment or is there something else he can get? And then the last one is the tempo. Not just tempo in terms of playing fast, but the tempo of making quick decisions and that being part of their consistency on the offensive end in the half court. Well, a couple of things that you mentioned there. We have some sound to go along with it. Two things mentioning of Jordan A spacing principles and refinement of his. So, let’s talk about a system, but first let’s hear from Jaylen Green on it. Um, I think space is the most important thing. um you know he’s emphasized that to me and made that very clear that you know he wants to play with a lot of space and you know I think the way the we want to play and the play style that we trying to play like this year the space is going to be the key to everything and you know playing fast and playing hard and getting out and running. I mean, spacing is one of the operative words of media day in these first handful of weeks of training camp um prior to the start of the preseason um slater of the schedule. That’s going to allow for them to operate in ways that he wasn’t liberated to do because of the ways that defenses defended his teams when he was with Houston. some of the pitfalls and some of the flaws and process that he saw in that playoff series just won’t be something that he has to worry about with this Suns team because they have counters in place, but they also have principles in place that won’t allow for defenses to load up like that. Yeah. I also like what what Brian Gregory said about like pace of play. And I just found this this just soundbite from him a while ago to be pretty fascinating. We’ll be really fast, you know what I mean? uh and the game has played at a faster pace. Um and the ability to tack and get downhill is something he does exceptionally well. Uh had his best three-point shooting uh year of his career last year. He’s 23 years old, going to be 24. Um I think this guy’s the limit for him. And I think him and Book um being able to man that back court together in a lot of instances and the pace that they’re able to play with and playing off each other. Obviously, I think there’s going to be greater movement, cutting, open opportunities for downhill drives. You know, I mentioned it, you know, after the draft. We did not attack the rim very well last year. It’s an area we have to get better at. You do it three specific ways. you know, on the drive, on the cut, you know, a big man getting the ball in the post area, which doesn’t happen all that often anymore. Uh, and then the effort way you do it is on the offensive glass. I I think Jaylen on those first two is going to be really, really good. Listen, everything that we just heard, right, about system from Jaylen Green, about how they’re going to play from Brian Gregory. I go back to our first graphic, our second graphic, the strengths graphic, and you look at the very top one. It’s top percentile athlete, right? You’re simplifying the game in a sense because you’re not asking him to do as much individually, even though his role might technically be more intricate and more, you know, complimentary and and complex, but you’re asking him to use his strengths better. spacing, pace of play, like getting to the rim, all these things that the Suns have built a team. Like, let’s also just not just look at it from, hey, how are they going to play? How have they built the team? The team plays into that style. That all plays into Jaylen Green’s biggest strengths, athleticism, shooting threes, and driving to the rim. All the other stuff that he can add is if he could take it to a superstar level. But on a baseline level, this team is set up 10 times better this year for Jaylen Green individually than the Rockets were. Now, will he be a player that leads to wins and highle success? He still has to prove that, I think, from an individual level, but I think that this is a really, really good litmus test this season for him. It is and that’s why it’s such an important season for him because it’s his first opportunity in a context or a team situation that I feel like is most conducive to him because of the pieces around him because of him being kind of second in the pecking order and not being the top tier point of attack creation type of piece on the roster. And I think also the the non-basket nonaccore things that he can glean and learn from in terms of conversations and film being watched with Jordan Knot. Conversations, film being watched and experiences being spoken back on with Devin Booker. That’s as invaluable as anything. And I think that just those conversations on the daily basis is going to expedite things for him in terms of the refinement part, stripping the impurities and kind of uplifting some of the things that are more positive in a sustained manner for him and then building a new layer off of that. Uh Rich Bass is back and talking ball. Love when we’re talking ball in the chat. Rich Bass uh says the host with the blue laptop, Jaylen’s issue was he didn’t have counters to his moves. Once you stopped his first move, he was cooked. I think Jaylen will have a better year, but he’s a sixth man to me. I’m I’m curious your response to that. Uh, I don’t know if I agree with him not having counters because you can’t get to averaging north of 20 in the NBA, especially as a number one or number two option at worst without having counters in your game. I think he didn’t have counters to when teams take away specific pockets of the floor and pick and roll in particular. That’s what I was kind of hammering home in the film session, having ways to counter. And it’s not as a score. It’s more so as I know where the next rotating defender is. I know where they want to get to, and I know where they’re anticipating my first pass going. How can I break that player’s rhythm or make a pass that gets them scrambling with more urgency, which puts the other players outside of me in position to