Game 23.
What was your first car? The hand-me-down that landed in your lap after your older sibling had their way with it? By the time you turned 16 it was no longer a vehicle, it was a survivor. Mine was a 1990 Ford Escort family station wagon. The rear passenger door did not open. Not stuck, not stubborn, it simply refused. A true clunker in every romantic and mechanical sense of the word.
That is what Friday night against the Houston Rockets was. A clunker. It was loud, shaky, unreliable, and doomed the moment it pulled out of the driveway.
Maybe you’d call it “clanker” as well. The Suns were ice cold from deep, 14% on three-point shots. Houston made ten triples on half the attempts. Same night, two very different realities.
The Suns came out with effort and intention, locked in for about a quarter and change. Then Kevin Durant checked back in, the three pointers kept missing, and the whole thing slid sideways.
The avalanche followed, slow at first, then all at once. There was a road back if the shots started to fall, but they never did. It bled straight into the second half. The offense lost its compass. The rhythm disappeared. The team looked aimless, swerving lane to lane, white knuckled and guessing.
It felt exactly like that first drive in my old Escort, winding through 48th Street between Osborn and Indian School Road.
Bright Side Baller Season Standings
It was close, but CG12 gets it for Monday’s performance against the Lakers. And with Booker missing time and three players right on his heels, it’s a matter of time before someone ties Book’s 5 on the year. Side note: it’s been quite some time since Booker won a BSB, hasn’t it?
Bright Side Baller Nominees
Game 23 against the Rockets. Here are your nominees:
Dillon Brooks
23 points (10-of-24, 0-of-4 3PT), 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 0 steals, 3 turnovers, -24 +/-
Jamaree Bouyea
18 points (7-of-11, 2-of-3 3PT), 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 0 turnovers, -3 +/-
Collin Gillespie
13 points (5-of-13, 1-of-7 3PT), 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnover, -12 +/-
Mark Williams
10 points (4-of-6, 0-0 3PT), 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 turnovers, -21 +/-
Grayson Allen
9 points (3-of-12, 1-of-7 3PT), 2 rebounds, 0 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers, -29 +/-
Jordan Goodwin
9 points (4-of-13, 1-of-6 3PT), 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 0 +/-
Fire away. Hopefully you’ll hit, even if the Suns didn’t:
The Phoenix Suns finally have a franchise center.
No, this is not in reference to their 10th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, Khaman Maluach. Mark Williams has made an immediate impact, and it’s okay to think of him as your franchise center… for now. This is a good problem to have.
Did we expect Khaman to be the 4th string center behind Williams, Ighodaro, and Richards entering this season? Probably not! It’s not the end of the world, and more common for rookies to wait their turn than you’d think in this instant gratification society we live in.
Khaman Maluach’s time will come. It may not be tomorrow. It may not be next week. Hell, it may not even be next month. But at some time this season, the Suns are going to count on their rookie big man to provide impactful minutes in games and moments that count.
So far, Maluach has played a total of 49 minutes across 11 appearances. He has compiled 15 points, 9 rebounds, 4 blocks, 1 assist, and 5 turnovers on 4-of-10 shooting. Comparison is the thief of joy, so let’s not focus on what some of his fellow rookies are doing just yet. He was always going to require development.
Valley Suns
Maluach has played four games for the Valley Suns, averaging 14.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks on 55% shooting in 28.8 minutes per game.
His latest G League outing should encourage Suns fans. Maluach logged 35 minutes and put up 27 points on 10-of-14 shooting. He missed his lone three, but he hauled in 15 rebounds, six of them offensive, rejected four shots, and even tossed in an assist.
.@suns rookies Khaman Maluach and Rasheer Fleming dropped MONSTER double-doubles to lead the @gleaguesuns to a 23-point comeback win over the Warriors!
Maluach: 27 PTS, 15 REB, 10/14 FG
— NBA G League (@nbagleague) December 4, 2025
Most rookies in NBA history have had to wait their turn. It’s only this social media era that convinces people that a player should dominate from day one. Growth takes time. Development is work. And patience still matters in sports, even if the online world hates to admit it.
Phoenix sent him to the G League because that’s the system. It’s not punishment. It’s development. The reps matter. That’s why the G League exists. You use it, you lean on it, and you let the kid breathe.
It’s nice he has good “vets” to lean on as he develops as well. And yes, I’m referring to 23-year-old Mark Williams as a “vet” on this youthful team.
"I told him I was there for a while (as a rookie) and it's what you make of it."
Mark Williams he talked with Suns rookie Khaman Maluach on playing in the G League. (@Suns) #Suns pic.twitter.com/JwRHZM59Mz
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) December 4, 2025
Head coach Jordan Ott put it plainly when asked if Maluach’s big G League night meant NBA minutes were coming soon. “It’s a long runway. We’re not going to judge on one or two games.” That’s the right approach. That’s the adult approach.
His time will certainly come. Nick Richards could be dealt before the trade deadline, and we all know Mark Williams’ track record with missing time. In a perfect world, Williams stays healthy and breaks the mold so they can continue to take their time developing him.
If not, Khaman becomes the “break glass if emergency” option and will be thrown right into the fire. He needs to be prepared for that, and these assignments are a great start, so he can play through the growing pains and get some film to break down with the staff.
Patience isn’t exciting, but it’s how real players are built. The Suns know that. And fans should remind themselves of it too. Soon enough, he will be out there impacting games for the Suns.
How will we remember Week 7 of the 2025-26 Suns season? It is a strange one to pin down.
It was a choppy week, mostly because there were only two games on the schedule. It is the week Devin Booker tweaked that groin again. It is the week the Suns handled the Lakers, then got handled by the Rockets. That’s the elevator speech.
It feels like one of those early December weeks where the foundation has already been poured and now it is about execution night after night. I do not walk away from Week 7 with any sweeping conclusions. It is hard to define a team when its two best players are not on the floor, so it’d be irresponsible of me to do so.
Without Booker and without Green, you are still squinting at an incomplete picture. The effort is there, and that matters. But we still have no clear read on the ceiling because we have not seen this group whole for any real stretch of time.
So maybe that is what Week 7 really was. A holding pattern. A push toward the other side of the injuries. A push toward the other side of a brutal schedule stretch. A wait for this thing to finally feel complete and show the league what it actually is.
At 13 -10, they are in a better spot than most of us expected, and that still deserves acknowledgment. Week 7 felt strange for another reason, too. I barely got to watch them. After 7 games in 11 nights, we suddenly only had 2 games in 7 nights. Perhaps that is why the choppiness exists.
Week 7 did not give us answers, but it did give us position. The Suns are standing in sturdier ground than most of us penciled in back in October. That counts. Even if the picture is still blurred, even if the best two pieces are missing from the frame. This felt like the calm before clarity. The pause before the next stretch tells us something real.
For now, the season is not tilting one way or the other. It is waiting. And so are we.
Week 7 Record: 1-1
@ Los Angeles Lakers, W, 125-108
- Possession Differential: -0.1
- Turnover Differential: -10
- Offensive Rebounding Differential: -1
Down bodies and staring at another what-now moment, the Suns shrugged and swung anyway. Booker flashed for one sharp quarter before the groin tapped him out, Green stayed sidelined, Allen stayed sick, and Phoenix still punked the West’s second seed.
Mark Williams soared in transition, Dillon Brooks cooked on turnarounds, and Collin Gillespie slammed the door with a fourth-quarter three-point barrage. It was a gut-check win, soaked in fight, grit, and defiance.
@ Houston Rockets, L, 117-98
- Possession Differential: +7.0
- Turnover Differential: -8
- Offensive Rebounding Differential: +9
Friday night in Houston was a full-blown clunker. The Suns came out with purpose, hung around for a quarter and some change, then the wheels fell off in a shower of missed threes. Phoenix shot a brutal 14% from deep while the Rockets lit the fuse with 10 triples. Kevin Durant checked back in, the shots stayed cold, and the offense lost its compass. The rest was a slow-motion skid into the night.
Inside the Possession Game
- Weekly Possession Differential: +6.9
- Weekly Turnover Differential: -18
- Offensive Rebounding Differential: +8
- Year-to-Date Over/Under .500: +3
A graphic to gaze up as you sip your coffee:
This week felt like a tale of two cities. One game went one way. The other went straight off the rails. It is hard to hang your hat on the numbers when the sample size is thin. Only two games. Two completely different stories.
In the first one, the Suns did not win the possession battle. They did not win the offensive rebounding battle either. None of that mattered because they made shots, and they turned it into a win.
In the second game, they won all three areas that usually tilt things in your favor. Possessions. Turnovers. Offensive rebounding. And none of it mattered. When you shoot the way they shot against Houston, you can stack up all the extra chances you want, and it will not save you. They had 24 more shot attempts than the Rockets on Friday and still got walked out of the building. Escorted to the car. Sent to the airport. Why? Because it is not only about having possessions. It is about what you do with them. Shooting 39% from the field and 14% from beyond the arc will not get you anywhere.
Against the Lakers, though, they cashed those extra chances in. 12 more shots. 22 Lakers turnovers. 32 points off those mistakes. That is the season trend in a nutshell. The Suns are winning the possession battle more often than they are losing it, and they sit above .500 because of it. The Rockets game feels like an outlier. Hopefully, it stays that way.
Week 8 Preview
NBA Cup time! Yayyyy! Let’s go win it!
Week 8 is one of those strange ones. I am not even running a record poll this time because there is a variable we do not have an answer for yet, and it would not be fair to ask the question without it. But note that 52% of the community was correct in predicting that the Suns would go 1-1 in Week 7.
