Damian Lillard shares his thoughts on Suns’ Devin Booker
NBA veteran Damian Lillard complimented Devin Booker as a special talent and a key player for the Phoenix Suns.
The Phoenix Suns are expected to begin training camp for the 2025-26 season during the last full week of September as teams typically begin camp around a week before their preseason opener.
The Suns open preseason Oct. 3 against the Los Angeles Lakers at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, Calif.
Phoenix then travels to China for two preseason games Oct. 10 and Oct. 12 versus the Brooklyn Nets at Venetian Arena in Macao before facing the Lakers again to conclude preseason Oct. 14 at PHX Arena.
The Suns open their 2025-26 regular season Oct. 22 at home against the Sacramento Kings.
Phoenix is coming off a 36-win season and missing the playoffs for the first time since 2019-20, which was the last time it had a losing season. The Suns fired coach Mike Budenholzer and elevated Brian Gregory to general manager, replacing James Jones, who was shifted to senior adviser and later joined the NBA as executive vice president/head of basketball operations.
The Suns also traded Kevin Durant and bought out Bradley Beal’s contract, which allowed him to leave for the Los Angeles Clippers.
Here are five things to watch during camp under first-year head coach Jordan Ott, who at age 40 is Phoenix’s fourth head coach in four seasons.
Phoenix Suns guard Jalen Green discusses joining the team
New Phoenix Suns guard Jalen Green on joining the team after being traded from the Houston Rockets for Kevin Durant.
Who plays point guard?
The Suns tried distributor by committee under Frank Vogel in 2023-24, but they ranked 25th in the league in turnovers.
Enter Tyus Jones to run the show, but he became primarily a spot-up 3-point shooter and Devin Booker averaged a career-high in assists at 7.1 last season. Jones is now with the Orlando Magic.
New addition Jalen Green doesn’t have the numbers to suggest he can create offense for others. He’s averaging 3.4 assists for his career (four seasons). Green took on some ball-handling duties and found teammates in Houston, but Fred Vanvleet was the team’s primary ball handler.
The Rockets weren’t exactly a great shooting team last season. They were 21st in field-goal percentage shooting overall at 45.5%, shooting 35.3% from 3-point range.
Can Green serve as a playmaker to free up Booker to score more?
Does Booker resume his distributor duties, or does Ott have an offense that can maximize the scoring talents of those two as well as share the ball?
The Cleveland Cavaliers led the NBA in scoring, ranked second in field goal percentage overall, 3-point shooting and finished 10th in assists last season with Ott as an assistant under Kenny Atkinson, the 2024-25 NBA Coach of the Year.
Suns’ Royce O’Neale on the development of his quick-release shot
Phoenix Suns forward Royce O’Neale said reps and his coach’s confidence has helped his shot.
Fifth starter: Ryan Dunn or Royce O’Neale?
Ryan Dunn looks like the ideal choice to start, along with Dillon Brooks, Mark Williams, Booker and Green.
With the way today’s game is played, Dunn, at 6-8, 220 pounds, is big enough and certainly athletic enough to play the four. His ability to guard multiple positions makes him someone who can switch on pick-and-roll and check a wing or guard.
Being a four requires one to work the defensive boards. Williams averaged a double-double of 15.3 points and 10.2 rebounds (7.2 on the defensive end), but he can’t grab every board.
The power forward must help on the glass. Dunn only averaged 3.6 rebounds per game last season, with just 2.4 coming on defense.
Dunn also shot just 31.1% from 3 as a rookie last season. That’s an improvement from college, where he only made 23.5% of his deep launches in two years at Virginia, but with all the attention Booker and Green will draw the Suns need Dunn to make teams pay for leaving him open.
If he can shoot, say, 36% and score in the paint off the dribble, offensive boards, in transition or off cuts and movement, Dunn becomes the scoring threat Phoenix needs to complement Booker and Green.
Out of the 6.9 points Dunn averaged last season, 3.2 were in the paint, 1.1 came on second-chance opportunities, and 0.9 came on the break. Doubling those numbers alone puts him at double figures.
If Dunn is an offensive liability, Ott may roll with Royce O’Neale at the four, a familiar position for him. The veteran forward isn’t the athlete Dunn is, but last season, O’Neale nailed a career-best 40.6% of his 3s. He’s also averaged 4.8 career boards (eight seasons) with 4.1 coming on defense.
New Suns forward Dillon Brooks discusses playing with Devin Booker
New Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks on joining the Phoenix Suns, playing with Devin Booker and more.
Establish different mentality, approach
The team’s ownership, front office and coaching staff have been saying all summer the Suns plan to play fast with high energy, aggressiveness, physicality — and defend.
That’d be an improvement. Phoenix finished 27th in the NBA in defensive rating last season under Budenholzer.
Brooks is the epitome of all those qualities the Suns want to embody. Plus, he knocks down 3s, making a career-best 39.7% of them last season.
Dunn said he expects “fights” in practice due to having a high level of competition. Will the Suns play with a high level of edginess in 2025-26?
Training camp is the ideal time to establish a new mentality.
Early rookie impact
The Suns have three rookies expected to contribute in 7-footer Khaman Maluach, the 10th overall pick in the 2025 draft out of Duke, and second-round selections Rasheer Fleming and Koby Brea.
Maluach comes in a rim protector and lob threat. He has tremendous upside, but he’s young, turning 19 on Sept. 14.
Fleming is an intriguing talent who can score on all three levels and defend from a wing position. Brea, a guard, led the nation in 3-point shooting at 49.8% in 2023-24 at Dayton. Last season, Brea made 43.5% of his deep looks in his one season at Kentucky.
Khaman Maluach, Rasheer Fleming and Koby Brea make their introductions
Phoenix Suns general manager Brian Gregory introduces the team’s 2025 draft picks: Khaman Maluach, Rasheer Fleming and Koby Brea.
All three have bright NBA futures, but can they quickly adjust to the NBA and make immediate impacts?
The Suns still have 7-footer Nick Richards, who is in the final year of his three-year deal.
Grayson Allen is back as one of the NBA’s best 3-point shooters, and Oso Ighodaro may play a more natural four position after seeing action at the five as a rookie last season.
The rookies are at the first stages of this new era for the Suns. They have a chance to help set the tone for the present and future.
Devin Booker’s team
Booker came into the league as an 18-year-old rookie and has established himself as one of the game’s best players – and the face of the Suns.
He led the Suns from out of the NBA dungeon to the 2021 NBA Finals and the league’s best record the following season with a franchise-best 64 wins.
However, Chris Paul got just as much credit for Phoenix’s resurgence, if not more, than Booker. He was considered the closer.
Then Durant was the team’s best player when Phoenix acquired him from Brooklyn in the blockbuster deal before the 2023 trade deadline.
With Paul, Durant and Beal no longer around, Booker is the undisputed man on this team on all levels.
The franchise’s all-time leading scorer signed a record two-year extension this summer for $145 million that keeps him under contract in Phoenix through 2029-30.
There’s no question this is Booker’s team. So, how is he going to lead these 2025-26 Suns?
Booker questioned near the end of last season whether he imposed his will on the opponent enough, on teammates enough and if he was vocal enough.
By the end of camp, there should be no doubt who Booker is and what he expects from everyone in this organization – including himself.
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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