Why Jalen Green & Devin Booker Can Be DANGEROUS For Phoenix Suns 👀

Why Jalen Green & Devin Booker Can Be DANGEROUS For Phoenix Suns 👀

It’s one game back for Jaylen Green, so it’s time to have the conversation we’ve all been waiting to have. Green Edgecomb, who’s better? We’re getting into it now. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Psychos and sickos unite for an elite edition of BHNX Suns of course presented by Bet 365. Download Bet 365 app. Use code PHNX365 deposit 10. Place the bet revive and get $200 in bonus bets. I’m Eric. That’s Stephen. We got Espo and the freckle mamba behind the Mac making all of the magic happen. But of course, none of the magic happens without all of you in chat, including Russell, who says, “Vibes are the highest since the finals team.” And Jaylen Green looked like the player Booker has needed to have next to him his whole career. We’ll be talking about Jaylen Green’s debut a little bit more in detail here to start off the show and then we’ll just be having a conversation about hypothetically where could this backcourt end up among the best in the league and we’ll end the show with a little hoop grid fun. But the vibes have been high. Espo, we’re all feeling pretty good about Jaylen Green’s debut. We’re doing hoop grid. Are you guys ducking me on auto? Is that what that’s a freckled mamba choice? I leave it up to freckled mamba. Yeah, ducking is a conundrum. So no. So, uh, yeah, yesterday’s, uh, was an unbelievable start to Jaylen Green’s, uh, Phoenix Suns career. I think second best debut in Suns history. He looked spectacular, played well, brought the energy, did bring that vibe. Yeah, there’s that word again. Uh, that swagger that I don’t think we have seen for a while. Devin Booker was having fun playing alongside him. The offense found its rhythm, especially in the third quarter. Great night. I I did mention second best because I looked it up and 33 years ago to the day today, Charles Barker made his debut, 37 points, 21 rebounds, 12 of them offensive, eight assists, and he shot 69%. So, as much as much as I love Jaylen’s uh performance, I think you got to say Chucks was uh was the number one debut performance, but unbelievable by Jaylen and crazy that it happened almost 33 years to the day. Yeah, that’s that’s u that’s some fun information to have. Um doesn’t take away from Jaylen’s Jaylen’s uh debut, but it’s a it was a it was a fun one and I think bringing up Charles in any capacity, if you’re align if you’re aligned with him, you’re doing something good. Uh I would challenge Russell though. Are the vibes higher than when Kevin Durant first came to the team and they won those first handful of games and you had was him and CP with Devin and everybody else that was on that roster. Yeah. But the ankle injury when he was supposed to make his debut killed those initial vibes because you thought he was coming back that game. So I think I get I I I get both sides of it for sure. Wait, Kevin Durant was on the Suns. Yeah, that’s I just completely blocked out. I completely blocked out the last couple of years. I’ve only come to uh for this season. I I will say it was maybe not as high of a peak of wow, we’re going to be as good as we thought we could be when Kevin Durant came over here and there was of course all the high-end veteran talent, but it did feel more fun, right? I think we were all more excited about the immediate, you know, success of the team when KD came here and was playing well and then especially during that that playoff run where we saw Devin Booker reach heights that we had never seen him hit before in the playoffs and it just felt like, okay, get a couple more pieces, fill out your bench and you’re going to be fine. I think for championship aspirations and hopes, yes. But for like the actual vibe surrounding the team, the 21 Finals running, you and I talked about it last night, Espo, it wasn’t just the fact that they were good on the court. It’s that when you saw them play, they all looked legitimately close to each other. And obviously, we’re all spectators, right? Stephen less so than all of us cuz he’s actually at practices. But at the end of the day, like you can tell by body language on the court and how they interact with each other and how they celebrate each other’s wins and what they’re doing on the bench. Like, it’s not just two people who are in the situation who know like, hey, these guys are close. Sometimes you can tell. Last night it felt like we saw a team that was close and it I think it has been the first time since that finals run that I felt that way. Well, and Jaylen’s undoubtedly a different kind of player than 35 was in terms of the way he he shows his energy, the way he goes about his business and and that’s fine. And guys have different personalities, but I think what Jaylen does is bring an energy and a passion that connects with the fan base because this is a a team in a town that really does feed off that kind of energy. We know that, you know, I I don’t like the term front runners, but when this when a team’s fun, when they bring the energy, when they try to get the crowd in it, Phoenix responds uh at a much better way than they do with other guys. I think that’s part of it. Uh and and then like we talked about last night, I think Devin Booker is kind of he feeds off of the guys energy that’s around him and not in a bad way. I just think he’s I think I called it empathetic basketball player where he he definitely pulls in that that energy from other guys and that energy that Jaylen Green brings is infectious for that team. Speaking of energy, uh Jaylen Green did speak on the fans and the environment at the morg last night. It’s great energy. Like I said, um like I said, we got great fans. It’s amazing. Even when I wasn’t part of this team, I just I always thought the fans were lit here. everyone pulling up every game and, you know, cheering the team on and just being so active. Um, that’s very, very lit and, um, I love it. Very lit. Um, very lit. Very lit. The most lit. Oh, we got to put that on the choreography. But I mean, you can put Jaylen Green anywhere. He’s going to do certain things with a certain type of kind of like pyrochnics, if you will. It’s going to have a certain it factor to it that’s going to draw attention. And obviously when he’s making shots, especially to the extent that he was yesterday, it’s going to have people on the edge like what is he going to do next? There’s a couple times when he was just casually bringing it up the court against some pressure. He goes between the legs twice and everybody’s in the crowd like, “Oh.” Like he didn’t really like make anybody fall or stumble or anything, but there’s a kind of gamesmanship, a showmanship to his game that it engages and entices a crowd in a different way. He’s a smiling assassin out there. He’s got that big smile, but he’s he’s going to shank the the opponent when he gets the chance. And I think that’s the kind of the the kind of guy that that Suns fans gravitate towards love. You know, Devin Devin’s got a little bit of that, too. And I think that’s why they resonate so well with him. Yeah. I think it’s it’s exciting because every time he runs down the court, I’m on the edge of my seat and I’m like, “Oh, get Jaylen the ball. Get Jaylen the ball.” And look, has he been the best player over his four seasons in the NBA? No. But is he at probably a top five highlight reel over that time? Probably. Yeah. And you’re going to get a lot of those moments. And we’ve seen I mean, this is a team that, you know, they’re 4- one at home. So far this season, that’s all of their wins. The crowd definitely gets behind the team when they’re going, and Jaylen Green can get a crowd going just as good as anybody in the league. It was also nice on Jaylen’s perspective, not just to play in front of the crowd, but to share the court with Devin Booker. This is what he had to say about their pairing for the first time. It was good. Um, you know, we we got a little little vibe in training camp um before the injury. Um, off the court, it’s a great vibe on the court. I mean, it’s even better. It’s a lot of space out there. Able to build off each other. Um, talking the whole game. Um, you know, he’s he’s a veteran guard. He’s been there before, done it before. So, I’m, you know, I’m learning everything I can from him while out there trying to help him win. So, um, it’s been good. How much different is it to play with him than play against him? Uh, very different. Very different. I mean, you step on the floor, it’s always a competitive thing to go at one another. Um, I’m just happy he’s on on my side now. So, yeah, is real quick before we dive more into that. Spacing was one of the words that he mentioned in his answer. He was also followed up on about the space. Yeah, for sure. Um, I feel like our offense just has a lot of space and it it allows us to get up a lot of threes and allows us to play fast. Um, those are two things that I love to do. So yeah, I was watching the film. We broke it down, you know, sitting with the coaches breaking down film and stuff like that and everything worked out. So just got to keep building. Can you remember any stage in Houston when you played with that much room before that much space? Next question. I love the answer without an answer. That that is that’s a smart way to handle a press conference. you know exactly what he’s thinking about the spacing in Houston and he did not have to throw anybody under the bus because the spacing in Houston sucked compared to what he had last night and you