The whole thing starts on the road in Minnesota tomorrow night. A 5:30 tip on Peacock. Because yes, if you do not have a subscription, how dare you even think about watching basketball? Then it is off to Oklahoma City on Wednesday for a 5:30 NBA Cup quarterfinal against the Thunder. That one lives on Prime Video.
So if you are keeping score at home, that is two games and two different streaming services already.
The last game of the week is either the Lakers or the Spurs, and even the city is still a mystery. That part depends on what happens Wednesday. If the Suns win, they head to Las Vegas on Saturday to face the winner of San Antonio at Los Angeles. If they lose, they travel to face the loser on Friday. And I am fully prepared for that one to land on a completely different streaming service, because that is the only way any of this continues to make sense. More platforms. More confusion. More money.
The Phoenix Suns came into this past offseason armed with a pocket full of corporate buzzwords. Identity. Vision. Alignment. The mission was clear: build a roster that could support something sustainable, then try to grow a culture inside of it.
Through the draft and the moves that followed, I started carrying my own buzzwords into the season. Patience. Short-term greed. Long-term greed. Development. If you have read my work on Bright Side since last summer, you have seen those words pop up more than once.
I have always believed that if you are going to commit to a real process, you have to live with the process. No shortcuts. No panic buttons. No fast forward. The short term has to be swallowed if you want to reach the long term. And the backbone of all of it is patience.
That patience is starting to wear thin. Because it feels like we are approaching the moment where the next lever should be pulled, and I would prefer it were pulled faster than I initially desired.
All offseason, my stance has been simple. Development needs tiers. If you actually want to put a rookie in a position to succeed, you do not rush them into the deep end. You have a G League team for a reason. Use it. I have looked at this season as a six-month runway. The first two months should belong almost entirely to fundamentals. Reps. Film. G League minutes. Any NBA run during that stretch should be mop-up duty only.
That is not a strategy designed to delay growth. It is a strategy designed to protect it.
It does two things at once. It protects confidence because you are not throwing a rookie into high-leverage situations where one bad stretch can stick in their head. At the same time, it gives the organization space to lay down the foundation of the culture it claims it is building. The first two months of a season are about tone. Habits. Expectations. Rookies playing meaningful minutes too early muddies that process.
It is also how the Suns trapped themselves in the lottery hamster wheel for almost a decade. Every year, it was the same plan. Play the kids. Develop on the fly. Lose loudly. Rinse. Repeat. Short-term development kept cannibalizing long-term greed. And the culture never had a chance to stabilize.
In my own little theorem, the next two months, roughly Christmas through the All-Star break, that is when you start to drip the rookies into the rotation. Maybe it is 15 minutes a night. Maybe it is 5 in the second quarter and 7 in the third. The point is the foundation is set, they have logged real reps with the G League, the confidence has started to grow, and now you introduce them to the real thing in controlled doses. Real NBA minutes. Real situations. Real film. And that film becomes the tool that coaches like Jordan Ott can actually use to guide development.
The final stage is the last two months. That is when the minutes open up to 25 a night. That is when the training wheels come off. How far you go depends on the standings. If you are chasing a playoff or Play-In spot, you might tighten the reins a bit. Short-term greed still matters. Wins still matter.
So why drag you back through all of this again? Why revisit the philosophy? Because the patience part is getting tested. By my own timeline, we are only a few weeks from what I would call ‘phase two’. So maybe this is me jumping the gun. Maybe this is me leaning forward in my chair too early. But all of it circles back to one simple question.
What does Nigel Hayes Davis do right now that positively swings a basketball game?
On paper, he is a clean audition. He brings maturity. He brings a calm brain. This team needs that. This team values that. His road back here matters. The last time he played in the NBA was in 2018 with Sacramento. He was 23 years old. Now he is 31. Seven years overseas. Seven years of grinding. And now he is back in the league, trying to grab this moment with both hands.
Through 17 games, it is hard to argue that the moment is being seized.
He is at 1.5 points in 8.9 minutes. He is shooting 33.3% from the field. He is at 8.3% from beyond the arc. That is 1-of-12 from deep, and he hasn’t hit one since October 24. And in the minutes he has played, the Suns are -64 with him on the floor. Worst on the team.
I am rooting for Hayes Davis. I want him to succeed. His story impresses and inspires. It is built on resilience and stubborn belief, and the reminder that if you keep working, you can earn a second door back into the room. He has that door open right now. There is a real opportunity in front of him.
But when you watch him play, the mind starts to wander. You start asking if this is still the best use of those minutes for the organization. Because the way he plays right now feels rushed. The ball hits his hands, and it becomes a hot potato. The shot does not settle. The base is not set. The confidence never quite arrives. Instead of squaring up and letting it fly, everything feels sped up, like he is trying to give the ball back to the game as fast as possible.
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The result is what the numbers already told us. Poor shooting from a player who was a 39.5% three-point shooter internationally.
And that is where my patience starts to grind a little.
Rasheer Fleming still has work to do. You see it in the small moments. The spacing in transition. The hesitation on where he should be standing. The game still looks fast to him at times. That is fine. That is youth. That is how this works. But at this point, I would rather live with those 8.9 minutes going to Rasheer than to Nigel.
I am not saying the same thing about Khaman Maluach. He is 19. Big men take longer. That part of the process still needs air. But with Rasheer, I think it is time. He has the two things you cannot teach. Length and athleticism. And after watching him go for 27 points and 13 rebounds and knock down a game-winning three last week with the Valley Suns, my curiosity is trumping my patience.
This is not a critique of Hayes Davis as a person. He got his shot. He has had his runway. He has not kicked the door down. And now the youth is standing right behind him, tapping on the glass.
Because when Rasheer steps on the floor, the energy changes. That wingspan looks like it could block off a hallway. He is from Camden, New Jersey. The Camden Condor might be born right in front of us. And I think it is time to find out what that really looks like under NBA lights.
The Phoenix Suns secured a gutsy road win led by young guys, minimum contracts, and role players. Sound familiar? It’s been the story of the 2025-26 Phoenix Suns. It’s their identity. And now they are 14-10.
It was a physical, chippy game between two teams with no love lost for one another. Mark Williams got a flagrant for smacking Gobert in the face. Rudy Gobert followed that up with an ejection for a reckless, dirty foul on Williams. Mark Williams hit his first career three. The Suns went two-for-two in challenges.
Mark Williams led the Suns in scoring with 22 points. Collin Gillepsie poured in 19 points, and Dillon Brooks chipped in with 18 of his own. There was a lot of chaos in this one.
“Next man up,” as Collin Gillespie said in the postgame interview on Peacock.
Game Flow
First Half
The Suns jumped out to a quick start, taking a 16-10 lead led by 8 points from Dillon Brooks. Allen and Williams each had four of their own.
Dillon Brooks off to a hot start
8 early points for the Villain! pic.twitter.com/MLVVtZVagy
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) December 9, 2025
The Suns remained in control, pushing the pace early and often to extend their lead to seven, 23-16. The Suns’ early defensive effort was promising, slowing down Minnesota on its home floor. Their activity on the boards was apparent early on, as well.
Minnesota lost a challenge early on an out-of-bounds call, and Brooks let them know about it by flashing his pinky their way.
Phoenix finished the first quarter with a 29-23 lead. Dillon Brooks led Phoenix with 8 points. Anthony Edwards led all scorers with 12 in the opening period.
The NBC broadcast crew stated, “This is such a connected group offensively,” after a Gillespie alley oop to Oso Ighodaro.
Jamaree Bouyea hit a triple to make it a 34-26 lead with ten minutes remaining in the second quarter. Phoenix was at its best in transition, pushing the ball and whipping it around for open looks from deep.
Phoenix won its second challenge late in the quarter, reversing what would have been an offensive foul on Grayson Allen into an and-one. This successful challenge also prevented Allen from picking up his 4th foul.
Minnesota started to fight back, cutting the lead down to just 3. A Grayson Allen movement three a couple of possessions later proved to make the challenge worthwhile.
He also hit this ridiculous step-through to close the half.
HOW DID GRAYSON ALLEN HIT THIS SHOTpic.twitter.com/aLnmo4rY7S
— PHNX Suns (@PHNX_Suns) December 9, 2025
Phoenix led 61-57 at the break. They shot 50% (24-48) from the floor as a team.
Second Half
Mark Williams hit the first three-pointer of his NBA career early in the 3rd quarter.
The next possession, he picked up a Flagrant foul 1 on a Rudy Gobert contest at the rim. Several plays later, Rudy Gobert took exception to the hard contest and recklessly shoved Williams while he was airborne, leading to a Flagrant foul 2 and ejection for the French big.
Mark Williams is down after Rudy Gobert forearm checked him mid dunkpic.twitter.com/KPSfg8CnCs
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) December 9, 2025
The teams continued to trade buckets with Phoenix slightly out in front for the majority of the game. In fact, they had led wire-to-wire up until the end of the third quarter for a brief moment.
Anthony Edwards was red hot, pouring in 32 points in his first 26 minutes of action on just 15 shots. He was carrying the Minnesota offensive workload throughout.
Minnesota’s first lead of the game came with 3:12 in the 3rd quarter after a Julius Randle jumper. Dillon Brooks matched that shot with a pretty turnaround jumper off a shimmy.
Dillon Brooks traded buckets with Anthony Edwards late in the third to get a bit of momentum back. After three, the teams were knotted up at 84.
A furious 7-0 start to the quarter pushed the Suns to a jump out to a 91-84 lead with 10:15 remaining in the 4th. A Gillespie-Bouyea-Goodwin-Dunn-Oso unit led this run. Phoenix continued to cook with the second unit, but then Anthony Edwards checked back in and sparked Minnesota to cut what was once an 11-point lead down to 4, leading to a Suns timeout.