be successful? But I think he he has room to improve with his counters as a scorer for sure. Yeah. But I don’t think he’s without those right now because you can’t get to averaging 20 in today’s NBA without it. Yeah. And and I think also realistically when you hear his answer about working on his in between game and stuff like that’s the counters for sure. Like that that is literally that’s the the Midi is the counter punch to everything. Yeah. Because if he was knocking down the Midi at Chris Paul levels, they’re going to the conference finals last year. No, but I’m just No, but I’m just throwing that out there. Like if you’re double teaming him the ways that they were and inviting the midi, no team’s ever invited Chris Paul or Devin Booker to shoot the midi. No team’s ever invited Kevin Durant to shoot the midi. No. Like that’s that’s the ultimate counter punch right there. Yeah. I I’m excited to see how he grows. And that’s the main thing is you just need to see growth. I don’t think he’s going to hit this this ceiling of his, right? This superstar potential level this year. It’d be nice. Sure. It would sure help out this team a ton, but I think he just needs to show improvement, right? If you could pick one thing for Jaylen Green to improve on, not let’s I don’t even want to say like what’s the most realistic thing, but like ideally speaking, you can fix one thing, improve one thing from his game that will most help him and the Suns this season, what would it be? Honestly, I’m torn on it and this is something that I kind of gone back and forth with. is between the decision making trending towards manipulating the game in pick and roll and the shot selection. I air on what is his top tier talent and that is his ability to put the ball in the basket. So, the shot selection part improving. Um, I’ll for the sake of the question say just that one specifically because if he’s taking if he gets a switch against a lesser guard in terms of who’s guarding him like I talked about the situation with Steph and he’s not taking step back threes, shots that he knows that he can make and he gets more to know. putting pressure on the rim and I’m either getting up a medi, I’m getting up some type of shot that’s going towards the basket and now I’m putting pressure on you to make your team pay for that switch that they conceded and not bailing guys out at moments like that. I think that part is going to be what helps to make his game and his scoring impact ultimately more um it’s going to have more of a stamping on a game than it has in recent memory. Yeah, if I’m looking at the room for improvement, shot selection, turning attention to playmaking, timing on passes, assessing coverages, and being varied in approach, I always I’m I’m looking at the playmaking, man. And maybe that’s more selfish from a team perspective and not as much from an individual perspective. But I do feel like the playmaking helps his scoring. If teams know he’s going to make the right read, if they know he’s going to make the right pass, and he does it enough over the season, you’re going to have to stay true and honest. And Devin Booker uses that all the time. I don’t think Jaylen Green gets to a passing level that Deon Booker is at, but Book’s passing is such a a potent threat on on this team or any team that he’s on that it’s hard for people to be like, “Okay, you know, we’re going to just blindly double, but they still have to do it because of the scoring and now he’s got both options and it’s just it’s a real pick your poison type of thing.” Um, I’m really excited for for this season. I I my expectations for Jaylen Green have gone up when he was rumored to be in the trade package and he was the center of the trade package for the Suns. I was really low. I was I was really low on him. I remember tearing potential uh returns and centers of return for Kevin Durant earlier in the offseason and I put Jaylen Green at the very bottom. I didn’t want another shooting guard. I didn’t like how he played in the playoffs. I felt like he was redundant with Book. But now that he’s over here, like you mentioned, Stephen, you assess things, you look at things, you watch your film breakdown. I’ve watched a lot of film on my own. I I don’t know if it’s a championship level fit, but I it’s a lot better of a fit than I thought it was going to be. And I love the moves that were made around him. And at a certain point, I think Elco said in the chat like, “You just got to believe this is a young guy. This is this is this is a young dude who is one of the top picks in the draft. He’s been the number one on a playoff team.” Whatever the context of that situation is, it it is the truth. on the number two seed in the West. He had a bad playoffs, but a lot of players have had bad playoffs and bounced back from that in better situations. Uh do do you have any final thoughts on Jaylen Green before we get to uh a fun new game? Eritton has created yet another game for us to play today. Yeah. Uh context always matters. Um, when you look at players in specific situations, you might think this player is this exact type of player because that’s just the way they want to be. Sometimes that’s the way that a team needs a player to operate because they just are without talent in certain respects to the game. You look at Houston, you look at their guard room. There’s a reason why Jaylen had to play the way that he did because they needed players to get up to certain type of shots that he did and that he had the potential to do because they didn’t have someone else that could do those things. You look at Jaylen Green as a template for success with the Suns and you look at him playing a lot secondarily to what Devin Booker is. Mhm. You look at the movement, the dynamic movement that we’ll have a film session coming out soon about that we saw from the Suns in game one of the preseason and you look at him in those situations and how that’s going to