Gillespie's breakout season helps fuel Suns' unexpected success

State of play: Gillespie went undrafted in 2022 and is now playing his third NBA season after stints with the G League squads for the Suns and Denver Nuggets.

• He came to Phoenix last year and the team signed him to a one-year minimum deal in the offseason.

Zoom in: Gillespie, a backup guard who's gotten some starts lately due to injuries, has become a key part of the Suns' rotation and is turning heads lately.

• He's averaging nearly 14 points per game, more than double his previous best last year, and dropped a career-high 28 in a win over the L.A. Lakers this month.
• He hit a game-winner against Minnesota last month, sealing a victory that saw the Suns come back from an eight-point deficit in the last 49 seconds.
• This year he joined Russell Westbrook and LaMelo Ball as the only players in NBA history with at least 150 points, 75 assists and 50 rebounds in their first 15 games of the season off the bench, per Sports Illustrated.

What they're saying: "He's been putting in the work all summer," Booker said of Gillespie, per rg.org. "Everybody is just now seeing it. But we've been seeing it in open gyms. We've been seeing it in practice. So I'm happy for him that he's gotten to show the world what he's capable of doing."

What we're watching: WIth Dillon Brooks and Mark Williams coming up big for Phoenix, plus Gillespie's heroics, the Suns have defied expectations this season, and things should only get better once Booker and Green are back on the court.