Mark Williams quite literally lives above the rimpic.twitter.com/BtE2oPT5np
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) December 9, 2025
The 4th quarter was a slugfest, with each team laying it all on the line. Collin Gillespie made some heroic plays. He finished with 11 fourth-quarter points, including two clutch free throws in the final seconds.
Ice in his veins. Final Score: Phoenix 108 — Minnesota 105
Collin Gillespie caps his 12-point 4th quarter with the defensive stop!
Suns win a thriller in Minnesotapic.twitter.com/23v7l1xqb5
— NBA (@NBA) December 9, 2025Up Next
Phoenix heads back to Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder in the first Knockout Round of the NBA Cup on Wednesday night.
Anthony Edwards kicked the ball to the corner, and the Suns got what they wanted. A last-second shot from anyone not named Anthony Edwards. He had 40 points on 15-of-21 shooting, so forcing the ball out of his hands was the only thing that mattered. When Jaden McDaniels floated up that awkward three, overtime drifted through the air with it. When it missed, the game ended.
The Suns went into Minnesota without their top two scoring options and walked out with a win. On a national broadcast on Peacock, the postgame spotlight did not land on Devin Booker. It did not land on Jalen Green. It did not land on Dillon Brooks. It landed on Mark Williams, who added another strong chapter to a résumé that keeps growing.
It is hard not to hold grudges. We get told to forgive and forget, yet human nature does not always cooperate. Forgetting means letting go of the emotions tied to whatever we are supposed to forgive. In sports, emotion often becomes fuel, and for Mark Williams, his road to the Phoenix Suns is paved with moments that now power him forward.
Drafted out of Duke, he spent three years with the Charlotte Hornets, although it was not time filled with warmth from the franchise. He produced when he played, yet health always hovered over him like a shadow. We know the story. He appeared in 106 games out of a possible 246. When he did step on the floor, he tilted games in a positive direction. He scored efficiently around the rim. He swallowed rebounds. He lived in double-double territory with 12.4 points and 8.8 boards during his time there.
Then came the moment that shifted everything.
Last season, Charlotte tried to trade him to the Los Angeles Lakers. The deal fell apart. The Lakers said he failed his physical. My own belief leans toward the backlash from their fans when Dalton Knecht’s name appeared in the trade package. That fan base had seen what happened in Dallas when Luka Doncic arrived. They were not eager to experience their own version of a firestorm. Maybe it was the physical. Maybe it was the noise. Either way, the trade died.
Imagine hearing you were shipped out, then waking up the next morning and being told to return to business as usual. That does something to a person. Williams finished the season like a pro, head down, work in front of him. Yet the sting lingered.
When Jordan Cornette held the microphone to him after Monday night’s win, that history, that emotion, that internal fire, all of it came through.
“It’s home, man. It feels great to be here. It feels great to be out here with my teammates. It’s good to be wanted,” Williams said to the national audience.
You’re goddamn right you are wanted, Mark.
The Phoenix Suns are a franchise built on guards, forever chasing that mythical big man who ties everything together. Sure, a few quality centers have walked through that locker room, but this has never been a franchise defined by interior dominance. Ask yourself who you would even call the best center in Suns history. Alvan Adams? That name comes from nearly forty years ago. Deandre Ayton? Out-of-position Amaré Stoudemire? Oliver Miller?
Here is a fun fact for the brave. The only centers to crack the franchises top 10 in rebounds per game for a single season are Neal Walk at 12.4 in 1972-73 and Jusuf Nurkic at 11.0 in 2023-24. Everyone else on that list is a forward. That is the legacy. This is not a line of Hall of Famers. This is not Nash or Kidd or Paul or Kevin Johnson. So when Suns fans see effective center play, they cling to it, because they know the long desert walk without it.
What Mark Williams is giving this team every night goes beyond effective. It is energizing. It is a jolt of something we are not used to seeing in this uniform. He runs the floor on every possession. He is a real lob threat, the kind of player whose hands you trust when you float the ball in the air. He hits the glass with purpose. He finishes with force.
Hell, the guy can even hit three pointers.
But it is more than his play that has this fan base falling for Williams. It is his softness, the gentle giant thing he carries around with him, the way he speaks with appreciation for this team and this city. He said it feels like home, and that is exactly what it has become.
There is still a long road ahead for the Suns, yet the care they have shown with Williams has been impressive. Through the first 24 games, he has played 20 of them. That is the most he has ever played through this point in a season, his previous high being 19 of 24 in 2023-24. His production has been huge, and the team has matched it by operating with a level of thoughtfulness around his health. That matters. That is how you treat family. You make sure they feel right. You put them in a spot where success is possible.
And he has delivered success.
He is scoring 13.2 points and pulling down 8.6 rebounds while shooting 65.8%. That is the 4th-best shooting percentage of any player who attempts 7 or more shots per game. He has been a revelation at the center position for Phoenix, and he fits perfectly with the identity this team has built. Tough. Gritty. A little angry at the world. A little hungry to prove something.
The Suns do not live in the land of forgive and forget. They live in remember why. They live with chips on their shoulders. And Mark Williams carries one with pride.
It goes without saying that when your team is winning basketball games and its highest-priced players are sitting on the bench in street clothes, you are probably getting contributions from guys you did not expect. There is one guy who, before the season even started, felt like someone you could not imagine contributing at this point of the year. The reason is simple. He was not on the roster.
When we did our preseason SunsRank (which is fun to go back and look at, by the way), he was not even an option. It will be interesting to see where he lands in SunsRank now because he has been a quality addition to the group.
I am talking about Jamaree Bouyea.
He is 6’2” and his path to this point feels like something out of a basketball odyssey. He went to the University of San Francisco, the same place that produced Bill Russell, Bill Cartwright, and Ime Udoka.
He went undrafted in 2022, and his journey from there is astonishing. He opened his career with the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the G League. He then spent time with the Miami Heat, the Washington Wizards, and the Portland Trail Blazers before heading to the Rip City Remix in 2023. That is five stops in his first year. The list kept growing. He returned to the Sioux Falls Skyforce, moved to the San Antonio Spurs, then down to their G League affiliate in Austin in 2024. In 2025 he landed with the Milwaukee Bucks before being sent to their G League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd, and he eventually circled back to the Austin Spurs to start this season.
Across two years he made 11 stops and logged 19 NBA games. That is the player the Phoenix Suns picked up. Their guard depth took a hit due to injuries and after a couple of strong starts with the Valley Suns, he arrived in Phoenix on a two-way contract.
He has played in eight games for Phoenix so far. In 13.4 minutes per night, he is giving them 7.4 points, 1.4 assists, and 1.1 rebounds. He is shooting 62.5% from deep. He steps on the floor in moments when primary scoring is sitting down and he gives the Suns meaningful minutes.
His game is hard to label. He is a baller, that’s the best way I can describe him. He has a little Cameron Payne in the way he drives downhill, although his three-point stroke is much smoother. He carries the confidence of Leandro Barbosa, another shifty guard who once thrived with this organization. He looks like the guy at the YMCA on a Saturday morning who destroys everyone with quick-twitch moves, a nasty crossover, and a pure jumper. He is doing all of that for the Suns, and he is doing it with belief in every step he takes. He is entering games in high-level situations, and he is executing.
He was part of the run that flipped the game for the Suns last night. He joined Jordan Goodwin, Collin Gillespie, Ryan Dunn, and Oso Ighodaro on the floor. That group opened the fourth with a 14-3 push and finished as a +6. The team needed that on the road in the fourth without their stars.
Where Bouyea goes from here is hard to predict. He is another great story in a season packed with them. His rise feels like the kind of spark that keeps a team steady through the grind, a reminder that opportunity can show up without warning and reward the ones who stay ready. Bouyea is living that idea in real time, and the Valley is seeing the impact every night he steps on the floor.
Who: Phoenix Suns (14-9) @ Oklahoma City Thunder (23-1)
When: 5:30 pm Arizona Time
Where: Paycom Arena — Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Watch: Amazon Prime
Listen: KMVP 98.7
The NBA is not a morale victory business, but the last time these two teams matched up, we were treated to an incredible back-and-forth game, one of the few the Thunder have played this season. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was too much for the Suns down the stretch in the first matchup. He scored 37 points and got to the free-throw line 17 times. Can the Suns find a way to stop the reigning MVP this time if the game is close late?
The Thunder are a historically dominant team, and look to threaten the all-time regular season NBA record set by the Golden State Warriors in 2016, 73-9. The Suns earned the right to play in the NBA Cup and were rewarded with an extra matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Some reward, right? Talent-wise, this is a David vs Goliath matchup if the Suns are without Devin Booker. Hopefully, the Suns can land enough stones to bring down the NBA giant.
Probable Starters
Injury Report
Suns
- Devin Booker — QUESTIONABLE (Right Groin Strain)
- Jalen Green — OUT (Right Hamstring Strain)
- Isaiah Livers — OUT (Right Hip Strain)
Thunder
- Isaiah Hartenstein — OUT (Right Soleus Strain)
- Isaiah Joe — OUT (Left Knee Contusion)
- Thomas Sorber — OUT (Right ACL Surgery)
- Nikola Topic — OUT (Surgical recovery)
What to Watch For
The Suns and the Thunder are the best two teams in the NBA at forcing steals and taking care of the ball will be crucial to both teams. Devin Booker is questionable to play after suffering a groin injury 10 days ago and has struggled against the Thunder recently. In his last eight games against the Thunder, Booker is averaging 17.2 points on fewer than 13 field goal attempts per game, well below the standard he has set for himself throughout his career.
The Thunder are so talented and complete across the board that anyone can beat you on any given night. Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren are a three-headed monster on both sides of the court, and the Thunder bench is deep and dangerous. Ajay Mitchell has had a breakout season, averaging 14.4 points for the Thunder, and can put the game out of reach in a hurry if the Suns’ bench is unable to contain him.