put him in position to be as successful as he potentially could be. It’s going to look night and day in terms of the spaces literally and figuratively that he’s operating in. One of the things I talked about in the film session, couple times they did little things to either get opportunity to create advantage before he got into a primary action or get him on the move. That was few and far in between. It’s not going to be a few and far in between thing in terms of his usage with the Suns under Jordan Knot. And I think those things are going to put him in position to sustain success. It won’t be a blip or a one-off. It’s going to be something that’s consistent. Yeah, obviously we want to see Jaylen Green on Friday or on Sunday or on Tuesday, one of the final Suns pre-season games. Just a quick little injury update on him. This is via Arizona Republic’s Dwayne Ranken. Uh coach Ornot said, “It’s definitely progressing as far as his uh hamstring low-grade hamstring strain. It’s progressing in the right place with soft tissue. You never know exactly where we’re at, but every day has been better. We’ll continue to reassess in China.” Um, and Jared Butler also spoke about Jaylen Green’s uh injury status. Said, “I think he’s super close to returning.” He also said that to Dwayne Rankin. So, it seems like he’s close. I I want to see him play, but at the end of the day, what really matters is when you get to the regular season. And he looked good in that warm-up before the Lakers game and going at full speed and and now it’s okay, let’s let’s let’s just get him healthy to the regular season. Rich in the chat, he’s a Houston fan. Says, “Jaylen is hurt.” Yeah. You’re You play 82 games in two seasons in a row. You come to the Suns, you get hurt. And all the playoff games in addition to that. Yeah. Yeah. Tough. But again, it’s pretty could be worse. The lowgrade hamstring strain is very different from a grade two or grade three or something like that. Yeah. If you saw him working, if you saw him like working out before the Lakers game, which we posted that on our Twitter at PHNX Suns, um he looks fine. This really just feels like, okay, you’re not you’re like 98%. We’re not playing through we’re not playing through injuries in the reg in the preseason. No, if this was the regular season, I think he’d be playing. That’s the energy I gather from what Jordan Kn was saying. Mhm. Yeah. Jaylen Green’s excited to play with Deon Booker. He said that I think Deon Booker’s excited to play with Jaylen Green. I’m excited for his fit with Jordan, this team, and how they play. And I really think that Jaylen Green will fit into the identity that we saw in the first preseason game. So, he’s a Ferrari. Yeah, no disrespect to any other twodoor vehicles, but no free ads. I know that we were in talks at Lamborghini. Um, but you know, things just kind of fell through. They were going to give you one, man, until you said that. Why am I just now finding out about it? I It’s not my fault that you’re not plugging. Do you have closing thoughts? I just gave Mr. Freckle Mamba, do you have thoughts on Jaylen Green before we transition? This guy talking about Lamborghinis and whatnot. I saw a few people in the chat mention Bradley Beal comparisons to Jaylen Green and I I understand it because they’re shooting guards, but I just want you guys to think about their style of play. Jaylen Green fits so much better next to Booker as a cutter, as a secondary, I guess sometimes primary ball handler. But honestly, just watch the film study and you’ll have it all explained out for you. Amen to that. Watch the film study. I also I think we should just quote Freckle Mamba for some, not all, but some of the commenters that we get. Uh, for sure. I just need you to think. I just need you to think. I think that was great. Also, super low bar. Super low bar for Jaylen Green as far as like the fun meter, the shooting guard meter, everything like that. Uh, it it’ll it’s going to be a good time. I think Suns fans are going to be pleasantly surprised. At least I hope so. And maybe that’s just the eternal optimist in me. And come December, I’ll be like, “God.” Ah. Ah, but we got to get there first. And right now it’s October, so it’s Optimus season. Uh, all right. Watch the film study. It’s right now live on YouTube, but watch it after this. Eritin, uh, the floor is yours to introduce a brand new addition to the PHNX Suns game family. Yes, as you all know, Otle came out last week and to a massive success. Great game. What’s the score? We’ll touch on that tomorrow when we do auto again. But decision has been made and it is final. That’s all I’ll say. Wow. But new game laying down the law. New game is called depend. It depends on what side of that you on. We’ll revisit. It’s final episode of PHN next month. It’s final depending on if I agree with it is kind of hilarious. I like that. We’ll figure out tomorrow. But today’s game is called Facebook. And what Facebook is, it’s a great logo. You guys have seen the pictures of well they’ll merge two people’s faces together and you got to guess the players. Mhm. So that’s exactly what this is. I haven’t decided the point system yet. I think well we should probably figure that out now and determine if that this counts or not because of the auto stuff. This is going to be pre-season Facebook until I figure out the point system. Watch me be good at this. If I’m good at this, we can’t call this preseason. This is preseason Facebook. Oh, who cares? Well, I have a low gradede hamstring strain. I’m out. Preseason game one, Facebook. You guys ready? Let’s do it. Yeah, let’s do it. Let’s do it. Dylan Brooks and Oh my god. Wait. Are these all current players or are this like all time? Former Suns, current Suns, all the three. Oh, wait. Is that Nick Richards? I was gonna say I feel like this is that’s Nick. This is Nick Richards is one player. That’s one of my answers. I’m going with Nick Richards and MueL