could tell he was feeding off of it, taking advantage of it and so were his teammates with what he was able to create for them. Yeah. Um Space City did not have much space. That’s good. That’s a um yeah, they got to get that part figured out because they’re still they’re still dealing with some of those issues now even after the trade. Um but that’s not our business to speak to. Just speaking to what he came from, what still persists there and what he’s reaping the benefits of in a new situation. This is why I said we might see the best version of Jaylen Green on immediate kind of uh relocation, his first opportunity. And I don’t feel like last night what we saw was just by happen stance. I feel like that’s something that can sustain in multiple capacities because he’s just not going to be having to deal with so many other bodies when he’s looking at the basket. Now that some time has passed, Stephen, I know that you’ve got a film session that’s going to be in the works for the people out here soon enough. What was it about the approach in the process and how they got the most out of Jaylen Green that you think can be replicated as they continue through the rest of the season? Some of it is personnel. So contextwise, when I mention it with Jaylen and the Suns compared to what he was with before, he didn’t have a Devin Booker. He didn’t have a Grayson Allen. Didn’t have a Royce O’Neal. Didn’t have a Colin Gillespie. He didn’t have these pieces. He didn’t have a Mark Williams. You don’t think about him as a spacer, but vertically up and down in terms of height. He presents that with a lot of opportunity you can see over a defense. So, he didn’t have all of these depths and different versions of uh versatility within his usage last season. In tandem with that, their offense is not even close to what it is with the Suns past just the personnel. Talked about guys moving around as things are happening and it being intentional with the timing. That makes it hard for a defense to double team or show attention on someone else because there’s a price to pay. And you look at the starting lineup shift yesterday. I imagine some of it, Jordan didn’t mention it directly, but I imagine some of it is, okay, we have Jaylen Green, he’s going to be wanting to get downhill. Let’s put as much space around him as we can so that he can play to his strengths, feel good about himself early, and we can build and stack off of that. We saw the benefits of it yesterday, and I think that’s something again, independent of him putting the ball in the basket, the opportunities will be there undeterred because of the personnel and the context of play. Yeah, I I agree. And it’s going to be the biggest thing for me is how replicable is the three-point shooting over time. uh he’s not obviously not gonna shoot as well as night one, but is it higher than that 34% that we’ve seen over his career simply because he’s going to get better looks along the way. So, how does that that play out? And even he showed the midi yesterday a little bit. How does that continue to grow? Because we know he’s going to get to the bucket. We know he’s going to get to the free throw line. We know he’s going to be able to find his teammates in this offense. If he can hit those shots at a high clip, that game over. like this becomes a much better team than anybody could have imagined this year because he’s unlocked a whole another level. Well, I also think, you know, with your mentioning of people moving around, I think just the ball movement on this team overall is an emphasis and I think Jaylen fit into that really well in his debut. Obviously, he shot the ball a good amount of times for the amount of minutes he played, but I never felt like he wasn’t making the reads and the decisions that he needed to dump off passes to Mark Williams, swinging around the perimeter. I felt like he wasn’t taking bad shots and he was passing when he didn’t have a great shot. And sometimes that leads to buckets that you’re like, man, I wish Deon Booker or Jaylen Green took that shot. And sometimes it ends up with Royce O’Neal or Grayson Allen taking a wideopen three. I like how he fit into the offense and I like how he let things come to him. If he needed to take a step back and he felt good, he did and he hit it. But if he’s driving and he doesn’t have a lane, he dumped it off to Mark Williams. This is the decision-m that we felt like held Jaylen Green back a little bit in Houston. But like you mentioned with context, was it Jaylen Green not making the right decisions or was it the offense not being, you know, forced to be making the right decisions as in go do something versus this is what we’re going to do. So I’m excited to see what he can do and excited what him and Devin Booker can do as a tandem. Who benefits the most though from Jaylen Green being on the court in this offense in your mind when you look at obviously just one game, but moving forward? Who’s the guy that you think benefits the most out of it? I start with Jaylen Green himself. That is a great place to start. Uh, but if I’m going outside of him, I think naturally it’s Devin Booker. And I think it’s less about when they’re on the court together, which we’ll have more to speak about as they the sample size grows. But from last night, we saw it. You get to a fourth quarter stretch where Devin’s not on the court. At times, if they’re not scoring off of the initial actions that they’re running, Collins got to put his cape on at the end of the clock. Grayson’s had to put his cape on at the end of a clock a couple of times. Early in the season, we saw it was Dylan Brooks. That’s not the most sustainable way. If a defense does defend your actions well, if you have someone like Jaylen Green who at worst can just go get a paint touch, if not outright go and score in some capacity, it is different for your team in terms of lineups, in terms of your game flow, and just being able to stay at a certain level of play. But other two things real quick for me with Jaylen, the pace the Suns play at is very, very different from what Houston did. Houston gets into the half court very slow. Shot clock ticking, defense is set. The Suns, the defense is wide open because they’re playing so quickly and early in the clock. And then the last one for me is him on the second side. So if he’s on the court with Devin Booker, if he’s opposite of where primary action is happening and it kicks to him, a defense is rotating to him. He hasn’t seen much of that in his career, let alone with Houston the last two seasons when he’s been at his best. So I think that’s why he’ll be the best version of himself here. And we’ve never seen a guy like Jaylen Green next to Devin Booker. I’m not saying he’s the best player that’s ever been next to Book, but certainly he’s different than anybody else that Book has been alongside his entire career. Just how good can they be? Where could they end up among the NBA’s best back courts? I know it’s only been one game, but we’re going to talk about it anyway, and we’ll do it after our first break. I’m very high on Jaylen Green, and you can be very high on Pure Edibles, but they’re not like all their competitors for a variety of reasons. Yes, of course they taste delicious and they don’t taste like weed coated in sugar. They just taste like candy. Gummies, kicks, which is their version of Starburst chews. And of course, hard candies as well. What also sets them apart from the crowd is you look at the tin, it’s not just labeled indica, sativa, hybrid. It’s listed as relaxed, sleepy, uplifted, balanced. It tells you how you’re going to feel, which when it comes to edibles, especially those who are trying them out for the first time, is really important so you don’t get caught off guard. Do they have the Jaylen Green? I want that energy. Well, uh, maybe, but if Jaylen needs some help with his pregame nap he can tap in with the sleepy uh, gummies over at Pure Edibles. Plus, they have a new collab with Tower Station IPA. It’s all in one, an IPA with a THC twist. So, make sure you stop by and get yourself some Pure Edibles products from one of the over 130 dispensaries across Arizona. Got to tell you about Branded Bills. I wear it every show. I have it on the desk here in Southwest Bias. They are our favorite hat company around here because they’re local. Started in Mesa. They’re in Tempee now. Uh, and they have deals with the Suns, with ASU, with UOVA, with GCU. If you’ve got a team that you love, they’ve got a hat for you. But it’s not just the teams you love. If your company’s looking for custom headwear or apparel, they got you covered there as well. And I got to tell you, the quality is unbelievable. I am a hat fiend. I have 70 plus hats. You can ask my wife when she’s in the chat. It takes up a quarter of our closet, and more and more of them are becoming branded bills because they’re breathable, they’re good-looking, and super easy to clean, which not all hats are. And you got to take care of your hat. So, I highly recommend you get a hat or custom apparel with our friends at Branded Bills. And if you use the promo code BBPHNX, you can get 15% off your first order. Oo. And also, if you want uh your daily Arizona sports information delivered to your inbox for free, make sure you sign up for our newsletter. Of course, we absolutely appreciate everything that Pat Brown did with the newsletter. He killed it. We now have Alex Dagghastino, who is going to be running it. He’s been doing an amazing job doing some postgame articles on the Arizona Cardinals. Now, he’ll be bringing the