A win against the Thunder tonight would feel like five wins, and should count as five if they are miraculously able to do it without Devin Booker. Expect to see an extremely physical, relentless, competitive effort from both teams. Dillon Brooks and Lugentz Dort are two of the most pesky players in the league and set the tone for each of their respective locker rooms.
The Suns and Thunder play very similarly, which should make this game entertaining, but unfortunately, the Thunder possess extraordinary talent that the Suns do not.
Key to a Suns Win
Without Isaiah Hartenstein, Mark Williams has to be dominant on both ends of the floor, especially on the boards. If the Suns can win the rebounding battle and create second-chance points, they can win this game. Turnovers will be another storyline to watch; the Thunder are historically good at forcing turnovers and creating easy offense off those turnovers. In their previous matchup, the Suns were outscored 29-12 in points off turnovers, a losing formula. Taking care of the ball and rebounding will make it a game, then it comes down to if the Suns can close out a game against the best clutch player in the NBA.
Prediction
Phoenix gets another moral victory but falls short on the scoreboard, and Oklahoma City guts out a win.
Thunder 105, Suns 101
Well, did you get what you wanted? The good old NBA Cup…are you happy with the result? That is what we were fighting to play in? A 49-point loss?
I keep asking myself why we want to be part of this thing again? Oh yeah. I did not. I am not someone who circles the wagons and shouts I told you so. But tonight I embrace the inner villain and say just that. I told you the NBA Cup was dumb. You can’t see it, but I’m sticking my tongue out as I write these words in a sarcastic, older-brother manner.
Sure, I want the Suns to compete, and I want them to win every game. That is the goal. But they ended up in a spot where they were the doormat in the quarterfinals, lined up against a team that looks historically good.
You can frame it as an opportunity to be on a national stage and sharpen iron with iron. That sounds good in theory. That is not what played out on Wednesday night. Their success in group play put them right in the Thunder’s path, and it cost them a win. They now have the honor of being the only team that gets to play Oklahoma City five times this season. The Thunder look like a group that could threaten the all-time wins record. Cool.
So the question becomes philosophical. Do you tank to avoid the Cup? The simple answer is no. The breaks did not land in the Suns’ favor. Because of it, they can lose two extra games on the schedule. If they had not made the Cup, they would have been lined up with a softer draw. But our reality is they face the Thunder once and then the loser of Lakers and Spurs, which ended up being the Lakers.
You do not want to build a loser’s mentality. You do not want a culture that welcomes losing or tries to steer around specific matchups. That is not how you grow. That said, the NBA Cup keeps turning into an internal enemy for me because I have never liked the circus around it, and my distaste grows with each forced matchup. I do not see its purpose, and I am probably biased because the Suns are now 0-of-2 all-time in Cup play, and if they lose to the Spurs on Friday, the games they were pushed into because of Cup success will put them at 0-of-4.
Maybe it is an odd way to look at it. Maybe I am in my own head when it comes to the Cup. I respect that the Suns went out and tried to compete. The deck was stacked against them. I wish they had been given a path that helped them steal a couple more wins because for a team like this, a couple games can decide a playoff spot or a Play-In spot. At the end of the year, that will matter. And even though I do not like saying I told you so, it is something I will say if we get there.
Bright Side Baller Season Standings
Someone has caught up to Devin Booker. That someone? Mark Williams!
Bright Side Baller Nominees
Game 25 against the Thunder. Here are your nominees:
Dillon Brooks
16 points (4-of-16, 2-of-5 3PT, 6-of-7 FT), 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 0 turnovers, -47 +/-
Jordan Goodwin
15 points (6-of-12, 3-of-5 3PT, 0-of-0 FT), 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 2 turnovers, -14 +/-
Jamaree Bouyea
14 points (6-of-9, 2-of-3 3PT, 0-of-0 FT), 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 1 block, -8 +/-
Rasheer Fleming
7 points (3-of-5, 1-of-2 3PT, 0-of-0 FT), 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 1 steal, 0 turnovers, -3 +/-
Oso Ighodaro
6 points (3-of-7, 0-of-0 3PT, 0-of-0 FT), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnover, -3 +/-
Grayson Allen 1
0 points (3-of-9, 2-of-7 3PT, 2-of-2 FT), 1 rebound, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, -41 +/-
The polls are open!
After losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder last night in the Quarterfinals of the NBA Cup, the Phoenix Suns will host the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, December 14th 6:00pm Phoenix Time.
The Lakers lost to the San Antonio Spurs last night in the other NBA Cup Western Conference Quarterfinal contest. San Antonio will play the Thunder in Las Vegas on Saturday, December 13th, in the Semifinals.
To start the season, every team starts the season with 80 regular-season games scheduled, and two games are added depending on their NBA Cup group play performance. In the first year of the tournament, the Suns played the Sacramento Kings (who lost in the Quarterfinals to the Pelicans) after losing to the Lakers in the Quarterfinals for their 81st and 82nd games of the season. Last year, after not qualifying for the knockout rounds by a few points despite posting a 3-1 record in group play, the Suns faced off against the Portland Trail Blazers and the Utah Jazz, who also did not qualify for them.
Just like the first season of play, Phoenix will play the loser of the other quarterfinal matchup. The game will be the two teams’ second game in as many weeks, Phoenix’s first game hosting the Lakers of the season, something they’ll do two more times this year, including another time this month. The squads will play a total of five times throughout the regular season, a result that can only occur based on the NBA Cup results.
In the first matchup of the season between the divisional foes, the Suns got the best of the Lakers, beating them 125-108 despite Devin Booker going down in the first quarter with a groin injury. After being out for a week, Booker looks to return to the lineup for the contest.
The Lakers are 17-7 on the year and currently are tied with the Spurs for the fourth seed in the West, while the Suns are 14-11 and are the 7th seed. The game is the next one on both team’s schedules.
Welcome to Inside the Suns, your weekly deep down analysis of the current Phoenix Suns team. Each week the Fantable – a round table of Bright Siders – give their takes on the Suns’ latest issues and news.
Fantable Questions of the Week
Q1: What are your thoughts on Jordan Ott’s coaching?
Ashton: I was among the skeptical ones on the board that bringing in a rookie head coach would lead to disaster.
Wow, was I wrong on that.
The fact is, the release of two NBA veterans cleaned up the locker room, and after multiple coaches failed to tame the previous player regimes, and a lot of cost as well, it turns out the young players want to play and build their resumes for the next contract. Who would have thought?
If the board is looking for a grade, give him an “A” for developing the young talent. And this while lucking into veterans Brooks and Mark Williams showing fine form.
CG has been revolutionary in Ott’s system.
OldAz: This has been far and away the thing I am most excited about so far this season. The last two seasons with bigger-name coaches and a team full of stars, it seems like they just rolled the ball out there and expected to win. This season, it is all about grit, hustle, and effort. Certainly, the players have a role in that, and Dillon Brooks’ presence hasn’t hurt, but you have to give most of the credit to Jordan Ott for quickly installing a philosophy on both ends of the court and getting every player to buy in.
Rod: I give Ott the lion’s share of credit for the success the Suns have had so far. Not only has he built a system that best utilizes the talent he was given, but he’s also gotten all of the players to buy into his vision and play with an enthusiasm that I haven’t seen from a Suns team since they made it to the Finals back in 2021. There have been a few times where I have been puzzled by his rotation decisions, but then they have, 99% of the time, worked out well, which quickly reminded me why he’s coaching in the NBA, and I’m not.
Q2: Should Ott be giving Fleming and Maluach more than garbage time minutes?
Ashton: A lot of the board comments like Fleming and KM. I still think they need to prove their chops in the G-League.
My answer is no. Williams is holding up fine and giving Gobert issues in the last Minnesota game. I would break glass in an emergency to bring Maluach up. With Nick Richards supposedly being given the “trade eye”, that is me saying that, I would actually give him more run.
Fleming is a different story. It really depends on how much Brooks is hurt.
OldAz: I don’t think so. The team is playing well now and competing, and both players are getting some time to develop in the G League. Ott can continue to wait until they earn those precious minutes.
However, Fleming has shown in the brief minutes that he has gotten that he is pretty close. I think that time is coming fast when you have to give him 4 to 5 minutes a game. The problem is if he struggles, you have to give him room to work through it and not feel like he failed and is back nailed to the bench. Either way, it looks like Flemming will be earning these minutes by the end of the year.
As for KM, I don’t think he’s anywhere near ready, and the center rotation is already pretty tough to crack. As down as I was on Oso to start the year, he has proven to be a valuable cog off the bench, and Mark Williams has been one of their best players all year long and deserves every minute he can be on the floor. Richards is still more developed than KM, and he can barely crack 5 to 7 minutes a game the last week or so.
Rod: No, at least not at this time. For now, getting them plenty of court time with the Valley Suns is more important than minutes with the big team until they’ve proven that they deserve them. Yes, development yada, yada, yada…important…yada, yada, yada.
While these guys will hopefully have a big impact on the Suns’ future, they aren’t the only guys on the roster that fall under that category. Playing them when they haven’t actually earned minutes could send a bad message to everyone else, i.e., we’re not that concerned about winning now. I’m thinking that would not be good for morale, nor encourage people to continue playing as hard as they have been.
Voita: As I edit this piece, I felt the need to slide in and add my two cents. I agree with most of what the panel says. The Suns are in a good place, some might even call it the ideal setup for both short-term growth and long-term development with this group.
I still want more Fleming, and I would not mind seeing it now. Wings usually do not take as long to develop as bigs. Nigel Hayes-Davis gives us nothing on the floor except short-armed shots that clang off the rim. I would rather see the burst of athleticism Fleming brings, mixed with his defensive instincts. It feels like the right time to start sharpening that knife in the drawer.