Bridges. Double wrong. Wow. Okay. Uh, give me Dylan Brooks and Jaylen Green. It is Dylan Brooks. There you go. Yes, Eric. No. Good job. You want something? No. Now it’s preseason. This sucks. This is bull crap. You know what? By the way, if you’re watching on TV, the party always continues over at gophnx.com. It’s time for overtime. And it’s time for me to say that this is absolute [ __ ] This is [ __ ] This is [ __ ] [ __ ] [ __ ] [ __ ] [ __ ] Because No, I’m not mad cuz at least we set the parameters this time. No, dude. What counts is what counts and he set the he set the parameters early on. This is so BS. It’s Oh, the other one. It starts from the beginning, but this one that Eric’s better on, we’re not going to count the points. That sucks. That’s [ __ ] I mean, we we rushed into auto a little too fast. I didn’t It’s not my fault. I don’t feel like we rush a precedent. I don’t feel like we rushed into auto at all, but All right, next one. Whatever. Who cares? Next one. I don’t I don’t care. Oh, so we get Ryan done easy. Yeah, the G or two of the cow jo. Can this count? Nope. It’s preseason. It’s I’ve been very very I’m so much better at this. This is preseason Facebook. I’m so much better at this. Preseason Facebook. All right, let’s go with the next one. Mason Plumbley and Grayson Allen. No, Ma Mason Plumbley is correct. I’ll give you that. Well, you shouldn’t tell me that cuz I off the gas cuz we’re competing with each other, right? This is preseason Facebook. We’re getting used to the game. Let’s play this as a team. Points will come out. Mason Plumbley. Colin Gillespie. No, no, that’s disturbing. Is that This is This is legitimately Mason Plumbley and Mir Toledovich. No. Bang. Isang. Oh, really? Wow. There you go. I had to throw Erica Bone there. Dude, are you kidding me? I’m so good at this. All right, let’s get to round four. Facebook. I’m so good at this. Tyus Jones, Josh. Josh Kogi. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Tyus Jones, Josh Kogi. Pissed. I’m so I’m actually pissed off. I’m actually All right. Last round of first day of Facebook. A clean sweep, by the way. 40 Joe Johnson. Joe Johnson and Langy Galloway. No, that’s ISO Joe. That’s definitely Joe Johnson. It is Joe Johnson. And Eric Bledo. Joe Johnson and Eric Bo. Nice. That’s not my first one, but you beat me to the punch on a bunch. I ain’t tripping. Eric Bledsoe. Joe Johnson is is a sicko match. I wish you could combine those two. Good lord. That was great. That’d be a problem. Oh my god. Yeah. Eric Bledo with a 67 frame. That’s LeBron. LeBron in a in a ISO game. Oh my god, that’s LeBron. Joe Johnson with chase down blind ability. I mean, you’re talking about an all NBA player. That’s a fun That’s another fun conversation. If you could mix two two Suns players all time. And why is it Gerald Green and Mirovich? Why is it Yeah, I like that. Deon Booker and J and Gerald Green would be a lot of fun, bro. You know what? That stuff was kind of disturbing. Oops. Can we talk Wait, can we talk about the elephant in the room about how disturbing that looked? Some of those mashups were were incredible. Hey, I I’m not going to lie, man, though. The Mirrors of Toled Mason Plumbley one, like that guy is like horror movie. I’m gonna sneak those head shots into that we do this year. See if anyone figures it out. That’s crazy. Oh, any any final thoughts on a on a Tuesday afternoon, folks? How are we feeling? Good. Um, bad? terrible. It’s been fun to watch some of the things going on around the league. The ways that the Denver Nuggets are, at least in the preliminary stages, using Cam Johnson around everything that is It’s like fun Murray and it’s like Squidward looking out the window. It’s fun. It’s fun for me. It’s fun for me. Sick old stuff. No, I get like it like as a basketball fan. Yes. As a Suns fan. Yeah. Victor Winyama just I mean getting to the point where he’s not getting pushed around and he’s in fact doing the pushing around now is frightening. Everyone should be scared. Um, there was one other thing that stood out for me in watching preseason. Oh, um, Muel Bridges. Male Bridges aggressive. very aggressive and and having that implored from him from a head coach is very interesting. Seeing Jaylen Brunson and Cat working off the ball more and someone like OG Anobi or Muel having it in their hands more and what that in turn does for those two players in a playoff context. I’m intrigued. Also, them starting Mitchell Robinson is a lot of fun as well. If he stays healthy, there’s no wood to knock on around here, but if he stays healthy, covering up for cat in those aspects is also fun. Aiden says, “I saw a poll today asking who’s better, cat or book. Wow.” Um, sounds like Yeah, never mind. I ain’t gonna How about Sham Shirania today on uh on NBA today talking about uh Giannis Attendo’s offseason interest in the Knicks, Milwaukeekey’s New York conversation, and what’s next for the Bucks future. Uh, Knicks apparently are the only team Giannis would want to be traded to and the team’s engaged in conversation in August. I ain’t got nothing to say. You got nothing to say about that? No. Because didn’t they just they just uprooted a lot of their roster from last season to better build around Giannis? What would that So you’re telling me that those things happened after those conversations took place and after all of those free agents moves were made as well? That feels like uh Sean was told something and correct you kind of roll with it. Correct. What would that trade? It would be Cat. It would be Cat and it would probably be one of Muel Bridges or Oiana Nobi going out cuz there’s no there’s no other way around making that trade happen. They’re not going to just do that for um Josh Hart. Dude, I haven’t been on the trade machine in so long. Isn’t that refreshing to say? Yeah. I mean, it was kind of fun, though. Let’s be honest here. It was kind of Yes. But it also very taxing after a