biggest news in Arizona sports to your inbox daily at 6 a.m. It’s completely free. It is not an amalgamation of links. It is actual, unique, wellthoughtout writing that covers all sports here in the valley. Once again, it’s free. So go to phnx.com/newsletter and become the smartest sports fan that you know and do it today because guess what? In case you didn’t hear, it’s free. Yeah. And it it’s great to wake up at 6 in the morning or earlier if you’re Stephen, you know, top of the top. Uh and get everything that you need to know right there. It’s that easy. Yeah. One time for Pat. Yep. Pat Pat was great running that for a year and he’s off doing some other things now. Uh love him. Alex is a great young writer though. Fantastic and excited to uh see what he brings to the table as well. It’s like Michael Jordan handing the baton to LeBron, right? It’s like they’re two goats both writing the newsletter for PHX. How in the world did you just skip Kobe? I I literally heard him. I don’t care what Eric said. I heard him. Yeah. I don’t care what he said. Jordan Jordan a hand the baton to nobody. Let’s make that clear. Jordan still has that thing in his house. Pretty sure he just showed Mike Trico it. So, just tried to compliment both of them. It’s okay though, folks. I did not mean to do that. All right. Uh, let’s get good at that. Let’s talk about Let’s talk about back courts in the NBA. If I were to ask everybody here, including chat, who’s the best back court in the NBA right now, what would your answer be right now at this moment? Luca and Reeves. I mean, talent for talent, you it’s hard to beat that tandem. Yeah. Um, if we’re talking about proof of concept, what Oklahoma City just did last season, I guess it’s up for debate and conversation on who actually is in their back court. But we got Jdub doing what he was doing when Shay started getting double teams and Shay started getting double teams because he turned into the best player in the league on the playoff stage. Hard to beat that. I I think it says a lot when you go who is even their back court and they’re that good no matter who you put in there. I think that says a lot about them. They’re they’re in my top uh echelon too. I think I think it’s like three tiers essentially. Mhm. I think it’s interesting. There are a lot of back courts that have one high high level player. I think OKC obviously I don’t I don’t consider JD a forward or or a guard. I consider him more of a forward for them. You look at like Isaiah Joe, you look at Lou D. I mean they don’t really have a true two guard because I think with Shay he just kind of covers both and you just need some three-point shot making. He’s a great basketball player. What position is he’s a basketball player. Yeah, he’s a basketball player. I think Luca and Reeves right now is the answer. And I hate that and it makes me sick to my stomach. But what Austin Reeves did when Luca was out and what they could do while they’re together, I mean, Luca’s averaging like 40 points per game, right? He’s really the the highlevel guy that has a clear guard next to him that I feel like they they are cemented cemented in that number one spot. I think if you’re looking at another combination of two crystal clear guards, Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland are definitely up there. Would you consider them just if we’re taking the thunder out of it? Because I don’t see that second guard as a clearly like obviously they’re the best team and they probably have the best guard in the NBA, but the second guard I’m not sure about. Is Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland the second best back court in the league? I have a rebuttal for the conversation. So, if we’re talking about best backcourt in the league and we’re talking about guys comprehensive games and not just the scoring dynamic or the offensive side alone comprehensively, if we’re talking about tandemss that are at the top and Male Bridges is now playing at two for the New York Knicks, he’s the best defender of any of the top tier tanms or guards. You put that antenna with everything that Jaylen Brunson was last season clutch player of the year. One of the three best players on the playoff stage, though they didn’t make it to the finals, largely was because they went up against someone that was one of the best players in the playoffs. That’s a hard tandem to say that I think this tandem is better because we just haven’t seen other tandemss do that to the extent that they did just last season. I I have that on my list, too. Like I said, I think I think it’s a te like it’s you’re really splitting hairs when you start to look at this. I think it’s it’s Luca and Reeves, Mitchell and Garland, Shay and whoever you want to put next to him, Brunson and Bridges, and then I think Cunningham and Ivy are in that conversation now. And then I think there’s a whole another tier uh after that. I think it takes a step down and you’re looking at the Suggs and Baines, the Murray and Brawn, uh the Maxi and Edgecomb, the Steph and PMPsky, and then I think there’s another tier that’s slightly under that where you’ve got the Edwards and Danchenzo and that that next layer of group that that are there. I think it’s so tough to put numbers and and try to do this because the talent is just so slight there. I I think you got to look at in groupings. What where are BJ Edge Coleman? It’s different when you’re talking about currently versus young and like if you’re if you’re basing it off of like young back courts and future including anything from this season heavily I think right I think right I think right now Tyrese Maxi and VJ Edgecomb are I mean Tyrese Maxi is one of the best guards in the league right now period like that is right now VJ has been really good for a rookie averaging like 15 points per game I think he has all the intangibles I think we’re looking at them being a top five back court over the next couple of years I’d say right now they’re they’re probably still somewhere in the top 10 simply because Maxi has been so good and Edgecomb automatically just came into the league at a baseline level that when you’re looking at complimentary duos, they’re certainly up there. Um, but if you look at Brunson and Bridges, I’ll put Brunson and Bridges ahead of them. I think Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland is so interesting because we talk about availability, right? And that is certainly something that Darius Garland has struggled with and we’ve seen that combination hit really high highs in the regular season and then once you get to the postseason I don’t think Garland’s been put in the best position coming back from injuries and whatnot but hasn’t led to that much success as a tandem. Would you rather right now have Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland or Devin Booker and Jaylen Green? Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland because they’ve done it and have done it. I don’t care if it’s just the regular season. They’ve won together. So, yeah, I think it’s hard to compare Jaylen and Devin to those two because those two have been together. I think this is year three or four of their tandem, and it’s come with depths of success on the playoff stage. Now, you can debate about what that ceiling is for them, but they’ve shown to have been able to do it in first round series multiple times. Most recent first round series being one of the most historic in terms of offensive rating, largely because of those two. So, um, it’s tough. I I’ll side with them just because we actually have something to gauge it off of outside of 32ish minutes that they spent together yesterday. I mean, yeah, this conversation is going to be a lot of, you know, guessing as far as what they could be. I think when you look at this combination, you saw what they did last night, how they complement each other, the athletic versus kind of the more, you know, slowed down version of what Devin Booker is, but he’s still a bucket. hoping that maybe Jaylen Green can get a little bit better, maybe just be more consistent over that span of hopefully 30 to 35 minutes a game instead of 23 minutes that he played last night. Again, I think if you’re asking me from a Phoenix Suns perspective, which maybe puts a little bit of a different twist on this, if I could just take the Cavs backcourt and swap them with the Suns backcourt, even just taking allegiances to Devin Booker aside, I don’t think I’d do it. And not that maybe on paper those who aren’t a better backcourt, but I think for what Devin Booker and Jaylen Green could be and what they could be for now the long term going forward, I would not swap back courts with the Cleveland Cavaliers. I I think to your point, we’ve seen 32 million for Deon Booker and Jaylen Green. Now, if you extrapolate and just assume everything’s going to be the same, yeah, I would take those two over almost anybody on this list. That’s the tough thing. Am I are we supposed to ignore the past and just look at what from from this point moving forward? Who would you want? I think you could make the argument where I might, you know, I’d want Devin Booker and Jaylen Green if I’m not thinking about what we’ve seen accomplish and what we just think might be accomplished. But I’m always going to lean towards history and the data that we have that you can base something off of. Now, I think Jaylen Green and Devin Booker right now, even with just 32 minutes, are in that second tier for me, uh, automatically already just based on pure talent in what we saw in one game. So, that’s what the