{"id":733803,"date":"2026-05-14T03:12:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T03:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/733803\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T03:12:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T03:12:19","slug":"suns-interest-in-zion-williamson-should-depend-on-this-question-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/733803\/","title":{"rendered":"Suns&#8217; Interest in Zion Williamson Should Depend on This Question"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Phoenix Suns have often been involved in trade rumors for big names since owner Mat Ishbia took over the franchise. <\/p>\n<p>That, combined with Phoenix&#8217;s failure to return to the NBA Finals since 2021, has pushed pedal to floor in terms of getting Devin Booker as much help as possible while he&#8217;s still in his prime. <\/p>\n<p>Especially after the Suns flamed out in the postseason, there&#8217;s pressure on Ishbia to make a move to elevate Phoenix to the next level ahead of the 2026-27 season. <\/p>\n<p>That might just come in the form of one of the league&#8217;s most polarizing players. <\/p>\n<p>Zion Williamson = Phoenix Suns Option?<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778728338_602_01krhaykt6k9kx3s0k6s.jpg\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width: 100%;\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDarren Yamashita-Imagn Images\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Zion Williamson is no stranger to trade rumors, especially concerning the Phoenix Suns. Earlier in the season, the New Orleans Pelicans&#8217; forward was involved in some discourse. <\/p>\n<p>We were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/suns\/onsi\/news\/zion-williamson-isnt-close-being-ideal-phoenix-suns-trade-target\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">very adamant<\/a> Williamson didn&#8217;t fit what Phoenix wanted in their lineup, though our good friend Kellan Olson over at Arizona Sports <a href=\"https:\/\/arizonasports.com\/nba\/phoenix-suns\/zion-williamson-suns\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">highlighted<\/a> Williamson&#8217;s ability to get to the rim as something the Suns could sure use. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;His rim frequency of 69% remains laughably elite, as does 70% shooting there for someone who largely creates those opportunities on his own. The highest rim frequency by a Suns ball-handler last year was Green at 29%,&#8221; Olson said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Williamson attacks with developed feel as a playmaker, where he has spent some time in the past as the Pelicans\u2019 point guard. His assist-to-usage ratios have always been between great and excellent, unlike Brooks and Green, who are terrible in that metric.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>This essentially boils down to what Suns coach Jordan Ott would like out of his lineup. <\/p>\n<p>Does Zion Fit Jordan Ott&#8217;s Vision?<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778728339_915_01krhbxteqcme5dr70sx.jpg\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width: 100%;\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlonzo Adams-Imagn Images\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>He&#8217;s admitted in press conferences the desire for Phoenix to get to the hoop more, though the Suns were near the top of the league in three-pointers made for the regular season. It feels like both cannot coexist at high levels next to each other. <\/p>\n<p>Is Phoenix&#8217;s three-point shooting a philosophy of Ott or more so a result of the Suns having typically strong three-point shooters in Royce O&#8217;Neale and Grayson Allen also in the lineup? <\/p>\n<p>Our previous argument for Williamson was his lack of fit within the 2025-26 Suns, though if Ott green-lights a potential swap in the lineup, perhaps Williamson will be a nice swing at the plate like Olson suggests (who does know far more basketball than most, to support his argument). <\/p>\n<p>Ott, like any good coach, would have to adapt the philosophy of Phoenix&#8217;s attack to maximize Williamson and his overall fit on the team next season. <\/p>\n<p>And that&#8217;s the big question, if Ott feels like he found something good within the current group of players and skillsets or if he is welcome to changing a chunk of what worked for Phoenix compared to previous iterations of the team. <\/p>\n<p>Still, it feels awfully tough to get past Williamson&#8217;s injury history and what the Pelicans could be searching for in a potential trade package back. The Suns don&#8217;t have much to offer outside of Allen, O&#8217;Neale and future second-round picks. <\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Phoenix Suns have often been involved in trade rumors for big names since owner Mat Ishbia took&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":733804,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3791],"tags":[7,6,2065,472,4045,604],"class_list":["post-733803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-phoenix-suns","tag-basketball","tag-nba","tag-phoenix","tag-phoenix-suns","tag-phoenixsuns","tag-suns"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116570747562176447","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733803","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=733803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/733804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=733803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=733803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=733803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}