while, too. Okay. So, uh, Giannis makes1 million more dollars than Carl Anthony Town, so that does not work. So, also, you have to factor in how is Milwaukee going to value having Carl Anthony Towns when they already have Miles Turner. Well, yeah, you’re also trading Giannis. And I don’t I don’t think that the Knicks have crazy draft picks. So Carlaka big facts. Care Towns and Ariel Hookport uh for Giannis works. Why does Milwaukee say yes to Well, and so New York according to to Spotra, New York has a 2026 first round pick unprotected, 2028 first round pick unprotected, 2030 first round pick unprotected. Then they have a bunch of second round picks. They have Milwaukee sounds like they have Milwaukee second round pick. It sounds like not enough for Jiannis and Tenkumbo. Exactly. Unless you’re including one of those other players I just got done speaking to. But even the other players like how would the money work? That’s what I’m saying. Okay. Let’s say let’s say Milwaukee wants to get rid of Kosmo which is like completely understandable, right? So what you’re going to give them OG Anobi. So Kante Towns OG Aninobi and Ariel or Ariel Hakorti and three first round picks and I think like five second round picks for Giannis and Kyle Kosma works. I just don’t see a feasible way in which the Knicks are going about saying yes to what it is or at least Milwaukee in return of what the Knicks can offer. Yeah. What the Knicks would want to offer because it’s been clear they’re not wanting to part ways with either of Mikuel or OG. Dude, all of the Bucks roster is basically trade restricted except for Giannis and Koozma. Yep. Everybody’s brand everybody’s brand new essentially. Yeah. or re-uped on the contract to where they’re not available for trade until December or January for some situations. Some of these names aren’t real. Jamie Buoyet. Shout out Ryan Holland for getting that bag though. Yeah. Cormarmac Ryan. Do y’all know who Cormack Ryan is? Mhm. I know who Mark Sears is. Mark Sears is on a two-way for them. Anyway, uh that’s the honest news. Any any other news and notes from around the association? I feel like we haven’t talked like Yeah, it’s been a minute. like NBA basketball in a minute. I know J I can’t remember what the injury was, but Jaw had got hurt. Yeah, shocker. Um Reese Shepard starting for Houston last night was fun. You see I Okay, not to be like a bitter ex, but like all these people are like taking clips of like Katie looking happy after they beat the Hawks by nine points in preseason. Be like that look when you pick the right team and Katie super happy you picked the Rockets. It’s like welcome to the honeymoon phase. Everybody, everybody is happy when it first starts. For sure. Shout out to um who was I just thinking about Jaylen Johnson coming back from an injury. He looked good and looking like his typical physical self. That’s a player that if he grows more as he gets healthy and gets back into game rhythm, a piece that could turn the Hawks into a team that is second round exit to a team that could be represented in the Eastern Conference in the finals. Can I say something that I haven’t said in a very long time? In years. What is it? Can we talk about Victor Oladipo? Yeah, that was fun. Victor Oladipo. That was fun for a China team. Uh, just putting that work in against Spurs for Guang Xiao. Yeah. By the way, Frank Kaminsky. Frank Kaminsky the leading scorer for Guangha. 22 points. Shout out to the friend of the program um was Frank the Tank. Yeah, Frank the Tank. And then Victor Odipo had 20. Yeah. Shout out Vic, man. Vic has had a very adversity field road to success or road to health multiple times in recent memory. Wow. Also, Justin Holiday on the Guangha Lung Lions. He had three points, three assists, and three steals. Deontay Burton and George King. I’m pretty sure George King was on the Suns. Yeah, he was drafted by the Suns. God, that’s a sicko pole. George King. That’s a He wore glasses. He wore like uh Rexbacks when he was on the Suns or whatever. Um that it was just nice to see back and then of course Frank the Tank Mhm. as well. Um the Orlando Magic looked fun in their first preseason. Desmond Bane just looks like he belongs there. Desmond Bane looks like every bit of what they’ve been looking for for sure. Um and I think the other part of that is also Tyus Jones being involved with them helps a lot. All right. top five corner three-point shooter last season going to matter for a team that couldn’t take and make threes in the ways in which they needed to on the playoff stage. Did you see the Kate Cunningham layup? I did not. Dude, look it up. Go on Twitter right now. Like chat, if if if you have not seen I’m looking at myself even though I want to see it. If you have not seen the Cade Cunningham layup off the spin, dude. Was it off a spin? Uh, no. There was like this this alleyoop where he grabbed it with one hand. There’s a crazy angle here. I’m going to send it to you right now from Shawn Murphy. Oh yeah, that’s crazy. At Sean Halfcourt. Yeah, that’s crazy. I saw the the view is just is nuts. That’s wild. It takes it like this and goes crazy. Yeah, that’s wild. That was a terrible pass and he made that look. Who passed that? Tobias. Yeah, Tobias. Tobias Harris. Shout out Tobias. Future Phoenix son. Great playoff showing last season. Yeah, he played good. He was a difference maker for them. He played good. Oh my gosh. Can we talk about the biggest news of the off season? What’s up? Delano Banton got signed. This happened today. Yeah. Did you see that? Who did he get signed to? I’m pretty sure it was Dallas, which sucks. Yeah. Delano Banton has signed with the Mavericks and Mavs fans for life are freaking out over a 69 25year-old bucket. And I will be I will be avenged. I will be justified in my Delano Banton love. It will happen. Delano Banton’s good. Yeah. I wonder what the I wonder what type of contract he signed. Is it a Is it a training camp