Q3: What are your thoughts on Jamaree Bouyea?
Ashton: He needs to go to court and submit a name change form to Bouyea!
Outside of Collin Gillespie, Jamaree Ray-Shaun Bouyea is one of the most surprising replacements at the guard position that I have witnessed.
Make the argument in the comments, but after the Boston Celtics as the most surprising team, it has to be the Suns. And this is predicated on Suns best guards sitting. With injury, while the “no-names” have stepped up.
Final note. Silas (NCDaveACC), you expected a bit of rubbing when a certain college basketball team made it to Number 1 over Duke, how do you like us now?
OldAz: He has been an amazing find on a two-way deal. His shooting fits in quite nicely, and he has a good all-around skill set that just seems at home with how this team plays. It will be interesting to see how much time he gets when Booker and Green are back, since he is obviously suited as a guard only, and he is not going to take minutes from Gillespie or Allen. However, you have to anticipate that someone is always going to be nicked up a little bit, and he seems like the perfect player to fit into any available guard minutes they can find.
Rod: Bouyea is just more proof that Brian Gregory actually knows what he is doing. The guy is very good and, even though many scoffed at waiving F/C CJ Huntley to add another guard, Bouyea has proven to be someone who can contribute now, regardless of his position. Sure, the Suns do need someone suited to play at PF but, if a good PF prospect isn’t available, that shouldn’t keep you from adding a quality player at another position…especially if it can be done using a two-way contract. Drafting based on positional need over talent level rarely works, so why make the same mistake with free agent signings?
When Booker and Green return, there won’t be many minutes for him but I think sending him to play with the Valley Suns then could be a plus in Fleming’s and Maluach’s development by upgrading their point guard play.
As always, many thanks to our Fantable members for all their extra effort this week!
Quotes of the Week
“Collin, he’s one of a kind. At first he never talked. Now he talk a lot.” – Royce O’Neale
“I was confident he was going to knock them down. Tough, hard-nosed guy.” – Mark Williams on Collin Gillespie FTs with 6.3 seconds left in Suns 108-105 win over Minnesota
“His energy is super infectious. He makes you want play harder. He’s bringing that intensity every single night. His competitive edge is something you want on a team.” – Mark Williams on Dillon Brooks
“That group is a tough, kind of nasty at times, defensive-minded group.” – Jordan Ott on starting 4th against Minnesota with Gillespie, Bouyea, Goodwin, Dunn and Ighodaro
“We expect to win.” – Collin Gillespie on the Suns’ mentality
Suns Trivia/History
On December 16, 2017, with Devin Booker sidelined with an injury, the 10-20 Suns defeated the 17-12 Minnesota Timberwolves in Minnesota 108-106 in a game where the Suns’ bench outscored their starters 69-39. Dragan Bender and Troy Daniels led the Suns in scoring with 17 points each. Isaiah Canaan added 15 points, and his 7 assists equaled the total number of assists by the starting 5. Alex Len added a double-double with 12 points and 19 rebounds. T.J. Warren led the starters with 15 points on a 4 of 14 (28.6%) shooting night while making 7 of 8 from the FT line.
The starting unit went 0-7 from three while the bench was 11-17 (64.7%). Every single bench player’s FG% was .600 or above, while only Josh Jackson (4 of 9, 44.4%) shot above 30% for the starters. On this night, the Suns’ bench led the starters in every single statistical category except offensive rebounds (7-6 in favor of the starters).
On December 17, 2018, the Suns traded Trevor Ariza to the Washington Wizards for Kelly Oubre Jr. and Austin Rivers after a proposed 3-team trade between Phoenix, Washington, and Memphis fell through due to a misunderstanding as to whether the Suns would receive MarShon Brooks or Dillon Brooks (whom they wanted) from Memphis.
This Week’s Game Schedule
Sunday, Dec 14 – Suns vs LA Lakers (6:00 pm)
Thursday, Dec 18 – Suns vs Golden State Warriors (7:00 pm)
This Week’s Valley Suns Game Schedule
Monday, Dec 15 – Valley Suns @ Salt Lake City Stars (7:00 pm)
Tuesday, Dec 16 – Valley Suns @ Salt Lake City Stars (7:00 pm) ESPN+
Important Future Dates
Jan. 5 – 10-day contracts may now be signed
Jan. 10 – All NBA contracts are guaranteed for the remainder of the season
Feb. 5 – Trade deadline (3:00 pm ET)
Feb. 13-15 – 2026 NBA All-Star weekend in Los Angeles, CA
March 1 – Playoff eligibility waiver deadline
March 28 – NBA G League Regular Season ends
March 31 – 2026 NBA G League Playoffs begin
April 12 – Regular season ends (All 30 teams play)
April 13 – Rosters set for NBA Playoffs 2026 (3 p.m. ET)
April 14-17 – SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament
April 18 – NBA Playoffs begin
With December 15th rapidly approaching, a majority of the free agents will be able to be traded, and discussions ahead of this deadline will pick up. With the deadline itself being under two months away, happening on the sixth of February. This means rumors will start to swirl around the league on who is available, and possible deals can happen. So, with all that being said, I wanted to look at each player on this Suns team and put them in a tier based on their likelihood of being moved before the season ends.
There will be four tiers for these players, and they are listed here.
- Not Happening
- 1% Chance
- Possibly
- Names I’d Look Out For
All right, with all that being said, let’s get this started and look at the roster. The Suns have 17 players on the roster. They have 14 guaranteed roster spots and three two-way players, and yes, two-way players will be evaluated too because they can be traded.
An example of this occurred last year when former Sun Jared Butler was traded from the Washington Wizards to the Philadelphia 76ers at the trade deadline for Reggie Jackson. The 76ers, who were tanking, wanted to take a flyer on a young piece and did with Butler on the two-way and converted him to a standard deal when he arrived. The Wizards then waived Reggie Jackson, leaving an open two-way spot.
With that being said, though, let’s dive into the first category
Not Happening
This may be the largest pool of players because of the Suns’ overall success this season.
Jamaree Bouyea
This would make sense, as he was just brought in on a two-way and has earned minutes in this rotation with the injuries. Similar to Collin Gillespie from last year, this could be the Suns’ diamond-in-the-rough player. They cannot trade him and need to see what he can do in a guaranteed spot here before moving him.
Koby Brea
Brea would not be moved, as he was just selected in the last draft by this team. They felt he was the best shooter in college, and he has yet to prove that in the league with his limited play. Therefore, the development is still needed, and that means moving him makes no sense.
Isaiah Livers
Livers is the final two-way player, and it does not make sense to move him either. When he’s been healthy, he’s been a solid scorer on the wing and could develop into a nice piece. Another two-way player who has gotten an opportunity in the rotation should not be moved, but a spot should be created for them.
Devin Booker
Now that the two-way contracts are out of the way, let’s focus on the big dog in D Book. Clearly, they are not going ot be moving off of him. The franchise has stated multiple times that they are building around him and he is their guy. The recent extension he just got, which still hasn’t kicked in, shows that he is the definition of the Suns, and they are doing everything around him. So NO, he is not leaving, regardless of whether websites still have him in mock trades.
Collin Gillespie
Even if the front office dared to try this stunt, the fans would make sure their voices were heard. Arguably the fan favorite this year, Gillespie has deserved this appreciation in the Valley. Someone who was on a two-way and played due to injuries is single-handedly carrying a big chunk of this offense with the injuries to Devin Booker and Jalen Green. All while on a minimum contract, trying to prove his importance in this league. The Suns cannot lose him and will not, as he has become so valuable to them.
Mark Williams
One of the significant offseason acquisitions is to shake up this team and bring out this new identity and culture. Williams has been such a breath of fresh air at the center position, something this team has been searching for since the fall of Deandre Ayton and his time here. Even with his limited minutes, he continues to get better during his short tenure here, saying this feels like home. With a statement like that, alongside his outstanding play, it only makes sense that he is a part of the now and long-term plans.
Khaman Maluach
Similar to Brea, he was drafted by this team just a couple of months ago, and as a raw talent, he has yet to play much. Even if he has had a slower start, this is fine and not something to panic over. The Suns drafted him based on the potential of what he could be in this league, not on his ability to be an impact player in his rookie year. If that were the case, this team would have looked elsewhere, and it could be another reason why they traded for Mark Williams, anyway, insurance. He still has potential and can be someone for this team.
Rasheer Fleming
Once again, a rookie they traded up to draft is not being moved before he has had a significant chance to show what he has got. The Suns have exceeded expectations, allowing Fleming more development time in the G League than in NBA minutes. That said, later in the season, if he continues to develop, he could work his way into a solid role off the bench with his great defensive instincts and three-ball.
Jordan Goodwin
Goodwin has made himself a solid spot in this rotation in his return to Phoenix this year. After a solid year with the Lakers, he transitioned and plays a very similar role here. He has also been consistent on the offensive end, just as he was last year. His ability to hit a three-point shot (37%) this year has been practical, helping him in more ways than one. With his contract being a minimum deal as well, it does not make sense, as his value is worth more to this team than it is on the open market.
1% Chance
Dillon Brooks
You may think I am crazy putting Brooks here, but let me explain. Yes, he is the engine that keeps this Suns team going; he is always willing to fight and is the definition of what this team wants to be on both sides. That all being said, he has been super effective for this team and has also played up his value.