Sugs and Baines, Jamal Murray and Braun, Maxine Edgecomb, Stephan Pajki, I think they’re they’re in that group. Can they take a step and wind up in that top group? Yeah, I think that they have that ability. And the fact that Jaylen’s sitting there at 23 and I don’t think has fully, you know, formed his game. No, that that adds a lot to the equation as well because if he can continue to grow and you’ve got Devin Booker in his prime, that that makes the equation and the chance that they wind up in that top five upper echelon pretty high in in my mind, but there’s a lot of question marks still. Yeah, you mentioned the history part. Um, I mentioned the Cavaliers first round, first round offensive rating probably 15 times since Jordan Kname to the Suns. And I think that Jordan part in it is important because what he did at the helm of an offense with that group, we saw them be the best version of themselves both on the regular season stage and through that first round. Um, I imagine he has maybe not copy and paste because they’re two very different players than the two in Cleveland are, but in terms of success, there’s buttons he can press. There’s levers he can pull to get the most out of those two, both in tandem with each other and almost shapeshift. Offense looks one way when Deon’s on the court alone and it looks different when Jaylen’s on alone versus when they’re both on the court. If you can shape shift like that, that’s what the best offenses have. And I think that part is important to note with J not being involved with this because if they hit that type of ascension, that’s a lot to deal with, especially in the Western Conference. It’s such a damn good point, too, because that is such an important part of a whole thought experiment is, yeah, you could just pluck two guys out of out of anywhere and drop them somewhere. But we saw how that could work in Phoenix when you pluck them in there and you put them with the wrong coach and the wrong system and then it makes no sense. This is a perfect storm that I think we’re seeing right now. But if you plucked Mitchell and and Garland they’ve worked with before, too. So that adds a whole different layer to it as well. Yeah. I think when you’re having this conversation about what Devin Booker and Jaylen Green could be, it remains is can Devin Booker continue to play like he did at the beginning of the season and even up his game from what we’ve seen over the last couple of years, which I think all of us agree that he can. And then just how good can Jaylen Green be? Because you look at a lot of these backcourt combinations that we’ll talk about more after this upcoming break here, but a lot of them are one star, one superstar, and then another good player, another starter, right? Okay. So, like an Anthony Edwards is the best shooting guard in the league right now or has been the last couple of years. Maybe Book is going to snatch that mantle back with how he’s been playing this year. Maybe you throw Donovan Mitchell in there. But Anthony Edwards by a lot of people in a national perspective is the best shooting guard if not the best young shooting guard in the league. His back court running is Dante Danchenzo. Steph Curry Brandon Pazenski, right? It there’s Shay Ludor and I love Ludor. I’m an ASU guy, but still it’s like okay, there’s not that that secondary one. James Harden is still one of the best guards in the league. Backcourt mate is Bradley Beal. So, can they be a point where it’s Devin Booker and and if Jaylen Green raises his floor and gets to the point that you believe that he can get to, I’m coming around to believing more and more like now that we are in this system and seeing the coaching staff and the roster around him. That’s really what elevates this because I think Darius Garland is a is a great player, but I just think that his attributes and his size put some certain limitations on what he can do, especially defensively. 6’4 and 6’5 for Book and Green, the athleticism side of it as well. I think that also just kind of brings up the floor a little bit. And if we’re splitting hairs here, I I do like what Green and Booker bring from like a prototype perspective. Yeah, let let’s not act like Green and Booker have been all world defensive guys, though. They have their own they haven’t they have their own flaws and height isn’t the only thing that comes into play with that or size. That’s to your point why Jaylen Brunson and Male Bridges uh are an interesting argument in this because they add both dynamics offense and defense and I think Brunson gets attacked in playoff series they run plays every time. I think it’s but for Brunson like it’s less about just because a guy is being targeted if he’s their pigeon, if he’s their Waldo, I call him. It’s not always that he’s not a good defender. It’s also that sometimes you just want to involve a guy in action. Like Steph Curry’s not a bad defender. He’s probably one of the more average defenders. He might be slightly above average depending on how you value steals. He just gets involved because they want to eat away at his legs so he can’t be the engine of the offense on the other end. So I don’t think Jaylen is a bad defender. I think Darius Garland is not the best defender, though. And I think there’s a difference between him getting attacked versus Steph or Jaylen Brunson. I think Garland’s one of the worst perimeter defenders. I mean, the the advanced metric suggested. I think the eye test passed that suggested as well. So, no slight to him, but everybody has a weakness and his happens to be one that’s more exploitable than Jaylen or Steph in essence. I just think it’s it’s real easy to get caught up on the offensive side of the ball, especially when you’re talking about about guards and potential. But yeah, you you you got to look at both sides and I I think Booking and Green have some some work to do on the defensive end to prove that that they’re good enough on that end to be an elite duo as well. Question though, real quick, you can just say yes or no. Erton, you can chime in too. Should Kevin Durant and Amen Thompson be considered their starting lineup? Is KD playing the two or the three because he’s not playing a four? I mean, yes, by definition, that’s that’s the other problem. I’m just throwing it out there. Exact. I’m just throwing it out. If we’re looking at it comprehensively and you look at KD being still one of the no worse than 12 best players, one of the seven or eight best offensive talents, I mean, Thompson’s defense speaks for itself and he’s still rising on the defensive end and on the offensive end. I’m just throwing it out there just for conversation purposes. I would say yes. You you have to consider him this year. Is that Yeah. Yeah, I mean he’s playing guard, but we know like he’s a forward, right? But again, positionless basketball. I do have a couple other back courts that I want to throw into this conversation. We’ll do that. Plus, we’ll get into a little hoop grid fun to end a Friday reminder. Will we also be back tomorrow for a pre and postgame show as it’s Suns Clippers round three? This time we expect the Clippers to be healthy. So, it’ll be interesting to see what this duo can do. We’ll continue to talk a book and green after our final break. Speaking of the Suns, why not talk about the official credit union of the Phoenix Suns, the exclusive home of the Suns card that is Mountain America Credit Union. You can pair that Suns card with a debit account that has my style checking to unlock extra benefits like teleaalth access, mobile phone protection, restaurant deals, loan rate discounts, identity protection, offer on travel and events, and so much more. Or you can go over into the credit card realm of things. No annual fees on all their credit cards and available as low rate cashback or rewards cards options. 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I want Look, I get that this conversation is a lot of conjecture and it’s a lot of guessing and it’s been one game, but let’s just have some fun. It’s Friday. Let’s kick our shoes off. Let’s relax and let’s just do a little no free. Let’s just do a little barbershop talk. Okay. I’m gonna throw out some back courts and you tell me whether you would right now for the current and for the next five years rather have Devin Booker and Jaylen Green or rather have that pair of two individuals. Okay. For the next five years. Okay. Luca Donuch and Austin Reeves. Luca and Austin. That one’s just that’s a given. I agree. I’m We’re starting off We’re starting off easy here. Okay. Shay Gildas Alexander and Lou Dort. That one’s easy as well. Yeah, it’s Shay. Okay. Tyrese Hallebertton and Ryan Nemhard. Andrew. Andrew. Sorry. Ryan on the maps. I think that one’s that one’s easy because Nemhar might not have the offensive talent that Devin or Jaylen has, but he showed the ability on the playoff stage to step up in his role and his defense remained what it was, which was absolutely elite. So, I air on that one for having seen the way it works out and how they respond to adversity and things like that on the playoff stage. So, for now, that one is that one is it. You and I differ on that because of the injury to Albert. I don’t know how he’s going to come back or what he’s going to look like. So, because of that, I would go Booker and Green, especially for the next five years because you don’t know what that injury will uh will cause long term. I am going to roll with Booker on and Green on this one. I just think that the secondary ceiling is much higher with Jaylen Green. Now, a big part of