The Phoenix Suns look exactly what most predicted this season, and that is a rebuilding team. Although Devin Booker has tried to do it all offensively out of the gate for his team – when he sits – the Suns are immediately in trouble. The situation wasn’t much better on the defensive end, where head coach Jordan Ott said they were going to build their identity.
Despite center Mark Williams being available for all but one game so far, the Brooklyn Nets are the only team allowing more points to be scored against them on a nightly basis. That is unacceptable and must change. Bringing Oso Ighodaro off the bench and stopping him at the five seems like a great place to start.
The stage is set for a Jalen Green redemption arc in Phoenix.
One player who has been absent during the lows so far this season is 23-year-old Jalen Green. The former Houston Rocket was dealing with a hamstring problem and had not missed a game for his former team in two full seasons, including the playoffs, before being part of the Kevin Durant trade. Green will now be back every game and the situation has never been better for him, despite not doing anything.
“completely spectacular”
three minutes of BUCKETS from Jalen Green over the past three weeks pic.twitter.com/lsHrB195nv
— Brett Usher (@UsherNBA) April 2, 2024
The Suns have been so poor defensively – and so out of ideas with ball in hand – that anything he can bring will be considered a success. Starting with the offensive end and where you would expect Green to have the bigger impact, if he can take any kind of pressure off of Booker that will be huge.
Coach Ott will certainly split their minutes on the court so that the team doesn’t fall off a cliff production-wise with Booker sitting, while the tandem of both can certainly only go one way now. For all the concerns about how the pair would fit together before the season started, the fact that Green can create his own shot and allow Booker to score first on certain possessions will be huge.
You’d think Green wouldn’t be able to do anything to boost the defense, and that’s largely correct. But the suns have already been so bad, they can’t get much worse. Even if they somehow fall further with Green on the field – as long as there is a notable offensive improvement – the coaching staff will live with that trade-off.
Things would be different if the team had started the campaign at average defensively and if Brooks had been a man possessed every night. Only he’s also out with an injury, and he doesn’t have the length or two-way talent to shut down opponents. That’s exactly the kind of situation Groen wants to achieve, where there are no defensive expectations.
Therefore, for him personally, this injury was a blessing in disguise. He will return to the line-up soon and will give a huge boost to the fans and his teammates. All he has to do is take a few shots away from Brooks and relieve the pressure on Booker and everyone will go crazy. If you manage to steal a few wins, there will definitely be a statue outside the arena on your way.
#Suns #hands #redemption #Jalen #Green #silver #platter