Nobody’s knows but it’s fun to speculate. (Phoenix Suns Rumors). 2026

[Chaplin]

Ott didn't play Manman and Fleming enough. I wonder how many games Green, Williams, Dillon, Book and Grayson played when all were healthy.

Fleming, yes. But Manman? I love the kid and his potential, but let's be honest, he wasn't ready for most of the season.

 

[Mainstreet]

I think they also just lost focus from being tired and injured. Both Booker and Gillespie definitely had some physical things going on. All the coaches we have had lately will just run the legs off the guys during the season. They need to trust their lineups more and play more guys and spread the minutes during the regular season. It happened this year, and even when we had KD. Maybe we take a step as a team this season, and get more of the lineup involved.

A team needs to have discipline, to play the same way every night. The only way to do that is by playing defense or a system offense like SSOL.

And I don't think SSOL is coming back without D'Antoni, so the Suns need to fix their defense.

 

[Proximo]

Fleming, yes. But Manman? I love the kid and his potential, but let's be honest, he wasn't ready for most of the season.

I don't know, he actually seemed to get better really quickly. How much was his play in the G-league responsible for his progression I don't know, but the Man Man during summer league wasn't half the player he finished the season as. I think giving him time earlier on may have made him progress that much more.

 

[Yuma]

A team needs to have discipline, to play the same way every night. The only way to do that is by playing defense or a system offense like SSOL.

And I don't think SSOL is coming back without D'Antoni, so the Suns need to fix their defense.

Hard to play it at the end of the year when it's small ball. We played a bunch of teams down the stretch that would play to get the switch on Gillespie and then try and take advantage of his lack of size on offense. Also, When you switch a bunch of guys shorter than 6'5", it really doesn't slow the other side down. We struggled with defensive boards, or more precisely keeping the other team off the offensive glass. We need to get more defensive oriented guys. We got a bunch of smaller guys who try hard, but it would be like in football getting a bunch of 250 OL guys in the NFL and not expecting them to give up sacks. Sometimes you just need some size. Just a couple guys in the low post that can rebound, defend, and erase the occasional shot or two, would help the guys up front play better defense.

 

[Yuma]

I don't know, he actually seemed to get better really quickly. How much was his play in the G-league responsible for his progression I don't know, but the Man Man during summer league wasn't half the player he finished the season as. I think giving him time earlier on may have made him progress that much more.

I also don't know if it was just his size, but he kept guys going across the paint from taking shots. They tended to make the pass out rather than stopping and trying to shoot over him like the shorter guys. It's hard to quantify the amount of times that happened, but you could see guys not shooting that were shooting before he came in. Hopefully more minutes will help slow other teams down.

 

[Yuma]

Ott didn't play Manman and Fleming enough. I wonder how many games Green, Williams, Dillon, Book and Grayson played when all were healthy.

What's weird is there are a lot of stats showing that they really didn't play that many minutes together. Seems like someone was always missing for injury or injury minutes management.

 

[Mainstreet]

Hard to play it at the end of the year when it's small ball. We played a bunch of teams down the stretch that would play to get the switch on Gillespie and then try and take advantage of his lack of size on offense. Also, When you switch a bunch of guys shorter than 6'5", it really doesn't slow the other side down. We struggled with defensive boards, or more precisely keeping the other team off the offensive glass. We need to get more defensive oriented guys. We got a bunch of smaller guys who try hard, but it would be like in football getting a bunch of 250 OL guys in the NFL and not expecting them to give up sacks. Sometimes you just need some size. Just a couple guys in the low post that can rebound, defend, and erase the occasional shot or two, would help the guys up front play better defense.

Then, when playing small lineups it becomes almost inexcusable when they get beat down the court for layups.

Shooting over the top is one thing but not getting in front of the offensive player and blocking out is another.

 

[Hoop Head]

Then, when playing small lineups it becomes almost inexcusable when they get beat down the court for layups.

Shooting over the top is one thing but not getting in front of the offensive player and blocking out is another.

Smaller guys seem less willing to take hits. There are exceptions like Nash over the years but largely guards avoid contact to stop guys. I think part of that has to do with making their fouls count and being on the perimeter they use fouls on guys who slip past them so they need to make each one count.

 

[Proximo]

Personally I just want to run it back with everyone.

Not me, I want Williams, Grayson and Royce gone. Preferably somehow turning them into younger players or draft picks.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Not me, I want Williams, Grayson and Royce gone. Preferably somehow turning them into younger players or draft picks.