this is when you look five years from now, Devin Booker is going to be 34 years old, right? Tyresese Hallebertton will be post Achilles injury but will be much younger than Devin Booker. So that is also also something to keep in mind here. But five years from now Jaylen Green presumably hopefully will be in his prime at 28 years old. Yeah, you just don’t know how a guy’s going to react to an Achilles. I mean that’s that’s the reality. An Achilles injury can cause all sorts of of problems and can zap athleticism completely, especially for guards. Yes. Five years from now, Jaylen Brunson and Male Bridges or Devin Booker and Jaylen Green. Um, what was Jaylen? Jaylen Brunson Brunson I think is 28. He’s he’s about a year younger than Book. That’ be 33. Um, how well do we think Jaylen Brunson’s game ages compared to Devin Booker’s? And how good would Male Bridges be compared to Jaylen Green in five years? Yeah, I think Jaylen has a Jaylen has a higher ceiling than Mikuel. I think that’s sure that’s an easy layup. So I er on Booker and Booker and Green being better than those two in five years. Okay. Yeah. I think I think it’s tough because if I’m looking in the next two years, probably the Knicks pairing. If I’m looking that back end, those final three, I’d probably go Booker and Green because the Green’s potential is so high as he as he enters that prime. And we know Book’s game is going to age well. It’s not it’s not a game predicated on athleticism or having that much b more burst than a guy. It’s just playing smart basketball, getting to your spots, finding open shots. So, I I think I’ll lean towards Booker and Green, but if I had to make an immediate decision, it’ probably be the next group. I think even an immediate decision, and you and I talked about this a lot. I even went on some Nick’s podcasts this summer to talk about Jaylen Brunson vers Devin Booker. I think Jaylen Brunson and Devin Booker are pretty close to each other when it comes to the pantheon of NBA stars right now. I will still take Deon Booker over Jaylen Brunson. Uh, I think that if you’re telling me for the next two years I can either have Jaylen Brunson and Muel Bridges or Deon Booker and Jaylen Green I think just because of the potential like yeah five years from now Green his potentials through the charts again we saw one game but just in general from what we saw in Houston and what we saw as far as what system he’ll be implemented in here there’s a chance that the leap is now for Jaylen Green over the next two years. Sure, he has stuff he can get better on, but Male Bridges has a very clear offensive ceiling, right? And he’s a great defender. But the the ceiling with Jaylen Green, the dynamic playmaking alongside Devin Booker, who I think Book will get better playing with Jaylen Green, which is also a scary thought as well. I would go with Booker and Green over Brunson and male right now and over the next five years. So that but that’s me personally. I know I lean a lot more, you know, biased and whatnot, but I really am trying to look at it from a neutral perspective. It’s close, just as I think Brunson and Book are close, but I’m going to lean with with Brunson and Green for the now. You’re going to say that even when after Brunson and Bridges go to the finals this year, they lead the Knicks to the finals. I mean, that’s a different conf that’s a different conversation. I mean, they made it to the Eastern Conference. They made it to the Eastern Conference Finals and you know, Male Bridges defense is going to continue uh to be stellar. I think like we talked about that’s the other half of the equation. That’s that’s just why over the next two years I take it. Plus Jaylen Brunson is clutch and there’s no denying that he’s going to hit those those big shots. You know that all that comes into play for me. We can agree to disagree. The other part for me is and that’s why like I want to acknowledge how different Jaylen looks in just one game with the Suns versus how things looked for the last handful of years with the Rockets. He still has sustainability and consistency questions to answer. Will his will his consistency on offense in terms of production be to the extent of Mckel’s? And I asked that because yes, people ask for more from Muel, but one thing you never have had to ask for from him is the defense. His defense is always going to be borderline all defensive second team type of impact, which can get potential wise as high as first team if he’s on his P’s and Q’s any given night. Does Jaylen have another, if his scoring is not hitting to the prolific standpoint, does he have another piece that he can lean into to still provide impact so that his consistency doesn’t feel like it’s dropped off simply off of whether the ball went in enough or not? I think that’s a big big big emphasis on his playmaking. I think defensively it’s going to be hard to find another guard that you’re going to put on the same level as Male Bridges, but I think that’s what that’s the advantage for him for it’s definitely an advantage for them. I think with Jaylen, if he can leverage a lot of this gravity when he has off nights and this will help with his consistency, not feeling like he has to force it to turn that into playmaking. That’s where that second layer comes into play. I mean, you have Devin Booker, who maybe is is the best guard at balancing those two things right now, averaging 30, but still being one of the best playmakers. After Luca, after Luca, we we don’t we don’t talk about Luka. I don’t know about clipping and saying, “Oh my god, these guys think Deon Booger is better.” Look at PHNX’s podcast. Sun’s podcast shouldn’t be a surprise. No, I I I think Book obviously is in that lane. I don’t think Jaylen Green ever gets to the playmaking level that Book is, but I think he has a playmaking leap to take. And I do think some of the changes that we hope he made out of his game, those those questions will hopefully be answered this year and hopefully those answers are in a good direction instead of a bad direction. I I think it’s that hope. Why I’m saying in the present these two years I know what what that Knicks back court did does but over those back three years I I think that that this duo will be better in the long run. Five years from now, Tyrese Maxi and VJ Edgecomb or Devin Booker and Jaylen Green. I don’t know. That’s like a That’s like a modern twodoor coupe sports car versus like a late 20110s, early 2020s twodoor sports car. So, which one you picking? We haven’t seen it with either one. So, it’s honestly a dice roll. I’ll go with because I’m going with Devon and Jaylen. I’m going with Deon and Jaylen for the next five years. Five years just because Edgecom still has a lot to learn. He’s behind where Jaylen is on that. And I think neither one of Edgecom and Maxi have what Devin Booker has. So, for the next five years, I think it’s that. But Jaylen’s got to hold up his end of that deal to keep save those other two offer because they are they’re right there. Yeah, I’m I’m there with you. And I also think you take the factor that those two guys are in Philly. It’s fair. And and that that seems like a place that young talent uh can pop real bright and then disappear real quick at times. So I will take I’ll take Booker and Green. Tyresese Maxi this season just for reference. First in points per game. Obviously, Luca doesn’t qualify in this. 33 and a half points per game, seventh in assists, 8.5 assists per game. So, we talk about Devin Booker averaging 30 and and getting eight assists. Well, guess what? Tyrese Tyrese Maxi is doing it right now. Also getting five rebounds per game is shooting 47.8% from the field. He’s really good. I think if you do pick Maxi and Edgecomb, which I think this is close because I I am a believer in both of these players. I will go with Book and Green. But if you do pick Maxi and Edgecomb, it’s not just because Maxi has arrived right now. It’s because you think Maxi’s play is sustainable and you think VJ Edgecom is that dude. He’s just getting started. Maxi Maxi just started being this all this allstar level guard last season. Tyres Maxi’s 25. It was it was a lot of it was because of injury and they said okay got to put the ball somebody says Nick Nurse is like here you go do your thing. Paul George out expected so Jordan B was out expected so last season. Do what you do and he did a lot of that. Um, he’s still getting better. It’s that’s that’s very scary. They have the second highest offensive rating, too. Like that if they stay healthy, that’s going to be a scary offensive duo for a while. Yeah. Anthony Edwards and Dante Dvenenzo. Mhm. Or Jaylen Green and Deon Booker. For the next five years. Next five years. It’s the Suns guys. I I would take the Suns guys right now. You think Anthony Edwards is still going to be the best player out of that group of four players? Is it D? So Dante Dvenenzo, you’re that low. I’m not disagreeing, I’m just asking. Ann is the best. Denzo is the worst of those four. The Suns had the two guys in the middle. I And is so good, man. He’s really good. How’s his game going to age though? Gracefully. I think we How old is he going to be? We We’ll be like 28, 29 in. And he he showed that he adapts his game, right? That’s my thing. Incorporating the three. My biggest thing. Well, the three ball is one thing, but past the three ball last season for me in the playoffs, the playmaking Lakers want to send double teams, he’s doing he’s on that same trajectory that Devin Booker has already been on for the last like four years now of accepting double