deal? Is he on a two-way? Is he on a standard contract? I’m curious about that. But he’s a good fit for what it is that Dallas needs in terms of height as well as athleticism. So, friend of the Mark Stein. Mark Stein says Banton had no shortage of overseas interest, but held out for an NBA opportunity. Dallas’s roster is realistically full, but as with Jeremiah Robertson Earl, if Ba gets Banton’s G-League rights, Dallas is also still working to obtain Dennis Smith Junior’s G-League rights from the box. So, yeah, that’s what it’s sounding like. Dude, that’s a steal. I think he’s gonna outplay. He’s going to outplay that. He’s going to outplay that. I think Dante is still hurt for them. I think the update on Dante has not been great. So, he he fits into that Dante XM role really well. Uh, Westbrook still hasn’t signed anywhere. Um, man, all I’m seeing are Mavs people tweeting about Dano Banton can actually hoop, Delano Banton can actually play, and I’m just like, I feel so left out. I will be vindicated. Freckled Mamba, are you on my side? Are you on the right side of history on like your gray jersey take? No, I’m not. Wow. Jayen McDaniels got placed on waiverss yesterday. Did he? Yeah, by by the Pelicans. Interesting. Garrison Brooks got placed on waiverss yesterday. Freckle mom, you want to let the people know that your hunt for certain uh relics in son’s history? This won’t this isn’t this isn’t breaking airwaves until it happens. Sorry guys. You’ve been you’ve been you’ve been you’ve been working on something. Cooking. You’ve been cooking. We just got a lot of people here. I think everybody just wants to talk ball. I want to just keep talking ball. Is there is there anything else that we’re missing? I’m looking LeBron. Oh my god. Can we talk about LeBron? Dude, I literally said it as soon as he tweeted. I quote tweeted and I said, “This is bait. This is absolute bait.” And it was bait. Come on, dude. You can’t do the guy who cried retirement. Okay. He said, “Let me show you.” I know. Look how they got. Come on, man. For Listen, no free ads. I’m not going to say what he did, but like that was the most obvious bait of all time. I like LeBron. He’s going to be really annoying these last couple of years. Do you think you think this is his last year? You think he’s got one more in him? I think he’s got one more. I think it could be. I think it depends on how well the Lakers do. Yeah, I think so, too. So, he’ll have another year. Somebody said, we’ll see. Somebody said he uh We’ll see because they got some question marks on the roster right now. They got answer. two games of DeAndre Aton and said, “I’m out of here.” Yeah, that’s why I said we’ll see. Uh Deborah says, “Is Tatum and Hallebertton out? Does that make a difference?” That makes a huge difference. Yeah, I saw some media members on the Celtic side, not in an informed or reported manner, but just speculating that they might see Jason Tatum in March at some time, and I don’t know how realistic that is, but uh yeah. Um there’s something else that I was thinking. I mean, Boston’s over under on wins is 41 and a half. They won 60 plus games last year. I mean, they lost Tatum, Horford, Porzingis, Drew. Yeah, they’re going to be a weird team at Horford and Golden State. Yeah, I love it. Yeah, I love it. I know the uncction tag and all that until you get to the playoffs as a resident. Until you get to the playoffs and you have to deal with all of the experience that comes with being an all of the championship winning experience and you can’t figure it out against them. You might out athleticism them, but you won’t outthink them and outpare them. You also can’t out. I’ve been here and I’ve done that before them either. So, don’t be betting against the Doves. That’s all I’m saying. You You are prounk. I am prounk. Who’s the biggest in the league right now? It’s got to be Brian and CP and Al Horford. I I feel like Alan CP and Al Horford. Who’s the youngest? Who Who like gives off energy but is younger? That’s a fun question. Um Book naturally. First name that comes to mind is Devin Booker. He’s like in that middle ground. I think there’s got to be somebody. But he’s the oldest. He’s the oldest soul of players that are on the younger side of the 30 over under. You know who’s not an old soul? K. Cunningham has Yeah, Kahass about him for sure. Uh Cooper Flag does not have an old soul. Cooper Flag does not know who Hedo Turkaloo is. Yeah, that they I don’t know why they set him up and let that rock out for as long as they did. That was the first card. It was the first card. Uh Nicole Topic out four to six weeks after a testicular procedure. That’s tough. Um Allstar game to stay in LA. I’m just reading headlines now. Allar game to stay in LA despite the Clippers probe. Um yeah, that’s really it. I cannot believe that LeBron did that. Believe it. I can’t believe that time of year. Killer Rex said a what procedure? Testicular procedure. Mhm. God, the entire front page is about I hope he’s okay. That’s all I got. About Giannis. The entire front page is about Giannis. Uh LaMelo Ball. Back to LaMelo Ball ways, step back, onelegged threes. He’s very creative. He’s the least unc meter. It’s like Label LaMelo Ball on one end and then Al Horford on the other end. And like that’s that’s the UK meter. There’s a must-win meter and there’s an UNC meter. Um, there was some there was one other thing. Oh, well, you can follow the show at phnx_son. Alford is a grandfather. Grandfather. And then he also said that Topic’s thing might have been a vasectomy. That’d be crazy. If you are going to be as an NBA player, get a get a vasectomy and you do it in training camp. That ain’t no joke, man. Whatever is going on, that ain’t no joke. No, definitely. I hope I genuinely hope he’s okay forward. Uh Sean says cultural icon Lamelo Bal. He’s just like AI. I did see uh somebody say somebody tweeted like Coniple the lone bright spot in an otherwise disappointing