It's not that I "want" them gone but we can't keep everybody so at least one of those three are likely gone. But we were playing great when those three were healthy and I seriously doubt we will recapture that level of play when we replace them with healthy players.

 

[BooksOrangePlanet]

i think it's going to be harder to land 7 footers in the upcoming drafts (plural) due to the wemby effect - i still don't know how maluach landed in our lap but damn - if manman panpans out we are golden

i also think true dime dropping point guards are coming back - they're being more appreciated again

every team in the nba wants to trade their mid vet roll players for youth right now - youth is in style and the lebron/durant/curry era is nearing it's end but the nba is cyclical

we got lucky landing maluach because everybody was in the 3 and D line - 3 and D is the IPA of the nba beer garden right now - so many different versions

but we can't even get in the beer garden - the ticket scalpers know youth is all the craze right now

i see jalen green as our only tradable asset - he's young and super talented but theirs no telling what he may become in these next couple seasons - might be special - I'd like to keep him

 

[Carolinacacti]

Not me, I want Williams, Grayson and Royce gone. Preferably somehow turning them into younger players or draft picks.

So basically you want to tank

 

[Bada0Bing]

Not me, I want Williams, Grayson and Royce gone. Preferably somehow turning them into younger players or draft picks.

If it works out, I'd be happy to see Royce come back. It seems like our chemistry dropped when he started to lose playing time the 2nd half of the season. And then when he started getting more playing time again, things started clicking better.

I haven't looked at the stats, but that's just something I noticed late last season. In the right role he's a great 7th/8th man, and he's on an affordable contract.

Williams and Grayson are too often injured, so it'd be nice to turn those players into draft assets. Nice additions when healthy, but Grayson is probably pushing 30 and this was the healthiest Williams has ever been.

 

[Proximo]

So basically you want to tank

No. We have no picks, of course I don’t want to tank. Williams and Grayson are huge injury risks. You can’t rely on them.

I want Rasheer to start, Highsmith and Dunn are more than capable of the backup minutes. Best to get Royce an older player off the payroll if he is barely going to play.

Last years team wasn’t good enough. Grayson and Royce will not improve, they are on the downside of their careers. Only way to get better is gamble on younger players who might get better.

 

[Yuma]

i think it's going to be harder to land 7 footers in the upcoming drafts (plural) due to the wemby effect - i still don't know how maluach landed in our lap but damn - if manman panpans out we are golden

i also think true dime dropping point guards are coming back - they're being more appreciated again

every team in the nba wants to trade their mid vet roll players for youth right now - youth is in style and the lebron/durant/curry era is nearing it's end but the nba is cyclical

we got lucky landing maluach because everybody was in the 3 and D line - 3 and D is the IPA of the nba beer garden right now - so many different versions

but we can't even get in the beer garden - the ticket scalpers know youth is all the craze right now

i see jalen green as our only tradable asset - he's young and super talented but theirs no telling what he may become in these next couple seasons - might be special - I'd like to keep him

You may be right. It wasn't too long ago they pronounced the NBA big man as a dead position. Now with guys like Wemby, it's back. So who knows, we may see dime dishing PGs running things again in time.

 

[Carolinacacti]

No. We have no picks, of course I don’t want to tank. Williams and Grayson are huge injury risks. You can’t rely on them.

I want Rasheer to start, Highsmith and Dunn are more than capable of the backup minutes. Best to get Royce an older player off the payroll if he is barely going to play.

Last years team wasn’t good enough. Grayson and Royce will not improve, they are on the downside of their careers. Only way to get better is gamble on younger players who might get better.

Can't argue this but it is a gamble. Williams is the one I would gamble on staying healthy instead of Manman and Oso winning games next year

 

[AzStevenCal]

Can't argue this but it is a gamble. Williams is the one I would gamble on staying healthy instead of Manman and Oso winning games next year

I really don't know if this is a smart gamble but I'm hoping the front office does. So far it looks like Mark is just always going to be dealing with his foot problems but they have the medicals and personal information that we don't have. So, if we keep him, great, because it hopefully means we have good reason to continue the gamble. But if there isn't a medical reason for hope in the future, we have to move on even though I agree that Oso and Malauch aren't going to solve our problems in the short run.