teams and playmaking off of those. And then through only a couple games this season already, we’ve seen him be in the lab with Michael Jordan having conversations about how to leverage the post. That’s why he’s in his athletic prime. He’s not using it to extend his prime. He’s using it at the very beginning of his prime. So putting all of that antenna with him being a above average defender when he’s locked in doesn’t get enough uh attention for that. And then the other part of it him being one of the three best or four best clutch players in the league. That’s a lot to deal with for someone that is barely scratching the surface of their potential. Yeah. I think the bigger concern is do they pair him with a better second. No, that’s that’s a great member. Absolutely. If it’s Jenzo. Yeah. If it’s Anthony Edwards and then fill in the blank. Yeah. You might go with fill in the blank. Anthony Edwards, by the way, obviously he’s he’s missing some time with injury. He’s 24. Uh yes, he’s 24. Uh he just turned 24. Yeah. Tyresese Maxi will be 26 uh this winter, right? He’s 25 now. First game against Portland, 41 points in 39 minutes. And auton league right now, right? Yeah. 14 to 28 from the field, five of 10 from the from the from three. Okay. Geez. Anthony Edwards the next game, 31 points in 35 minutes against the Lakers. after that five points in three minutes and then 15 points in 29 minutes. So when you look at his averages for the year, which obviously I think is weighted poorly because half of those games like he played 29 minutes in that game against New York as well and now he’s out. Uh 23 points per game, 3.5 rebounds per game. It is the assist though, 2.8 assists per game. He’s going to I know he proved it in the playoffs that he could make some high leverage decisions, but over the span of a regular season in the playoffs, he does need to up his playmaking. But I do believe if he played with a better backcourt mate, that would be a lot. I think the the same conversation we had with Devin about early in the season guys not knocking down shots but them liking the shot quality that they were getting from his passes. He could be easily averaging five if their guys are knocking down shots to the extent that their talent suggest. Nas Reed plus three-point shooter. JD McDaniels inconsistent but can be a plus. Dven Chenzo is a plus. Those things matter. By the way, sorry. Maxi Maxi just Maxi just turned 25. So he’ll he just turned 25. I forgot how late into the year we already are. By the way, Ants per 36 must be insane given those first two games and he’s had five points in three minutes in the other in that other game. All right. Uh I think last one for me here. Five years, the Spurs or the Jaylen Green and Deon Booker. I want to say De’arren Fox and Stefan who you got Dylan Harper that you can throw in there as well. If we want to choose which of those two, I think if you had to realistically say I think if you realistically had to say five years from now, the back court would not include De’Aran Fox, it would be Dylan Harper and Stfan Castle most likely. So if we want to take those two and the potential, this is the one besides the 76ers that you’d say is banking the most off of potential, but at least with Maxi, you’ve seen it for a little bit longer. Then obviously Castle, who was reigning rookie of the year, and Dylan Harper, who’s only played a couple games, but has looked really good in his rookie year. What would you choose right now? I’d take Booker and Green. You’ve got the known quantity in Booker. Like we talked about his his game will gracefully age. And then I think Jaylen Green has that the same kind of potential. Uh you know, at least on offensive and in particular scoring as either of those guards in San Antonio. So if I’m if I’m betting on the next five years, I’m I’m going with Book and Green. Yeah, I’m there too because even with the four guards that the Spurs are cycling into their rotation right now, they still have questions that they have to have answered. Um, on the Sun side, you don’t have to question what Devin and Jaylen are doing. You can question some of the efficiency within it, but you don’t have to question what the output is going to be with it because just the way that the two rosters are set up. So, the steady-handedness of the Suns group I lean more towards than the green uh Spurs crop of guards. What I’m taking away from this conversation with all of us and from people in the chat who seem to agree with a lot of who we are taking over who is that the Suns backboard is in a really really good spot. And this of course we’re talking about oh what could Jaylen Green be? Well, what will he be this season? I think is going to be really fun to watch. I do think that there is a chance that by the time we get into December and January and February, if this is sustained over more minutes from Jaylen Green and we see this over and over again, I think they’re going to be in a conversation for a top five back court in the NBA this year. Devin Booker is one of the best players in the NBA. Jaylen Green has all the potential in the world. Even his biggest doubters know that there’s something there potential-wise. If he can tap into that and get to the level that we hope he can, this can be one of the best back courts in the NBA this year. But even beyond that, looking at the next couple of years, the Suns back court’s an exciting place. Yeah. I just I have PTSD because we’re in the land of where potential can be the biggest fourletter word. And that’s that scares me, right? I want to get my hopes up high after those 32 minutes last night. I want to scream from the rooftop that this is going to be a top five backcourt and that everything is right with the world because you found that 23 year old that can grow into a star next to Deon Booker. But history has taught me to be a little bit guarded and I’m I’m a little bit guarded right now. Uh I’m not reading your full name, but Cosby in the chat says, “Isn’t this the crew that hated the Green Booker back court when the trade for Katie went down?” I’ll raise my hand. I did. I I was not a fan of it. Uh, but spending time over the last couple of months looking at film and then looking at potential fit, believing in what Jordan can do. Uh, I feel a lot better about it now than I did when it happened. So, um, I never said I hated it. You’ve been the biggest Jaylen Green believer. Correct. What I did say though is that I would value getting one or two of E and Smith Jr. over bringing in Jaylen. That was what I said in particular. Now, I acknowledge that Jaylen is a talent and that he would look significantly better next to someone like Devin, but also in a completely different team scheme like we talked about to open the show, but two things can be true within that. I can acknowledge that Jaylen would be good, but I imagine with a wing heavy team and the best version of Deon Booker we’ve seen is Booker plus wings that do a lot of things. That’s the kind of mindset that I was looking at with that. Yeah, I wasn’t on the show so I can hide behind that. I’ll say it real quick though. I would not I’ve said it before. I don’t I wouldn’t be surprised if Jaylen and Devin combined average 45 to 47 48 points this season. I don’t think that’s out of the realm of possibility. I mean I think they could average 50 or probably at 50 like 53 54. Yeah. I’m like yeah cuz I’m thinking Jaylen Jaylen can get as high as 26 and a half and I think Devin can get as high as 32 33. But can those two things happen at the same time is the question. We have Sure. Sure. Well, and and that’s obviously a big a big factor in all this. And and I think what’s so encouraging about last night is it didn’t feel like Jaylen Green just got hot. Obviously, he did, right? But it felt like everything kind of came to him naturally. It felt like him and Book naturally fit together. You know, when when Book has played with great players and it’s worked like Chris Paul, that was like off rip, you’re like, you could tell that something was there, right? When he played with KD off rip, you could tell that something was there. When he played with Jaylen Green off rip, you could tell that something was there. They just are a good eb and flow. And I really appreciated seeing that from them and it made me more confident in what we could see. The thing is a lot of this also hinges for me off of the belief that I have in Jordan. Right. Yes. And and and the system around that. If we had Jaylen Green and Mike Budinoler, but look at what Jordan Knott’s been able to get out of Grayson Allen. Look at what he’s been able to get out of Royce O’Neal. I think Ryan Dunn has still had a good season, right? Devin Booker is having the best start that he’s ever had in his career when he’s been a notorious slow starter. And that’s with only playing one game with Jaylen Green. I’m banking on him being a massive part of the equation for the future of that back court and for this team, which is again another thing that I’ve changed my opinion on from when it happened in the offseason. It’s almost like it’s good when you can grow and evolve and change your opinions off of what you thought months ago. Yeah. Weren’t you the guy that hated and Brian Greg? I was. And guess what? I said I said they could still be good. Like I say, they’re cooking. Like I always say about anybody, it’s okay to have an opinion, admit you’re wrong, and learn from making yourself more informed. That’s what I want to see out of anybody. I like everybody act like I’m right on time. I’m not. But what I do is