Game Day: Suns (39-29) @ Wolves (41-27), Tues 3/17/26

[O_Gardino]

On paper, this sure looked winnable with Ant out, but the Suns look gassed right now. The guys need Brooks and Williams.

[ShelC]

Postgame Quotes and Videos

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[ShelC]

We're getting the full Jalen Green experience these last few weeks. Runs hot and cold, inefficient volume scorer. Can he become more efficient and cut down on the bad shots/decisions or is this just who he is? Is the FO fooling itself thinking Book and Green can work as a longterm backcourt duo?

I liked early on the game when Oso was attacking. We went away from it tho and as usual became too reliant on jumpers. I think we need him to be that aggressive with the ball against opposing bigs to give us a guy with size who can get to the rim. Teams know he won't shoot, bigs play off him and give him space so he has room to dribble and get downhill. Even dribbling down into a postup and getting up a baby hook shot would go a long way.

[Mori Chu]

I have been hyping up Jalen Green recently since he's had some good games. But ultimately I don't think he is a winning player and I don't think he should be part of our long-term future. I don't like these 3-17 shooting games, the ball stopping, the bad shot selection, lack of vision and lack of passing to teammates, the inconsistent effort. I just don't think he is a net positive.

IMO the ideal scenario would be that he finishes the season really strong and we could sell high on him to some dumb team that thinks he can be a star, and get back a young asset and picks and hopefully get off his salary.

[Superbone]

I have been hyping up Jalen Green recently since he's had some good games. But ultimately I don't think he is a winning player and I don't think he should be part of our long-term future. I don't like these 3-17 shooting games, the ball stopping, the bad shot selection, lack of vision and lack of passing to teammates, the inconsistent effort. I just don't think he is a net positive.

IMO the ideal scenario would be that he finishes the season really strong and we could sell high on him to some dumb team that thinks he can be a star, and get back a young asset and picks and hopefully get off his salary.

Either that or teach him to be more like Booker. He's only 24.

[Bucktastic365]

We're getting the full Jalen Green experience these last few weeks. Runs hot and cold, inefficient volume scorer. Can he become more efficient and cut down on the bad shots/decisions or is this just who he is? Is the FO fooling itself thinking Book and Green can work as a longterm backcourt duo?

I liked early on the game when Oso was attacking. We went away from it tho and as usual became too reliant on jumpers. I think we need him to be that aggressive with the ball against opposing bigs to give us a guy with size who can get to the rim. Teams know he won't shoot, bigs play off him and give him space so he has room to dribble and get downhill. Even dribbling down into a postup and getting up a baby hook shot would go a long way.

He can own everything about the paint if he was an aggressive player. It's his passivity that holds him back.

Honestly same with Dunn; they are both happy with 2 shots for the game
They need to attack shots the way Goodwin does

[ShelC]

Dunn actually finished a drive at the rim last night which caught my eye.

[Superbone]

Dunn actually finished a drive at the rim last night which caught my eye.

Dunn had one of his better games, I thought. 3-3, 1-1 from three, 4 rebounds, an assist and a block in 17 minutes.

[Flagrant Fowl]

I have been hyping up Jalen Green recently since he's had some good games. But ultimately I don't think he is a winning player and I don't think he should be part of our long-term future. I don't like these 3-17 shooting games, the ball stopping, the bad shot selection, lack of vision and lack of passing to teammates, the inconsistent effort. I just don't think he is a net positive.

IMO the ideal scenario would be that he finishes the season really strong and we could sell high on him to some dumb team that thinks he can be a star, and get back a young asset and picks and hopefully get off his salary.

Either that or teach him to be more like Booker. He's only 24.

The tools are there. It's all mental, but I don't think he'll ever become a cerebral player like Booker or other elite scoring guards. It's somewhat similar to Ayton with the exception that Green isn't just flat out lazy like Ayton is/was.

Green's best NBA role on a contending team is as a 6th man, and he'd be better situated in that role now if he hadn't been over drafted. The Suns are in a tough spot with his role and contract, and I'd be willing to wager Gregory/Ishbia would admit they'd gladly trade him in the next year if presented a reasonable offer.

[Mori Chu]

I don't think the FO was willing to trade any of our core players like Green or Brooks this year because they wanted to prove that they had made a good KD trade and not just punt on it early and admit defeat. Now that we had a pretty successful season with this group of guys, and Houston largely moved laterally or slightly downward with the KD twitter fiasco, I think they've shown that we didn't lose the trade. I think they can trade any particular piece this summer or next season and they / the KD trade won't be judged for it.

Jalen Green can probably still improve as a player. But I just don't think you change from being a low-bbiq guy who makes dumb decisions and takes a ton of bad shots, to a guy who is savvy and careful and sees his teammates and takes smart high-percentage shots. He can improve, he can get incrementally better. But I don't think it is fair to just hope he will become basically a totally different person between the ears. And if he's going to contribute to a winning team, it isn't going to be as their second-best player; it'll be as, like their 5th or 6th best player, a microwave off the bench or something. Or else he can average 24ppg on the Wizards or Kings. But I don't see any situation where he's Robin to Booker's Batman and we have a winning team with that core.

[rhylek]

They sure won't trade him for the sake of trading him. But I don't think they would pass a good trade. That would be no good business. Even worse if it's because of pride. I don't see that happening. Yes, they got rid of KD, they already admitted it was a failure. And they got a very good return. If they can flip Green for a good package, another young rising filling better what this team need or good picks, that would be a reason for them to brag, not be ashamed.

Yeah, he doesn't look like a high IQ player. But remember Wiggins with the Warriors? He can be usefull till the right offer comes up or stay with us at the right price.