Suns on a roll after rough start to season
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Dillon Brooks and Devin Booker celebrate during the Phoenix Suns' Nov. 8 matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers. Photo: Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images
The Phoenix Suns look like they're turning things around after a brutal start to the season — but if they're going to keep it up, they'll have to do it for at least four more weeks without the re-injured Jalen Green.
Why it matters: Whether you call it a rebuilding year, a reboot or a reset, the Suns came into the season with low expectations after overhauling their roster and ditching two players who made up their "big three." Now, they're clawing their way back into the conversation.
State of play: After losing four of the first five games, the Suns' worst preseason predictions appeared likely.
- Some prognostications had Phoenix finishing second-worst in the West behind only Utah.
- But since then, the Suns have won five of six, and after Tuesday's victory over New Orleans, they have a winning record for the first time since beating Sacramento in their season opener.
Reality check: Except for matchups against Denver and San Antonio — both losses — Phoenix has had a relatively mellow schedule so far.
The latest: Green, the team's biggest offseason acquisition, re-aggravated a preseason hamstring injury after playing just one full game with Phoenix and is expected to miss at least four to six weeks, at which point he'll be re-evaluated, the team announced Tuesday.
Zoom in: It was easy to blame some of the Suns' initial woes on Green's absence after he missed the season's first eight games.
- But Green was also on the bench for most of their recent wins. He scored 29 points in his Suns debut in a win against the Clippers, then quickly re-aggravated his injury the next game.
- And only two of the last five wins have been with Dillon Brooks, another new Sun, who missed six games with a core muscle strain.
Meanwhile, team leader Devin Booker is as hot as ever, averaging 28.4 points per game, which will be a career high if he keeps it up, and 6.8 assists.
- The addition of center Mark Williams, who's averaging nearly 10 rebounds per game, has worked out well.
The intrigue: Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant has been the subject of recent trade rumors, and some see Phoenix as a potential destination.
- Even if the Suns are interested in taking on Morant's mix of talent and baggage, they don't have many first-round draft picks or valuable assets left to make a deal.
What we're watching: The Suns have only had one full game with both Green and Brooks on the floor — Green left in the first quarter of their second game together — so we have yet to see what a fully healthy Phoenix squad could look like.
- Unfortunately, it'll be a while before we see that.
The bottom line: The Suns weren't widely expected to compete for the playoffs at the season's start, and it's still very early, but if they keep it up they could at least snag a play-in spot.
What's next: The Suns play the Mavericks in Dallas on Wednesday.