pay attention to where I was wrong, apply the information, learned, and make yourself more informed. That’s the job. That’s the job. It’s literally the job. Intake information, adjust anything that comes on once you get to know it. I I understand that’s 100% the way it should be. If you are watching on TV, if you are watching on TV, uh the party always continues over at gophnx.com. It’s time for overtime. But of course, if you’re here on YouTube, don’t go anywhere. If you’re listening on audio, don’t change anything. Hit that like button, hit that subscribe button, and of course, hit that fivestar review button as well. Or you could become a member today, like Jeff, like Sean, and like Deborah, who get access to exclusive emojis in the chat. I will say the final thing on all that is, you know, when you are presented with new information, i.e. watching basketball games or getting to actually know Jordan Knot or Brian Gregory and seeing their moves like that initial fear. My initial fear with Jaylen Green, there’s still a part of that that’s in it, right? The initial fear with Brian Gregory, there’s still a part of that that’s in it. I think Jordan not the only one where I’m like, I feel so confident about that dude just because hearing all the great things people have said about him and watching him in action and hearing his answers in pre and postgame and availabilities, like I’m so confident in him. with Green. There’s definitely a side where we’re going to be talking about this in December and it’s like, man, Green five of 24 tonight from the field, like what went wrong? As long as those are few and far in between, I I see lots of really good things happening for this tandem. Yeah, I I I need to see how Jaylen Green and this team with him on the court react to some disappointment to to getting punched in the face metaphorically at some point. and how how do they respond? Because that shows you a lot about it, too. It’s real easy to be in a flow and have all this energy in game one and everything’s falling, but what happens when you go through that quarter where you miss four shots and and the offense isn’t isn’t running the right way? How do you how do you how do you handle that? How do you bounce back? How do you respond? Even if it’s a couple games that that you’re having a rough slug, how do you respond? I want to see that as well because that will tell us a lot about the mentality and how they’ll be able to perform as a duo also. Yeah. Uh I think that’s largely why I’m I’m confident cautious but confident about what they’ve established because we’ve seen them do that without Jaylen and without Dylan Brooks involved multiple times to result in wins and u without Dylan. But looking at last night they had what nine points in the second quarter? Yeah, it was bad quarter. So in one game you see a high of highs in the first quarter 31 points. Second quarter they only score nine. Third quarter they come out adjust like you talk about in real time they get hit in the face come back in the third quarter and drop 40. So I think that’s something that they definitely have up their sleeve but they have to show it in a sustainable manner. So they had 17 points but I believe and I can check it right now. I believe in the second quarter there was only six field goals made. Four assists. Six field goals made. Yeah. Yeah. Which was just really bad. Yeah. One, two, three, four, five. I’m seeing five field goals made in the fourth quarter. Second quarter. Second quarter. In the second quarter. Okay. So, not good. Okay then. Nope. There it is. There’s the other one. Okay. Six. Mhm. It was right underneath a bunch of misses. Okay. Any any final thoughts on Book and Green before we do a little hoop grid? Let’s keep keep the excite excitement with a little cautious optimism as well. I’ll say real quick, I don’t know if Jaylen’s lows will be as low as they were in Houston because he’s not being relied upon in the same way that he is with the Suns. So, that should help bridge that gap a little bit. I agree. And he’s 23. Like, he’s usually guys get a little better and maybe that’s one of the things that gets a little better with him. Well, that’s going to wrap our current Suns Talk. But, uh, one of the more exciting little additions that we’ve added to this program, of course, big shout out to the Freckled Mamba for, uh, for pushing this and pioneering this is a little hoops grid. And, uh, what I like about Freckled Mamba is he’s gone back and looked through the database of hoop grids and he tries to find ones that are relatively relevant to what the Suns have going on right now. So, here’s what we’re going to do. Everybody, put away your devices. We are not looking at the chat and we are going to dive into a hoop grid here. Uh Eritton, you want to tell us what the uh what the rows and categories are on today’s hoop grid? Um I mean there’s a little bit of overlap here. Obviously you can see the Rockets logo and the Clippers logo. So I guess the theme was yesterday. I just go with that. The theme was yesterday on the top. Or tomorrow or tomorrow. Yeah, the theme was Yeah, we’ll do the weekend. The weekend. On the top we have player of the Clippers, player of the Rockets, player of the Phoenix Suns. On the way down we have a teammate of Chris Paul, someone who played in the 2010s and somebody who has had a 100 plus assist season. So if you’re new around here and you don’t know exactly what the goal is uh for this game is we want to find the most obscure player that fits into every one of these squares. And the more obscure it’ll tell you a percentage, the better rating you get. Our goal is to get a diamond, which is the second lowest an obscurity uh rating for each square. So, it’s the lowest uh I think it’s called a unicorn. Okay. And so, it’s like the weird galaxy looking one in the background. So, uh we’re getting one of those today. Yeah, let’s do it. I think we’ve gotten one in each of them. Uh let’s do the first row. Let’s go top to bottom. So, Chris Paul, teammate, Los Angeles Clippers. Who’s the most obscure that you could think of? Jared Dudley. I don’t know if that’s super obscure. Spencer Haw. Spencer. Spencer. Byron Mullins. I like I like Spencer Hos. Where would uh What about What about Willie Green? Okay. A diamond. A diamond. Do we want to try uh Mullins and and Green? Byron Mullen. Byron Mullen. See if we can get any lower. That is a a good base to start off. That’s even better. All right. Can we try a little Willie Green? That might be the highest one out of these, but just to see. N I think Willie. Oh, what was lower? Boom. Okay, Byron Mullen. It is. Okay. Off to Shout out Byron Mullins. Chris Paul teammate that also played on the Rockets. Now, this does not mean that they played on the Rockets at the same time. It just means that they have once been a Chris Paul teammate and they have once been on the Houston Rockets. Josh Kogi. I say Josh Kogi, but he’s currently on the Rockets, so I wonder if that one will be high. Did Chris Paul and Robert Cington have overlap? No, they never played together. So, um, great pool though. Z Proviso West. Ryan Anderson. Rhyno might be a little too wellknown. He did play. He did. I just wonder if Yeah, okay. He’s a goal. That’s too high. I want to try see I mean Kogi’s on the Rockets now. Austin Rivers. Austin Rivers. Okay. I like that one. Not Doc, but Austin. Austin’s also gold. All that podcasting has helped Austin. Try try Luke and Ba Mu. Big Luke and Amu. Chief. Still Trevora. Probably still gold. Probably gold. Yeah. Yeah. Sun’s legend. Silver. Even worse. Yikes. Uh, what was the other one? I mean, can we just try try a Kogi? Maybe people don’t know that a Kogi and Chris played together. That’s a Galaxy. Oh my god, that’s crazy. That’s crazy. I guess people don’t realize that they played together on the Suns. So, so we should have went with our first instinct. Yeah. Well, there we go. Been done three minutes ago. Chris Paul, teammate in the Phoenix Suns. Give me Abdel Nater. Abel Nater. A gold. Ishwright. Yeah, Ish. I mean, Ish. I was going Langston Galloway. Oh, okay. We trying to go Langston. I like Langston. All time good dude. Langston Gallow. All right. That’s a diamond. Do we have any Alford Payton? Tyan Alexander. Tyan Alexander would go nuts. Yes, please. That’s a good pull right there for sure. Oh, is he in? It’s Tai with a apostrophe. There we go. Wow. I’m surprised that’s not a galaxy. Yeah, I’m surprised too. Honestly, people love Tyan Alexander. Is there anybody more obscure than Tyan Alexander? Sha Harrison. Did they play together? No, they did not. Isaiah Thomas. Yeah. Did they I don’t know if they over overlapped though. I think I think came after that was later. Yeah, that was he came afterwards. Was there you low key touch on Alexander from like this far away? Looks like Anthony Simons. Can we try Jared Dudley? Yeah, we could try Jared. Try Duds, I guess. Yeah, it doesn’t have to be. They played at at the same time. Okay, still Galaxy. Is that lower? That’s lower than Tyan Alexander. Jale. Try Jale. I feel like Javale would would be would be known. Is that even lower? Okay, it’s still Dudley. There’s one. There’s got to be a name. I mean, what about what about Ryan Anderson? What about Biz? I’m just getting ready. Uh Bism Bizzy maybe. Maybe. Did Gerald Green and Chris Paul play together in Houston? Ah, they did. Yes. And then Gerald Green, they brought him in on a 10day. He turned it into the rest of the season. Is that a 1%? Wow. still higher, man. Jared Dudley still the lowest. Yeah, I think we just roll with