With no Booker and Green as of late, he has had to be the central part of this offense, and even with Booker, he was also doing it. I do not see this happening unless the Suns see a younger star out there who has low value. If the team wanted Brooks for that said star, maybe they would do it, but with how impactful Brooks has been, I do not see that happening
Ryan Dunn
Similar to Brooks Dunn, he has been solid for this team as a defender and stepping up in his role. Last year, the rookie saw sporadic minutes, and this year he has at least a bigger role that he feels more comfortable in. I do not see the Suns moving him, as they still believe in a sophomore player, but there is one case I do see. That would be if the Suns were adding some win-now talent, keeping Brooks, and using Dunn as some filler, since they have minimal draft capital. Will the Suns put themselves in that position, though? Most likely not.
Oso Ighodaro
If this were the first week of the season, fans would have a different outlook, but now Ighodaro has impressed in his new role. With Williams starting, Ighodaro can serve as the backup and thrive in a role better suited to him. He helps the Suns with his pass-first play and could be a piece they use to build around as this backup big.
The only reason I see him being traded is if he is used as a throw-in on a trade, but the Suns have another center who makes more sense for that.
Jalen Green
He has yet to suit up for a full two games for the team. Therefore, the likelihood of him being moved is very slim. The Suns have no idea what he is or can be for this team. Why give up on that possibility to see what he can be?
Now, they have been good without him, which makes him expendable. Who is to say the player they get back fits better? Who is to say he won’t take away from another big star who is already here? This leads me to believe the Suns still want to bet on and believe in Green, at least for this year. The only way he gets moved is if it is a trade for another young player who is also injured, which I do not see happening before February.
Possibly
Nigel Hayes-Davis
This one was probably the hardest one for me to place. Hayes-Davis is back in the NBA after some dominant years overseas, trying to find a spot back here. So far for the Suns, he has been given the opportunities to do so, especially early on in the year.
Unfortunately for Hayes-Davis, a lot of what he does best and succeeds in does not show up in the stat sheet. This leaves fans to question his impact on this team and what he can really do. The reason I have him here is that they could move off him, especially if they want to develop a younger player (Fleming). I could also see them holding onto him, though, especially if he has little to no value to the association. He can be a veteran leader for this one year, before his contract expires, if that is the case.
Grayson Allen
The most confusing contract on this roster for evaluating trade potential. Allen is on a contract of slightly less than $17 million this year, with increases over the next two years. With his contract being so high and teams being hindered by aprons, that is a primary reason he is possibly over another category.
Will teams see the value of Allen at this number and be willing to add it, or would they try to draft or sign a cheaper alternative? I also think Allen’s value to the Suns franchise and front office is higher than it is across the league. He is a solid starter, but on a championship-winning team, is that true six-man that gets you over that hump offensively? Will a team be willing to offer the right package for that, or will the Suns even be comfortable letting him go? Those questions keep him here.
Names I’d Look Out For
Royce O’Neale
O’Neale has been a valuable part of this team on both sides this year, so this one was hard to say definitely. If the Suns continue to be this hot team, then I think he has a chance of staying, but he does seem like one of the most movable players for many reasons.
One, he has been playing fantastically this year, shooting almost 41% from three and averaging 1.3 steals. Many teams around the league could use a veteran wing who is a switchable defender capable of playing either the three or four position.
Secondly, his contract is relatively minor compared to Allen’s, making only around $10 million for the next three years. All that, paired with the fact that the Suns already have a younger replacement on the roster, could make sense for them to trade O’Neale if the statements above align with their direction.
Nick Richards
Last but certainly not least is the player I expect to be traded before the season ends, and that is Nick Richards. Richards was acquired by the Suns at the last trade deadline for Josh Okogie, a trade many fans, including me, thought the Suns had hit a slam dunk on. Only to find out Richards looked so great because of how horrendous this center rotation was last year.
Coming into this season with the acquisitions of Williams and Maluach, and with Ighodaro on the roster as well, it was known that the center room was crowded. This season, Richards has fallen to third in the rotation and only gets time in certain matchups or when Williams is out due to a back-to-back. With his contract only being $5 million and center being a position of need, it would make sense for them to move off him for anything this year.
To save money for their key extensions in Gillespie and Williams in the offseason, and also to get another piece or pick that could help down the line.
Final Thoughts
I have no idea if I am right on any of these predictions, as it is all down to Brian Gregory and Mat Ishbia to determine what this team looks like. We put our faith in them this offseason, and look at what they have done so far to shake up everyone’s opinions of them. The outcries of Ishbia do not know what he is doing, and his best friends have now gone silent under the dominance of this Suns team. I believe from the beginning, and you should too, regardless of what moves are made this trade deadline!
Ryan Dunn doesn’t enter the NBA as a classic “3&D.” He’s more of a “D&??,” an old-school pure defender with an offensive ecosystem still under construction. This asymmetry makes his study fascinating: you immediately see what he can become, but also what needs to be sculpted.
Early-season strengths
What stands out right from his first minutes is his reading speed. He anticipates drives like a veteran, cuts angles without overplaying, and allows the Suns to be more aggressive on-ball because he cleans up mistakes behind them. His ability to track two actions at once, both the ball and the weakside, is atypical for his age.
Le volume de jeu de Ryan Dunn pic.twitter.com/fhKpxHOOlO
— P
His transition defense is already highly developed. He sprints back faster than the ball, cuts passing lanes, and turns dead possessions into neutral ones. Phoenix hasn’t had a player of this type since Mikal Bridges: long, mobile, disciplined, unfazed by screens. Both belong to the rare club of +1% BLK% and +2.5% STL% this season. Statistically, Ryan Dunn sits in the same category as OG Anunoby, Jalen Suggs, or Keon Ellis.
– Défense agressive sur Pick & sur KD
– Il casse la ligne de passe
– STL et fastbreak pic.twitter.com/0WghwcnTcY
— P
On the boards, he stabilizes the lineup despite being a wing, with 5 rebounds per game (just behind Mark Williams and Royce O’Neale). Defensive rebounding isn’t his primary focus, as he often is one of the first to leak out in transition. Where he truly stands out is on the offensive glass: 1.9 offensive rebounds per game and an incredible 8% OREB% for his position. It’s a discreet factor (though anyone watching sees how hard he fights nightly), but a major one.
Early-season weaknesses
Where Dunn still drags the team into a shadow zone is offense. His shooting mechanics aren’t disastrous, but they’re not yet adaptable. Too many slightly forced catch-and-shoot attempts; nearly 70% of his threes are open looks, yet only 32% accuracy on catch and shoot. That’s very weak for a player aiming at a starting role, especially since he doesn’t shine in other offensive areas either: 15th and 10th percentile this season in “Paint shooting & Midrange Talent” and “Movement Scoring Impact.”
He lacks variety in angles, offers little threat off-ball or with the ball, which explains his low offensive efficiency: ≈105 PSA, 53 TS%. That limits the lineup combinations the coach can use and, therefore, his overall playing time.
His handle is functional, not creative. In straight-line attacks, it works. But when he needs to manipulate a defender, slow down, change direction…you see the upper body and hips aren’t yet synchronized. He’s a young player who needs volume, repetitions, and above all, a framework where his mistakes are accepted.
L'exemple parfait pour montrer la mauvaise gestion de son corps et de l'espace :
– l'idée de la fixation est bonne mais trop mal exécuté, il vient s'empaler dans le défenseur
– la passe est vraiment mauvaise, à rebonds, en dessous du bassin, sur le coté pic.twitter.com/Yz3csvaSDa
— P
Dunn can also over-help at times. His defensive instinct, if miscalibrated, pushes him to over-anticipate and leave corners open. A quality that turns into a flaw when discipline is still fresh.
Ryan Dunn embodies the archetype of the modern defender: instinctive, versatile, and already making an impact. His profile highlights a defense that can reach very high levels, but his offensive arsenal is still embryonic. The Suns’ challenge will be to give him the time and structure to turn his limits into weapons, without restraining his defensive energy. If he manages to stabilize his shot and enrich his off-ball game, he can become an indispensable starter. He is at the crossroads of the legacies of Mikal Bridges and Dillon Brooks.
The Phoenix Suns have been loosely linked to Domantas Sabonis for several years now.
Yesterday, Jake Weinbach relayed a report from Sam Amick suggesting that the Suns’ interest has not waned.
“Teams like Washington, the Phoenix Suns, and Chicago have shown significant interest in the past and are still believed to be on his short list of possible suitors, but Sabonis is prepared to remain in a Kings jersey for the foreseeable future.” — Sam Amick in The Athletic’s NBA trade talk: What I’m hearing about piece.
Amick adds: “If the Kings (6-19) continue down this losing track, there could be a payoff for all that pain in the form of their 2026 first-round draft pick. AJ Dybantsa, anyone?“
Now, the language of “prior links” and “short-list of suitors” aren’t exactly ringing endorsements for anything imminent. Especially after it was followed up by Sabonis preparing to remain in a Kings jersey for the foreseeable future.
Sabonis, 29, is a three-time All-Star and has finished in the top 10 of MVP voting twice in his 10-year NBA career. He has battled some injuries this season, only appearing in 11 games while averaging 17.2 points, 12.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.2 steals per game in 33.2 minutes per game.
Domantas has 2 years left on his contract after this season, at $45.5 and $48.6 million per year, respectively, before entering free agency in 2028-29.
Any deal involving Sabonis’s contract makes Jalen Green the piece that would have to be involved, along with at least a couple of others, for salary purposes. Mark Williams was mentioned along with Green, and that’s a bit too rich for my liking. Sacramento would likely ask for another core young piece and a pick in addition to whatever the Suns package with Green.
Yes, the Suns have a good thing going for them right now. Yes, Jalen Green looked excellent in his debut. I don’t think that should stop the Suns from looking to make upgrades or improvements on the roster. They are deep at the guard position right now, and we haven’t seen what they all look like when healthy together.