Charlotte loss and somebody said get ready to hear that sentence a lot. Charlotte fans, Charles Lee, you are on my [ __ ] list. Brandon Ingram Hooper on the floor for the first time with the Toronto Raptors. Fun. Yeah. And he’s back. He’s back to his bucket getting waste. He’ll be okay. very casually putting the ball in the basket. They kind of they needed that for sure. Definitely. Low key. Most definitely. They got pieces over there. I just don’t know how it comes down. They got pieces because do you see how much they’re paying for that roster? A lot of money, bro. Sound like the Suns last year. I’m going to say like go look up how much money they’re paying up there in Toronto. Also, you got Yako Purle, Scotty Barnes, you got Brandon Ingram’s contract on your books. Emanuel Quickley. Yep. They got Quick. They just bought for the trade last season. RJ Barrett. Yep. Yeah. They got they’re like they’re lowkey they got to be one of the more expensive teams in the NBA, right? They’re one of the teams that’s looking to take advantage of a any slippage in Indiana falling off and Boston potentially falling off. They’re trying to take advantage of that and get into the playin again and then ultimately back into the playoffs. Yeah. Uh hold up. I got to see where Toronto ranks as far as most expensive. You think I think they’re top half for sure, but where in that top half do you think? Cleveland’s one. Okay. New York two, Dallas three, Golden State 4, Minnesota 5, Boston 6, Philly 7, Houston 8, Clippers 9, LA 10, Orlando 11, Toronto 12. You want to guess where Phoenix is for cap? Mhm. Um, probably around like what, 21? They’re 14. Oh, they’re 14. That includes But includes 23 million of Bradley Beal, too. And the Bill Money. Yeah, that makes sense. Uh, do the FE Here’s a here’s a fun little trivia. Do the Phoenix Suns have the most dead money in the NBA right now? The answer is no. Who do you think does? Somebody has a large lump sum of money on their books that’s dead. I’ll tell you what, it’s close. It’s an Eastern Conference team, right? Um, no, it’s close. Phoenix and Milwaukee are separated by about 10ish thousand dollars. There’s one team above them. Who has that? They’re in a They are a Western Conference team. There are Okay, so some an Eastern Conference team with a lot of dead money. Washington has 18 million in dead cap. Uh, back in the West, Utah has 10 million in dead cap. Memphis has 4 million. Um, Dallas has 3.2 million dead. There is one team in the Western Conference that has 25,8 mercy. Yeah. 25,818,000. It is not the Sacramento Kings. They have zero dollars in debt cap. Oh wow. Okay. Um cuz I know they just got done playing paying Rudy Gay recently. Um that’s crazy. Yeah, that’s a crazy sentence. Yeah. Um it’s not the Clippers. You closely associate this team with the Phoenix Suns for a couple of reasons. closely associate with this team. Not for a couple of reasons. San Antonio. Nope. Nope. Not the Warriors. Not Denver. Not Denver. It’s Houston. Not Houston. Houston. Zero dollars. Not New Orleans. What the heck? You’re getting that many more teams. Not Portland. Is it Portland? It’s Portland. Oh, it is Portland. Yeah, because they Yeah. $25 million almost $26 million of dead cap. Them and Phoenix are 14 and 15 in salary cap range. That’s right. I forget whose dead money it is that they were sitting on for quite some time. But yeah, it was one of those situations like with the Bulls where they were still paying Lou all dang well after he was out of the league. Who is it for Portland? Who is Portland? I can’t remember who what player that was. Uh Portland. Andy has it right here. They wave and stretch DeAndre Aiden. Oh, that’s right. Yeah, that’s so the Aiden part is in addition to where I Yeah, because it’s not it’s not that much for Aiden. Who else did they Who else did they stretch? Off the top of my head, I cannot remember. I’m trying to think back on it, though. Steve Blake. That’s so funny. Um, who? Steve Blake was a dude. Steve Blake was a dude for sure. We haven’t named dudes in a while. Dead Money. Uh, no. It is $25 million this year from DeAndre Aiden. Okay. And then DD Lada also on the dead cap until 2028 29. So going to be hard to come back from that one. I feel like they just got done paying Greg Golden in some capacity recently, too. Maybe. I don’t know. Yeah, shout out to Greg Odin. Okay, let’s get out of here. That that I think shout out to Greg Odin is a good place to end it. Uh, you can follow the show at phnx_sons. It’s on Twitter and on Instagram. Andre Miller is definitely a dude. Andre Miller back pocket guy for me that you just Marcus Aldridge is too good to be a dude but is still a certified dude for sure. Uh I just want to name dudes. You follow the show at PHX sons. Uh appreciate the freckle mamba creating games and making all the magic happen behind the Mac. You can follow him at freckledmamba. Of course you can follow Steven get updates on all of his film breakdowns. Of course live updates from Mercury practice and shoot around as they try to claw back in the W finals. And of course, he will be out there at Suns practices, shootarounds, and covering the team during the season. So, follow no Sun stuff until they come back state side. They are in China. There’s just no way to There was just no way logistically to make that work for immediate. We couldn’t get him out to China. We tried. We tried. They said no. He said, “You’re too smart.” Uh, you can follow him for all the updates on the team though at Stephen China book. That’s all. You follow me at Steen with a PH, by the way, because he balances us out. Follow me at RIK Rub by not just covering Suns but Sunund Devils as well. Number 21 team in the country. Got some Cardinals takes off too. So if you want to come argue with me, you can do it at Rik. Rub Y. We’ll be back tomorrow. Maybe we’ll name some dudes. Maybe we won’t. There’s only one way to find out. [Applause] Like the mayor.
