{"id":302158,"date":"2025-09-25T03:26:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T03:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/302158\/"},"modified":"2025-09-25T03:26:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T03:26:15","slug":"why-dillon-brooks-villain-persona-is-perfect-for-suns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/302158\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Dillon Brooks \u2018villain\u2019 persona is perfect for Suns"},"content":{"rendered":"

The post Why Dillon Brooks \u2018villain\u2019 persona is perfect for Suns<\/a> appeared first on ClutchPoints<\/a>.<\/p>\n

PHOENIX\u2013 It\u2019s not often that a role player can change a team\u2019s dynamic. However, if you\u2019re Dillon Brooks<\/a> and the Phoenix Suns, it appears to be a match made in heaven.<\/p>\n

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After Brooks was originally supposed to be traded to the Suns<\/a> in 2018, the trade itself was denied because the Memphis Grizzlies offered the wrong player. They meant to trade MarShon Brooks, not Dillon. Somehow, the pairing felt meant to be all along.<\/p>\n

During Phoenix\u2019s media day, a plethora of questions surrounded Brooks with being a villain. It\u2019s a role that he\u2019s embraced, and for more of an interesting reason<\/a> than one would expect.<\/p>\n

\u201cMemphis not wanting me\u2026 Trying to figure out a new path in the NBA. I had to look myself in the mirror and say, \u2018How can I be wanted?’\u201d Brooks said. \u201cThe way I play, smash mouth, physical, in-your-face type of game is where I got the villain [role from].\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Not being wanted by any team is sure to put a massive chip on one\u2019s shoulder. And Brooks already plays with an edge. So doing this could be the equivalent of throwing lighter fluid on an engulfing fire.<\/p>\n

Since he was traded from Memphis to the Houston Rockets, he once again had success, specifically on the defensive end. Brooks helped anchor that defense and set the tone of physical, smash-mouth, in-your-face basketball.<\/p>\n

Can Dillon Brooks make an immediate impact for the Suns?<\/p>\n

Luckily for the franchise, Brooks has been someone the Suns have targeted<\/a> for the past few seasons. His grit, toughness, and defense alone make him a formidable matchup.<\/p>\n

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Over those few seasons, his offensive game has expanded. Brooks has been mostly a 3-point shooter and operates in catch-and-shoot scenarios.<\/p>\n

One point he touched on during media day was being more of a playmaker. With guys like Devin Booker and Jalen Green as legitimate scorers, there will be plenty of opportunities for him to expand that skill set.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, his scoring will come in nicely, especially considering what he did in Houston. He shot nearly 40% from deep on 6.3 attempts per game.<\/p>\n

With more spacing, elite playmakers on the perimeter, it could open things up offensively. Brooks could also be another option to bring the ball up the floor and initiate the offense.<\/p>\n

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Offense is important, but that\u2019s not the ultimate calling card.<\/p>\n

The Suns can have an elite defense because of Dillon Brooks\"Kelley<\/p>\n

Kelley L Cox-Imagn Image<\/p>\n

Putting the pressure on one player to anchor, especially a wing, can be a bit much to ask. Sure, the Suns will play team defense, but someone of Brooks\u2019s acumen on that side is advantageous<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Not to mention, head coach Jordan Ott has been labeled as a \u201cgym rat\u201d throughout Wednesday\u2019s media availability. Brooks even mentioned how he and the first-year coach are going over particular schemes and strategies.<\/p>\n

Acumen aside, hard work beats talent when the latter fails to beat hard work. And there\u2019s no secret that Brooks has an insatiable appetite for being the best defender<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe edge and competitive spirit he plays with is unmatched\u2026 He\u2019s an incredible worker, one of the hardest workers I\u2019ve seen,\u201d Ott said during his portion of media availability.<\/p>\n

Towards the end of his remarks, Ott mentioned Brooks being the head of working hard, and not letting anyone outwork them. On a team with a barrage of young players, setting that precedent early has to be the biggest modus operandi heading into training camp.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, it aligns with Phoenix\u2019s new-age identity ever since the championship experience failed. They might not reach a championship in the 2025-26 season. But with Brooks as the anchor, this Suns team won\u2019t have any quit.<\/p>\n

Related: Suns star Devin Booker\u2019s hilarious reaction to hitting Year 11 in the NBA<\/a><\/p>\n

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Related: Suns\u2019 Devin Booker drops eye-opening Dillon Brooks take after trade<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The post Why Dillon Brooks \u2018villain\u2019 persona is perfect for Suns appeared first on ClutchPoints. PHOENIX\u2013 It\u2019s not…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":302159,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3795],"tags":[7,2292,1195,294,194,861,24103,293,177,4070,6,472,49148],"class_list":{"0":"post-302158","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-memphis-grizzlies","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-devin-booker","10":"tag-dillon-brooks","11":"tag-grizzlies","12":"tag-houston-rockets","13":"tag-jalen-green","14":"tag-marshon-brooks","15":"tag-memphis","16":"tag-memphis-grizzlies","17":"tag-memphisgrizzlies","18":"tag-nba","19":"tag-phoenix-suns","20":"tag-smash-mouth"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115262808725144967","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/302159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}