That said, if it’s Green AND Williams, I’m out. If they can swing something for just Green and filler pieces… that’s a whole lot more interesting. Williams-Sabonis-Brooks-Booker-Gillespie with Allen off the bench is a bit more of a balanced roster than they currently have constructed. It is a lot of money to commit to a Booker-Sabonis pairing, but I don’t think it’s anything to scoff at, even if you are attached to this group.
Phoenix has already been connected to Jonathan Kuminga during the offseason, though that interest has faded, according to John Gambadoro.
It’s unlikely the Suns make any major deals while the vibes are this high, but crazier things have happened.
What do you think, Suns fans? Should Phoenix pursue Domantas Sabonis or hold on to this roster and see how they look once they’re all on the court together?
Every year, as a community, we try to do our part to give back to those who need it most. That has been the mission behind Dave King’s Bright Side Night for the past decade. Once again, we are stepping up and doing what we can to send as many kids as possible to see the Phoenix Suns take on the Brooklyn Nets on January 27. Thus far we’ve raised over $7,000!
This year, we are trying something a little different.
We have worked with the Suns to make sure the tickets are there. Now we are adding another layer. We are hosting a silent auction featuring some genuinely cool Phoenix Suns memorabilia. An Alvan Adams signed and graded card. A signed photo of Charles Barkley. And several other unique items.
The auction will run online from December 15 through December 28, and all proceeds will go directly toward Dave King’s Bright Side Night.
BIG news for Dave King’s Bright Side Night!
From Dec 15–29 we’re running an online silent auction loaded with killer Suns memorabilia. Every dollar goes toward sending underprivileged kids to a Suns game.
Let’s make it the biggest year yet!pic.twitter.com/7bNJkzj4bk
— Bright Side of the Sun (@BrightSideSun) December 12, 2025
Yeah, the tweet says until the 29th. It’ll end EOD on the 28th.
If you have ever wondered what is in it for you, this is it. You get a chance to bid on rare Suns memorabilia while knowing the proceeds are going to a cause that matters. Those funds will help send underprivileged kids to experience a Suns game at Dave King’s Bright Side Night in January.
Please follow the link below to check out the items that will be available. The auction goes live at 8AM on Monday.
As always, thank you for continuing to support this incredible effort as we all do our part to keep Dave King’s mission alive.
Games like the Suns’ loss to the Lakers on Sunday night are the ones that punch you right in the gut. They feel mucky. They feel gross. For a Phoenix team that lives on rhythm and disruption, this was one of those nights where it felt like the game was taken out of their hands by a whistle that never loosened up.
That is part of the deal with this team. It is going to happen from time to time, especially when you play a franchise that has made a living off preferential treatment. Only the Orlando Magic attempt more free throws than the Lakers do on a nightly basis, so that reality has to be baked into the scouting report. Play aggressive. But play smart.
You can point to a lot of moments if you want to.
Just a minute into the game, Dillon Brooks picks up a technical after responding to contact that LeBron James initiated. On a night where Tyler Ford seemed more interested in reviewing plays than calling them correctly in real time, that one probably deserved another look. You can point to the free-throw parade at the end of the first half.
You can point to LeBron running into Brooks on a late three and getting a pass. In a one-possession game, you can always find a million reasons why a team lost or why it should have won.
What cannot be ignored is what happened in the middle of the game. The Suns went eight full minutes without scoring. Eight. The Lakers ripped off a 24-0 run during that stretch. That is where the damage was done.
And yet, Phoenix still fought back. Down 20 in the fourth quarter, they clawed their way back into it. They put themselves in a position to steal the game anyway. Sure, it would have helped if the whistle leaned their way even a little. Sure, it would have helped if the Lakers had not shot 43 free throws. But that is the NBA. And when you are playing the Lakers, you already know how this usually goes.
Oh, and the Suns went 0-2 in games dictated by NBA Cup group play. Sure hope these two games don’t come back and bite ‘em in the ass come April…
Bright Side Baller Season Standings
Jamaree Bouyea was one of the few players who brought consistent fight on Tuesday against the Thunder. For that effort, he earns his second Bright Side Baller of the season. 25 games in, no one has truly separated themselves, and that is what happens when a team is banged up.
Bright Side Baller Nominees
Game 26 against the Lakers. Here are your nominees:
Devin Booker
27 points (7-of-17, 0-of-5 3PT, 13-of-16 FT), 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover, +4 +/-
Mark Williams
20 points (9-of-10), 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 blocks, 1 turnover, +14 +/-
Dillon Brooks
18 points (6-of-9, 4-of-7 3PT), 1 rebound, 0 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers, 5 fouls, +12 +/-
Grayson Allen
13 points (4-of-11, 1-of-5 3PT), 2 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, 2 turnovers, -4 +/-
Royce O’Neale
12 points (4-of-7, 4-of-7 3PT), 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, -23 +/-
Collin Gillespie
10 points (4-of-9, 2-of-5 3PT), 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, -2 +/-
The polls are open!
When it comes to Dillon Brooks, you take the whole thing. That’s the mental contract you sign when you watch him play. He’s intense, wired hot, always carrying a chip on his shoulder. That edge has fueled his career. It keeps him competitive, keeps him locked in, and makes life miserable for whoever he’s guarding.
About 85% of the time, you love what Dillon brings.
His edge has become part of the Suns’ identity this season. They are a team sitting at 14-12 and holding down the seventh seed in the Western Conference despite Jalen Green playing 5 quarters and a plethora of differing injuries to their lineup. Not even two months into the season, and they’ve already knocked down nearly half of the 30.5 wins Vegas projected. That’s not an accident. Dillon Brooks helped change the culture. He reinforced what Brian Gregory set out to build over the summer.
Add in the fact that he’s averaging 21.6 points per game, which is 3.2 more than any season of his career, and that 85% looks pretty damn good.
Then there’s the other 15%.
The fouls that don’t need to happen. The over-aggression that leads to silly stoppages. The heat check threes from a guy shooting 32.2% from deep. That’s Dillon being Dillon, and most nights you live with it.
Last night pushed things further than that. Frustrating is the right word. Not inexcusable, but irresponsible fits too.
Still, he helped light the fuse that pulled the Suns back into the game. That’s the Dillon Brooks you appreciate. He went 4-of-5 from the field in the fourth quarter, 3-of-4 from three, 11 points when the game needed teeth. That lives firmly in the 85%.
Part of the reason the Suns were staring at a 20-point hole in the fourth quarter was simple, however. Dillon Brooks wasn’t on the floor. He had played himself into foul trouble.
He was so locked in on baiting LeBron James that he picked up an offensive foul trying to back LeBron down with 10 minutes left in the third. When Brooks checked out with his fifth foul, the Suns were up 67-66. When he checked back in with 9:56 left in the game, they were down 91-77. During that stretch without Brooks on the floor, the Lakers rattled off 24 straight points. The Suns didn’t score for eight full minutes of game time.
That’s the 15% you hate. Not because of effort. Because he can remove himself from the game by letting the intensity tip into recklessness.
But the truly irresponsible part came later. After the Suns clawed all the way back. After Brooks drilled a massive three with 12 seconds left to put Phoenix up 114-113. That should have been the moment. Instead, he couldn’t help himself. He thought he was fouled, so he went straight at LeBron, chest to chest, even though he already had a technical. One he earned a minute and 24 seconds into the game for jawing with the same guy.
He hits the biggest shot of the night, a shot that could swing the game, and immediately puts it at risk. That’s the 15%.
For everything Dillon Brooks brings to this team, and there is a lot, he has to be better in those moments. Control the emotion. Run to your teammates. Celebrate the shot. You just capped a huge comeback. So what if LeBron bumped you? Go huddle up. Go lock back in. Go figure out how to keep these guys from scoring again.
This is the part that drives people insane. But it also has to be a growth moment. You can be LeBron’s nemesis if you want. You just can’t put that above the team. On a night where Brooks was arguably the best player the Suns had, we didn’t get enough of him. Not because of talent. Because he couldn’t get out of his own head. That has to change.
This is where the line has to be drawn. The Suns need the edge, they need the snarl, they need the version of Dillon Brooks that drags games into the mud and makes stars uncomfortable. But they also need him on the floor. Availability matters. Awareness matters. Moments like that are where good players separate themselves from players who actually help you win.
You already hit the shot. You already swung the game. Now finish the job. The 85% only works if the 15% stops hijacking the biggest possessions of the night. If Brooks wants to be a tone setter for a team with real ambitions, this is the step. Same fire. Better control. Team first.
Well, that was a roller coaster of a week. The Phoenix Suns walk away 1-2. Both losses came in games shaped by NBA Cup group play. I have been clear about how I feel about the NBA Cup, especially the knockout round games counting toward the regular season. I will spare you another rant. It is behind us, at least until April.
So what did we learn this week? Maybe not much that is new. This felt less like discovery and more like reinforcement. A reminder of things we already know about this team.
Phoenix went into Minnesota without Devin Booker and won anyway. Not on talent. On effort, connectivity, communication, and resiliency. Then came Oklahoma City, a Thunder team that seemed to remember some comments Booker made after an earlier four-point loss. Phoenix got the full force of that response and did not have the firepower to withstand it.
That game underscored one thing: the Suns missed Devin Booker. His efficiency numbers might not be where they have been in past seasons, but his presence matters. He steadies the floor, and he gives the team a place to land when things start to tilt. Even so, it is hard to imagine many teams surviving a Thunder group that angry on that night.
Then there was the Lakers game. Whistle heavy. Choppy. And still, down 20 in the fourth quarter, Phoenix rallied and took a late lead. It did not end the way they wanted, but the fight was real.
So again, this week felt like a confirmation of identity. The schedule tightens over the next three games, and it will test them. After that, the pressure eases, and that foundation they have built should start turning into a few more wins.
At 14-12, sitting in the seventh seed in the Western Conference through the first third of the season, the lesson is familiar: this team competes. Every night. And for that reason, we keep watching.