JOIN THE SUPPORTERS CLUB ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/yc6km2r4
Jalen Green might be the most misunderstood player in the NBA, and the Phoenix Suns need him to silence the doubters this season.
Stephen and Erik are back to break down why his playoff struggles come with a whole lot of context, why he is set up to thrive alongside Devin Booker and how he can change the public’s overwhelming negative view of him as a player.
What is his ceiling? What is his floor? Can he be an all-star? How good can he be this season?
PHNX Suns breaks it all down before having some fun! Follow the show @PHNX_Suns, @ErikRuby, @StephenPG3 & @FreckledMamba!
0:00 – Intro
2:30 – SPG’s Breakdown of Jalen Green is LIVE!!!
4:00 – Jalen Green in Last Years Playoffs
10:15 – How Could Jalen Have Preformed Better in the Playoffs?
19:00 – What are Jalen Green’s Strengths?
28:15 – Where Does Jalen Green Have Room To Improve?
39:25 – Where Will Jalen Green Benefit as a Phoenix Sun?
52:22 – Small Jalen Green Injury Update
56:00 – Aryton Introduces ANOTHER game
1:02:30 – Giannis On The Move???
An ALLCITY Network Production
SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtube
ALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports
MERCH https://store.allcitynetwork.com/collections/phnx-locker
ALLCITY Network, Inc. aka PHNX and PHNX Sports is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the City of Phoenix
PHNX Events: Get your tickets to PHNX events and takeovers here: https://gophnx.com/events/
ALLCITY — including us here at PHNX — is teaming up with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America for an exciting three-year partnership. To learn more, visit https://www.bbbs.org/allcity/
Branded Bills: Use code BBPHNX at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 15% off your first order!
Zen Leaf: Visit our friends at Zen Leaf (http://zen-leaf.store/phnx) for 50% off using promo code ZENPHNX
bet365: https://www.bet365.com/olp/open-account?affiliate=365_03330244 Use the code PHNX365 to sign up, deposit $10 and bet $5 to get $150 in bonus bets!
Disclaimer: Must be 21+ and physically located in AZ. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-NEXT-STEP, text NEXTSTEP to 53342 or visit https://problemgambling.az.gov/
Circle K: Join Inner Circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you!
Visit https://www.macu.com/accounts/checking/mystyle-checking?cid=ea-PHNX-AZ-mystyleAugust2025-checking to learn more about their MyStyle Checking Accounts!
Access Auto Insurance Agency of Arizona, LLC (Access Auto) is a renowned agency offering personal and commercial auto insurance options to Arizona residents. If you’re on the hunt for a new policy, call Access Auto today at 1-480-400-0546 or get a free insurance quote by visiting our website www.access-insurance.com.
APS: Find instant rebates, discounts and special offers on smart thermostats, energy-efficient appliances and more at https://marketplace.aps.com/default/heating-cooling/smart-thermostats
Chicken N’ Pickle: Family friendly fun awaits! Visit chickennpickle.com to plan your visit today!
Monarch Money: Use Monarch Money to get control of your overall finances with 50% off your first year at https://www.monarchmoney.com/phnx
Shady Rays: Head to https://shadyrays.com and use code: PHNX for 35% off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated 5 stars by over 300,000 people.
Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.
When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.
#KevinDurant #Durant #KD #DevinBooker #Booker #Book #BradleyBeal #Beal #PhoenixSuns #Phoenix #NBA #basketball #Big3 #hoops #sports #BolBol #GraysonAllen #JusufNurkic
4 comments
Bring back Gerald
What happened to Lindsey
Get used to seeing Brooks and Dunn.. this combo will be the defensive duo that carries this team with energy sparking the offense … they've got the talent to surprise the league… with plenty of depth… this team will be way better than y'all think…
23 years old