 

[Yuma]

Maluach and Fleming need to play more. Why draft size, then leave them on the bench. They are rookies and will make mistakes. You know who else makes mistakes? Every guy on the team! I don't buy you crush their confidence. Will they be behind in strength and reacting to the speed of the game? Yes. How do you learn to play with stronger and faster guys? By playing against them! I was a white kid 5'9" and I got smoked by kids from South Mountain. You know what? It taught me I had to play differently and smarter. I had to learn how their plays went, so I could jump passes, get in the spots they wanted before them, and assist my guys on defense. If you always play the same competition, you never get better.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Maluach and Fleming need to play more. Why draft size, then leave them on the bench. They are rookies and will make mistakes. You know who else makes mistakes? Every guy on the team! I don't buy you crush their confidence. Will they be behind in strength and reacting to the speed of the game? Yes. How do you learn to play with stronger and faster guys? By playing against them! I was a white kid 5'9" and I got smoked by kids from South Mountain. You know what? It taught me I had to play differently and smarter. I had to learn how their plays went, so I could jump passes, get in the spots they wanted before them, and assist my guys on defense. If you always play the same competition, you never get better.

I disagree, those two were not ready for prime time, at least not for most of the season. Playing them early in the season would have done a disservice to every other player. They didn't just "make mistakes", they were lost out there more often than not and that impacts every other teammate on the court. By the end of the season they both looked like they could help us (especially Fleming) but we're fans, we don't know what the coach sees every day. Despite our wishes, I find it difficult to believe that the coach was simply too dumb to do what we all wanted.

 

[Hoop Head]

Maluach and Fleming need to play more. Why draft size, then leave them on the bench. They are rookies and will make mistakes. You know who else makes mistakes? Every guy on the team! I don't buy you crush their confidence. Will they be behind in strength and reacting to the speed of the game? Yes. How do you learn to play with stronger and faster guys? By playing against them! I was a white kid 5'9" and I got smoked by kids from South Mountain. You know what? It taught me I had to play differently and smarter. I had to learn how their plays went, so I could jump passes, get in the spots they wanted before them, and assist my guys on defense. If you always play the same competition, you never get better.

Look at Ayton for an example of a guy thrown in the deep end too soon. You need to ease young bigs along. The coaching staff knows and sees far more than we do. They need to learn the speed and style of the game. Part of that can be picked up on the G-League but most is learned from the big league. Give them some time. They should be ready to go halfway through the year, if not a little sooner, to play a regular role.

 

[Superbone]

Look at Ayton for an example of a guy thrown in the deep end too soon. You need to ease young bigs along. The coaching staff knows and sees far more than we do. They need to learn the speed and style of the game. Part of that can be picked up on the G-League but most is learned from the big league. Give them some time. They should be ready to go halfway through the year, if not a little sooner, to play a regular role.

Nah. Ayton is Ayton. He was never going to be the #1 overall pick superstar player. His head isn't right. He's more of a Joe Barry Carroll. Ayton avoids contact at all costs. He was never going to be that guy no matter how you brought him along.

 

[Hoop Head]

Nah. Ayton is Ayton. He was never going to be the #1 overall pick superstar player. His head isn't right. He's more of a Joe Barry Carroll. Ayton avoids contact at all costs. He was never going to be that guy no matter how you brought him along.

Maybe that's true but if we made him work for that second contract then perhaps things end up differently. It might not have worked here but we would have known before his rookie deal came up and could have traded him for something.

 

[Raindog]

I disagree, those two were not ready for prime time, at least not for most of the season. Playing them early in the season would have done a disservice to every other player. They didn't just "make mistakes", they were lost out there more often than not and that impacts every other teammate on the court. By the end of the season they both looked like they could help us (especially Fleming) but we're fans, we don't know what the coach sees every day. Despite our wishes, I find it difficult to believe that the coach was simply too dumb to do what we all wanted.

Well, we'll see next season. If Ott is still "bringing them along slowly" and continually playing undersized lineups, I'm voting for him being "too dumb."

 

[Raindog]

Nah. Ayton is Ayton. He was never going to be the #1 overall pick superstar player. His head isn't right. He's more of a Joe Barry Carroll. Ayton avoids contact at all costs. He was never going to be that guy no matter how you brought him along.

At this point, I'm not sure I would even consider Ayton to be as good as JB Carroll, who did have a run of decent if not spectacular years.

 

[Mainstreet]

Well, we'll see next season. If Ott is still "bringing them along slowly" and continually playing undersized lineups, I'm voting for him being "too dumb."

At the beginning of next season, it's likely both Maluach and Fleming will be deep rotation players. One can hope for more, but it's unlikely.

Now, by the middle of next season, they should have moved up the ladder to be regular rotation players or the Suns made a draft mistake. The Suns need at least one more 4/5 ready to play now.

After the trade deadline the Suns defense was regrettable. How much of that was on Ott, I don't know. However, the effort should have been there every night. I didn't see it every game though.