Dudley. All right. All right. That’s the Chris Paul row complete. We’ve got uh Byron Mullen, Josh Koki, Jared Dudley. I think a great row, gentlemen. Uh played in the 2010s and played for the Clippers. Baron Davis is probably too obvious. Eric Eric Bledsoe. Yeah, Eric Bledsoe. I wonder if people remember the the good years. No, it’s still a diamond. Jordan Farmer. Oh, Farar for sure. Nice. I’m I’m good with I’m good with that one. Yeah. Okay. Good. Rockets and played in the 2010s. 2010. Again, they don’t they didn’t have to be on the Rockets in the 2010s. They just had to play on the Rockets and have played in the 2010s. Ray for Austin. Yeah, there’s going to be a lot of Austin’s. A L A L S T O N. Oh, didn’t he play till 2009? Oh, okay. Aaron Brooks. Yeah, Aaron Brooks. Goed. Shout out Oregon. Oh. Uh, what about Aaron? What about Aaron Holiday? I like Aaron. Did he play in 2019? What about Goran Dragitch? Okay. Aaron Holiday for sure. Dragic. God. Alltime goats. Bang. Even lower. Okay. Are we good with that? Um, I feel like we could get more. There’s a name. There’s a name on the I feel like we could get more. Carter Davis. No. Uh, Terrence Davis. Yeah, Terrace Davis. Davis. Terrence Davis. Terrence Davis. Yeah, he played I can’t remember if it’s ENC or I believe Terrence Davis did play. Apparently not. All right. Okay. Suns enjoying tens. This needs to be a a gaylench. Uh no. Yeah. Le played a 19. Yeah. I’m trying to think. Is he not even on it? Suns in 2010s. Was Shannon Brown here? Shannon Brown was here. Uh what the hell was his name? Little guard from Utah Valley University. Uh played point guard. Not Ish Smith, but uh the hell Ronnie Price. That’s a good one. Or Sunny Williams. That’s a good one. Sunny my boy. I love Sunny Williams. See if Sunny Williams is a galaxy. Dang. No. Wow. Oh, there’s got to be Alec Peters. Dude, don’t sleep. Alan, Alan Williams. How is How’s Alec Peters not a Jeez, there’s got to be a galaxy man. Jimmer was never here, was he? Yeah, he was. Jimmer Jimmer stopped Book from getting like 60. Um, Chris Humphre. Oh, I was there for his debut. Danny Danny Granger. How are none of these galaxies? I’m looking up this Terrence Davis name is still killing me. I swear Ter I’m double checking the spelling. This one’s got to be a galaxy, man. We This is a Suns podcast. 2010’s for the for the Suns. Sunny Williams is in Galaxy. Jaylen Mugh is not a Galaxy. Kendall Marshall. That’s a good Davon Reed. Davon Reed. Good poll. Okay, that’s better than a Galaxy. Okay. No, it’s not better than Galaxy. It’s better than a The Rock is one in the middle real quick. It’s T E R E N C Davis. Yeah. No. Dang. Never mind. All right. Uh, so that is in between unicorn, which is what a Kogi is in diamond, so it’s still better. So I think I think we’re good with with that. Mhm. All right. 100 plus assist season played for the Los Angeles Clippers. Uh 100 plus assists played for the Clippers. Austin Rivers at any point. At any point. Oh, at any point. At any point. Okay. That’s a diamond. That’s good. Uh you think uh Elton Bran had 100 assists this season? Was he healthy enough to get That’s kind of the That’s obviously he’s a Bill. Yeah. Bill Walton with 100. Yeah, Bill Walton was dishing it. Okay. Uh yeah, we try Bill Walton. Still a diamond. Okay. Try Raymond Felton. Matt Barnes. I don’t know if people think he had 100 assists in a season. I don’t think Matt got to He did. Wow. Okay. Who Who was the guard that uh was on the Showtime Lakers that they unceremoniously dumped to the Clippers? Uh, he was diva be he and Magic didn’t get along. What the hell was his name? From the 90s. No, it was that 81. He was there from 79 until the early 80s with uh with him. Uh, God, I can’t remember his name. Yeah, I you started. Yeah, I got an idea who you speaking about. Yeah. Technically, could somebody from the Buffalo Braves qualify because Yeah, sure. Yeah. Like Yeah. Maybe Yeah. Because people won’t think of of that. Yeah. Bob Mcadoo goated to gold. Uh let’s say like one more guess in this and then we’ll move on. 100 assists as a Clipper. Let’s Did Josh Smith ever get to 100 assists? I don’t think he ever. Did Smush play for them after he played for the Suns? Did Josh Smith? Let’s roll. Is that like what 10% or 10%? Yeah, we’ll roll with Josh Smith. Rockets 100 plus assists in a season. Um Vernon Maxwell. Shout out Mad Max. He’s a great follow great follow on Twitter. All right, that’s a good one. I like that. Um you know it’s good when they don’t even have the photo. Yeah. Uh, Mario Ellie and he got 100 assists in a season somehow. Okay, I think this one’s a little bit higher. Aaron Brooks. I’m trying them again. Ralph Samson. Ralph got 100 assists? He might have the original WBY. Did Charles ever get 100 assists with the Rockets? I don’t know. At the at the Well, it doesn’t have to be with the Rockets. Just overall in their career. Overall. Okay, Barkley. Okay, still a diamond. Let’s do one more guess here. Obscure players with over 100. I mean, we can get way more obscure. John Wall. Um, Clint, no. There’s no way Clinton had 100 assists in a season. You don’t think so? You think you think Clint? [Laughter] Um, humor me. Try jock. I don’t know how many. There’s no way Jock had 100 assists, dude. So, does anybody That’s over an assist per game in playing all 82. Um, there’s somebody more. There has to be somebody more obscure. There has to be Patrick Beverly. You think that’s more obscure? No. Wait, does anybody It doesn’t have to be if they had to have played at the Rockets at one time and at one time had 100 plus assists in the season. Okay. Um Pablo Pion, they got his coach’s head shot. That’s funny. Ryan Anderson, dude. I’m a Ryan Anderson. Yeah, he ain’t get to 100. You don’t. All right, let’s uh let’s stick with uh was Pablo the lowest? Pablo. Yeah, I’ll stick with Pablo Pion. All right, last one here. Again, once we guess this is this is the final one that we can do. The grid is completed. We have to make sure it’s a diamond. Alfred Payton. Alfred Payton 100. Do we think that that might be gold? I’m not sure. Kendall Marshall. He got to it. Kendall had to got to it for sure. Okay, Kendall Marshall. Kendall’s in the mix. Do we have any any more like obscure players like older players? Kyle Macy. Kyle Macy. I think Kyle Macy is for sure diamond. Hold on. There’s uh Gail Goodrich. Most people wouldn’t remember. He played for the Scott. Argie. Argie. Argie. Good. Charlie Scott. I feel like Charlie Scott definitely had 100 assists in a season. Yeah, but he’s a whole I mean Yeah. I just don’t think people associate with the Suns. I think Kyle I think Kyle Macy is definitely I’m throw Boris out there. Alvin Adams. Most people probably have zero clue. You want to try Alvin Adams cuz not only is he more obscure, but he’s a big but that’s why I was looking at the leaders Alvan with an A. Yeah. All right. That’s a diamond. A unicorn, a galaxy, and all diamonds. Not too bad. Can you can you try another one just to see where the Kyle Macy would have been? Like we don’t have to I’m surprised there are other people who picked Alvin Adams. Oh, it would have been a galaxy. We’ll just roll with that. We’re just going to say that. That was it then. That was it. All right, y’all. Thank you so much for joining us for a daytime edition of PHNX Suns. Always love throwing a little hoops grid. Something fun there. We’ll do a next time next 3 p.m. Ducking me on a we’ll get a little uddle in there. Uh reminder, pregame, postgame show tomorrow, I believe, is a later tip off. So, make sure you spend your Saturday night with us. Uh 8:30 tip off, which means 8 pregame. And of course, postgame will be later on a Saturday. You can take a pregame pregame nap. Be like Jaylen Green. Be like, I’m gonna be so excited I won’t be able to take my pregame nap. Hit that like button. Hit that subscribe button. Make sure when you’re subscribed, you can also turn notifications on to know whenever we do go live. I know some people forget that we do 3M shows during the season, so you’ll always know. Plus, make sure you keep your eyes tuned to your video feeds on PHNX Sports because a new film session on Jaylen Green done by of course Stephen will be hitting that timeline soon for that too. Mhm. Eritton always put in that work behind the scenes. You can follow us at phnx_sons. on Twitter and on Instagram for fun, plus all the news and notes that you need and up-to-date real time on the Suns all in one place at PHX Suns. Show the freckled mamba some love at freckle the mamba on socials. Of course, uh you can follow Stephen at Steven PG3. That’s Stephen with a ph bringing you up-to-date uh notes from practice, shootaround, pregame, postgame, everything all at Stephen PG3. You can follow me at r i krub y. You can follow Espo at Espo [Music] [Applause] like the mayor.

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Devin Booker and Jalen Green put on a show against the Clippers in Green’s debut for the Phoenix Suns, getting fans excited about what the backcourt can look like at their peak. Where could a the dup rank among the best backcourts in the NBA? Erik, Stephen and Espo dive into it after continuing their breakdown of one of the best debuts in franchise history, reacting to Bradley Beal’s latest quote and more! Follow the show @PHNX_Suns, @StephenPG3, @ErikRuby, @Espo & @FreckledMamba!

2:50 – Intro
21:40 – Do The Suns Have The Best Backcourt in The NBA?
38:40 – Would You Rather Have Devin Booker and Jalen Green or ______ and ______ For The Next 5 Years?

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