Week 8 Record: 1-2
@ Minnesota Timberwolves, W, 108-105
- Possession Differential: +0.7
- Turnover Differential: -4
- Offensive Rebounding Differential: +1
Down Booker and Jalen Green, on the road, in a loud Minnesota gym with the Peacock cameras rolling, the Suns pulled a logic-defying win. Phoenix trailed for only 1:21, then survived a white knuckle finish.
@ Oklahoma City Thunder, L, 135-89
- Possession Differential: +2.3
- Turnover Differential: +6
- Offensive Rebounding Differential: +1
The Suns’ NBA Cup adventure ended in a 49-point faceplant. Good group play earned Phoenix a quarterfinal date with an Oklahoma City buzzsaw that looks historically dangerous, and the result was over by halftime. You can sell it as iron sharpening iron, but this felt more like a scheduling tax.
vs. Los Angeles Lakers, L, 116-114
- Possession Differential: -1.9
- Turnover Differential: -2
- Offensive Rebounding Differential: -14
Sunday night in Los Angeles was one of those games that leaves a bad taste in your mouth. The Suns, a team built on rhythm and chaos, got mucky, slowed down by whistles that never let them breathe. Still, down 20 in the fourth, they clawed back, proving fight matters even when the deck is stacked.
Inside the Possession Game
- Weekly Possession Differential: +1.1
- Weekly Turnover Differential: 0
- Offensive Rebounding Differential: -12
- Year-to-Date Over/Under .500: +2
It wasn’t Phoenix’s possession game that cost them this past week. It was their shooting. They were 25th in the league in shooting during Week 8, hitting 44.5% from the field and 34.7% from three. On top of that, they struggled to hold the ball, ranking 26th in the league with 16.7 turnovers. It is a reminder that winning possessions doesn’t automatically translate to winning games. They also ranked 28th in the league with a 45.5% rebounding percentage, which shows there is room for improvement when it comes to crashing the boards.
Week 9 Preview
It’s a short week for Phoenix while the rest of the league pauses to reset after the NBA Cup, with the final set for Tuesday. Everyone has to wait for that to finish.
For Phoenix, it’s just two games this week. Thursday at home against the Golden State Warriors, and Saturday on the road against the same team. These games carry extra weight. The Warriors sit just below the Suns in the standings at 13-14, 1.5 games back. How Phoenix handles this pair will matter for their position in the Western Conference.
We’ll see how it goes, shall we?
The December 10th loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder was not fun. It was a 49-point blowout, and the good guys couldn’t even crack 90 on the scoreboard. But when there is an all-time great team in the league, rarely does anyone else get to have fun.
When your team is in the middle of one of the worst decades in franchise history, it is not fun to watch a team that just won 73 games add Kevin Durant.
When you are watching the last years of Steve Nash in the purple and orange, it is not fun to watch LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh team up in Miami.
Most of all, it is never fun to watch the Lakers’ three-peat.
However, all three of these examples have something in common. All three dynasties were defeated by an unlikely foe. In 2019, the three-time champion Golden State Warriors lost to the Toronto Raptors. In 2011, the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Heatles during the trio’s first playoff run together. In 2004, the Detroit Pistons effectively ended the Shaq and Kobe era Lakers during the duo’s last trip to the Finals.
What did these teams have in common? Is there a formula the Suns can follow to be the next great dynasty buster? Or should Phoenix simply bend the knee, trade Devin Booker, and hit the reset button?
2019: Toronto Raptors
Going into the 2019 season, the Toronto Raptors had finished five straight seasons with a winning record, finishing as a top-four seed each year.
They had just brought in new head coach Nick Nurse. Before him, Dwane Casey had led the team and helped build the culture for seven years.
For each of those seasons from 2014-2018, the team revolved around a core group of guys. That core consisted of Kyle Lowry, Jonas Valančiūnas, and DeMar DeRozan. Eventually, Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, and OG Anunoby were added to that list.
For those five years, the Raptors fought hard and competed every night. Unfortunately for them, they never made it past LeBron in the DeMar DeRozan/Dwane Casey era. Among those five playoff appearances, Toronto lost to LeBron’s Cleveland Cavaliers three times, giving them the viral nickname “LeBronto”.
Yet, in these seasons, the same ones that saw the rise of the Golden Dynasty and possibly the greatest team in NBA history, the Raptors decided to try to win it all rather than sell and rebuild.
Going into the 2019 season, Toronto traded a package that included franchise cornerstone DeRozan to San Antonio for Kawhi Leonard. Leonard would go on to hit the greatest shot in franchise history to win Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, en route to Toronto’s first NBA title. A title they won, many would say, because Kevin Durant tore his Achilles during the second round of the playoffs against Houston.
What lesson can the Suns learn from Toronto’s 2019 championship? Stay prepared and build a winning culture. Patiently wait, but when the perfect trade arises, be fearless. You never know when the right moment might suddenly open a championship window.
2011: Dallas Mavericks
The Mavs won 57 games in 2011, which shouldn’t have been a surprise. Dallas won at least 50 games every single year from 2001 through 2010.
In 2006, Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals for the first time in his career, winning 60 games along the way. They would lose in six games to the Miami Heat, led by young superstar Dwyane Wade and old Western Conference rival, Shaquille O’Neal.
The following year ended in disaster. After winning 67 games and claiming the first seed in the Western Conference, the Dallas Mavericks would lose to the “We Believe” Warriors. In doing so, they became just the third one seed to lose to an eight seed in NBA history and the first to do so in a seven-game series.
The season after losing in six in the NBA finals, this Western Conference contender lost a playoff series in embarrassing fashion to a team they should have beaten.
Does that sound familiar?
Would it sound more familiar if I told you that the following season they traded for a 34-year-old superstar in Jason Kidd at the trade deadline?
Over the next few years, the Mavericks picked up a center who had dealt with injuries in the previous couple of seasons, and a certain defensive-minded wing that was now in his thirties but could still surprise you with a bucket. The entire time, never losing faith and trading their franchise cornerstone.
Eventually, they broke through. The Mavericks defeated the defending back-to-back champion Lakers, the up-and-coming Oklahoma City Thunder, and a Miami Heat superteam to win their only title to date. A title they won, many would say, because LeBron James underperformed in the 2011 Finals.
What lesson can the Suns learn from Dallas’ 2011 championship? Stay prepared and build a winning culture. Patiently wait, but when the perfect trade arises, be fearless. You never know when the right moment might suddenly open a championship window.
2004: Detroit Pistons
Detroit has a different story from Toronto and Dallas. There was no long-standing culture or coach. The Pistons had just two consecutive winning seasons headed into 2004, both under Rick Carlisle, who had since been replaced by Larry Brown.
The two leading scorers for the Pistons, Rip Hamilton and Chauncey Billups, both arrived in 2003. Ben Wallace was traded to Detroit in the offseason leading into the 2001 season.
Rasheed Wallace is the strangest case. He was traded twice in a ten-day span during the 2004 season. Over the course of two weeks, he played for the Portland Trailblazers, the Atlanta Hawks, and the Detroit Pistons.
No, Detroit had not been waiting in the wings, prepared to pounce when the giant stumbled. They were still beginning to figure out who they were and what they were building.
But they did know what they wanted. Phoenix now wants the same thing.
This Detroit team was known as the “Goin’ to Work” Pistons. They were known for their grit and tenacity, not their flash. Every team they played in the playoffs had a 20-point-per-game scorer except the Nets. The Lakers had two. Rip Hamilton led the ‘04 Pistons with 17.6 ppg.
The Pistons led the league in blocks and were tied for first in defense, allowing just 84.3 points per game. That tie was with the defending champion San Antonio Spurs. On the offensive end, the Pistons scored just 90.1 points, the 24th-best offense in basketball that year.
We enjoy a different NBA than what we had in 2004. I won’t pretend that the Suns, or any team, is capable of those kinds of defensive numbers. But what I can believe is that this Suns team has made solid defensive additions. With one or two more savvy trades to further improve the defense surrounding Devin Booker, this team could resemble a modern version of that Pistons team.
The comparison to this Detroit team is less about lessons the Suns can learn than it is about the realization of what the Suns could become. The Pistons were not a team built on the back of successful draft after successful draft. They were a team built through smart trades and a ruthless style of play. An important detail given Phoenix’s complete lack of draft capital moving forward.
2026: Phoenix Suns
The Thunder are probably going to win the title this year. The Thunder are probably going to win it next year, too. But the reality is that no team has won four straight titles since the Boston Celtics won eight straight from 1959-1966. In case you are wondering, that doesn’t just predate the NBA/ABA merger; that predates the ABA entirely.
Oklahoma City might go on to win three straight, but the odds are against them to win four in a row. It doesn’t matter how many picks they have or how young they are; no one has done it since the Vietnam War.
Injuries happen. The salary cap, luxury tax, and second apron happen. Regardless of how dominant the Thunder are now, someone is going to take their place. Someone is going to bust that dynasty. Why not the Suns?
They have the beginnings of a winning roster. Gillespie, Brooks, and Williams have all been perfect additions around Booker. The Suns have found great rotational depth in Oso, Dunn, and Bouyea. The offseason retool in the post-Durant era has landed the Suns in a situation where they can afford to bring rookies Khaman Maluach, Rasheer Fleming, and Koby Brea along slowly while still winning games.
But if Phoenix wants to be the next Pistons, Mavericks, or Raptors, the formula has been laid out by those who came before them:
Stay prepared and build a winning culture. Patiently wait, but when the perfect trade arises, be fearless. You never know when the right moment might suddenly open a championship window.
It is better to be ready when that window opens than watch another team seize the opportunity.
(@ShowCaseShabazz)