Jalen Green is set to set a depressing record with the Suns this season

Few players have as much to prove for the Phoenix Suns this season as rookie Jalen Green. The 23-year-old did not feature for the team during the preseason, aggravating a hamstring injury during the two-match trip to China to take on the Brooklyn Nets. As a result, he will be unavailable for opening night against the Sacramento Kings.

Green isn’t the only starter who will be missing – center Mark Williams won’t be there either – but this group is quickly creating a next man up mentality. As evidenced by Dillon Brooks recently needing stitches after a scrimmage at practice, this squad will play hard no matter who is on the field.

Green will almost certainly have career low games this season.

However, looking at Green’s injury from the bigger picture, and the fact that he will miss 10 days to two weeks, this isn’t the best way to start his time in The Valley. We’ve already tried to look at the positives – and Devin Booker getting time to settle into his new role without having to think about Green is certainly one of them – but the Suns would much rather have him out there.

In fact, Green did not miss a single regular season game during his final two seasons with the organization that drafted him from the Houston Rockets. The lowest total during his first four years in the league came as a rookie, when he made 67 appearances. Also worth noting thanks to 307 regular season appearances – plus seven playoff games – Green has never come off the bench.

So assuming he misses the first handful of games for Phoenix, Green will break his impressive streak of playing every night for a few years, and will also be on track to surrender the lowest number of games played of his career to date. He will still be above 67 by the time he returns, but any injury will certainly drop him below that mark.

This shouldn’t be a problem for the Suns — at least right away — but the more time Green and Booker have on the court together, the better. They can also take turns running the show while the other sits on the couch, but that can’t happen if Groen is wearing regular clothes. Booker could also use a younger scorer to get through the regular season so he doesn’t have to. Not a disaster, but not ideal.