Phoenix Suns Media Day / Training Camp 2025/2026

[Mori Chu]

Man, Gillespie and Book shooting 3s around the line. They hardly ever miss.

I hope Gillespie can build on last season. I loved the way he finished last year for us, and we so badly need a real PG.

[Mori Chu]

Timeline Podcast discusses Suns media day and training camp:

[Superbone]

[Superbone]

[JustWinBaby]

Man, Gillespie and Book shooting 3s around the line. They hardly ever miss.

I hope Gillespie can build on last season. I loved the way he finished last year for us, and we so badly need a real PG.

We do not need the old traditional point guard like Nash or CP3.

Who was the traditional point guard for the Thunder last year?

Who was the point guard for the Chicago Bulls with Jordan?

Who was the point guard for Kobe and Shaq?

I really like Gillespie and hope he gets lots of minutes.

[Superbone]

Apparently Coach Thibs was in the building today.

[Superbone]

[Superbone]

[Superbone]

[BKinSJC]

Man, Gillespie and Book shooting 3s around the line. They hardly ever miss.

I hope Gillespie can build on last season. I loved the way he finished last year for us, and we so badly need a real PG.

We do not need the old traditional point guard like Nash or CP3.

Need? No, maybe not. There are a lot of ways to be successful in the NBA. But the team seems to be focused on making Devin Booker its #1 player, billing him as the star and focal point and paying him as much money as allowed under the current CBA. Booker's history has been that his teams are not as successful if he's put in a position where he has to be the primary creator, with the ball in his hands, in most or all of his minutes on the floor. He has weaknesses that defenses can more easily exploit under those circumstances. Why wouldn't you try to put your #1 guy in a situation where he can play his best brand of basketball?

Who was the traditional point guard for the Thunder last year?

SGA was the "point guard", although I'll allow that he's more of a scorer that creates for himself than a traditional type. But the ball was in his hands a lot, and his team was efficient and successful. He also had a very good secondary creator in Jaylen Williams on the floor with him a lot, and 3 and/or D guys like Alex Caruso and Cason Williams who could also get the ball away from him and set things up if teams insisted on crazy trapping or multiple defender schemes. I'd feel a lot better about the Suns if they had proven guys who could make that kind of thing happen, but they don't. Maybe there are people who think Jalen Green could be that guy, but there's really no evidence of that so far in his career.

Who was the point guard for the Chicago Bulls with Jordan?

Who was the point guard for Kobe and Shaq?

It's kind of funny that the two legacy teams that you point out were both Phil Jackson/Tex Winter-era squads that played the triangle as their principal scheme, which is (was? I'm not sure it'll ever really be used again at this level) an offense specifically designed to provide for ball movement without needing a traditional setup point. So they used defense/shooting focused guys, Ron Harper and P*xson and Steve Kerr and Derek Fisher and even Tyronn freaking Lue. It should also be noted that they could get away with playing an unusual style and with less-than-completely-optimal supporting casts, in some cases, since their high-end talent was so overwhelming. Jordan was either the best or second-best player ever, and Pippen was a perfect complement and absolutely an All-NBA level player at his peak; Shaq is a top 10 guy ever and the most physically overwhelming player other than Wilt; Kobe was probably at least top-20, and they were both in their prime and at their peak during those championship runs.

The Suns will have no such luxury this year. It'd be nice to feel like they're doing what they can to optimize the talent of the one high-level guy they do have.

I really like Gillespie and hope he gets lots of minutes.

Same. I think for the team to have any success at all this year, something unexpected is going to have to happen. Collin Gillespie having a Ty Jerome-style breakout season might be one possibility.

[JustWinBaby]

Man, Gillespie and Book shooting 3s around the line. They hardly ever miss.

I hope Gillespie can build on last season. I loved the way he finished last year for us, and we so badly need a real PG.

We do not need the old traditional point guard like Nash or CP3.

Need? No, maybe not. There are a lot of ways to be successful in the NBA. But the team seems to be focused on making Devin Booker its #1 player, billing him as the star and focal point and paying him as much money as allowed under the current CBA. Booker's history has been that his teams are not as successful if he's put in a position where he has to be the primary creator, with the ball in his hands, in most or all of his minutes on the floor. He has weaknesses that defenses can more easily exploit under those circumstances. Why wouldn't you try to put your #1 guy in a situation where he can play his best brand of basketball?

Who was the traditional point guard for the Thunder last year?

SGA was the "point guard", although I'll allow that he's more of a scorer that creates for himself than a traditional type. But the ball was in his hands a lot, and his team was efficient and successful. He also had a very good secondary creator in Jaylen Williams on the floor with him a lot, and 3 and/or D guys like Alex Caruso and Cason Williams who could also get the ball away from him and set things up if teams insisted on crazy trapping or multiple defender schemes. I'd feel a lot better about the Suns if they had proven guys who could make that kind of thing happen, but they don't. Maybe there are people who think Jalen Green could be that guy, but there's really no evidence of that so far in his career.

Who was the point guard for the Chicago Bulls with Jordan?

Who was the point guard for Kobe and Shaq?

It's kind of funny that the two legacy teams that you point out were both Phil Jackson/Tex Winter-era squads that played the triangle as their principal scheme, which is (was? I'm not sure it'll ever really be used again at this level) an offense specifically designed to provide for ball movement without needing a traditional setup point. So they used defense/shooting focused guys, Ron Harper and P*xson and Steve Kerr and Derek Fisher and even Tyronn freaking Lue. It should also be noted that they could get away with playing an unusual style and with less-than-completely-optimal supporting casts, in some cases, since their high-end talent was so overwhelming. Jordan was either the best or second-best player ever, and Pippen was a perfect complement and absolutely an All-NBA level player at his peak; Shaq is a top 10 guy ever and the most physically overwhelming player other than Wilt; Kobe was probably at least top-20, and they were both in their prime and at their peak during those championship runs.

The Suns will have no such luxury this year. It'd be nice to feel like they're doing what they can to optimize the talent of the one high-level guy they do have.

I really like Gillespie and hope he gets lots of minutes.

Same. I think for the team to have any success at all this year, something unexpected is going to have to happen. Collin Gillespie having a Ty Jerome-style breakout season might be one possibility.

I am sure that Ott is going to make the Booker/JGreen back court work. It seems as though both of them respect each other. Thus I see them running with them as our starters and quite possibly finishers. I hope Gillespie is the first back court replacement and Allen the next. We have so many potential solutions it is going to be wild. Will Koby Brea get minutes. etc etc etc. I don't even think Gillespie is a traditional dribble it for half the shot clock and pass to the open man PG. Ott is going to demand ball movement even with Book.

[Superbone]

Great to see. (Click on the image to expand it.)

[ShelC]

Whatever you define as a traditional point guard, GIllespie is the only one on the roster. Book and Green are scorers and not natural point guards. The PG is the coach on the floor, a guy who elevates others. Whether they're 6-2 or 6-7, it's a feel and "type" of game. Doncic has it, Harden has it, SGA's been playing PG his whole career. Some may be better scorers/shooters than others but they're still Point Guards.

[Superbone]

Whatever you define as a traditional point guard, GIllespie is the only one on the roster. Book and Green are scorers and not natural point guards. The PG is the coach on the floor, a guy who elevates others. Whether they're 6-2 or 6-7, it's a feel and "type" of game. Doncic has it, Harden has it, SGA's been playing PG his whole career. Some may be better scorers/shooters than others but they're still Point Guards.

My impression is that we're going to be a fast breaking team and a traditional PG won't be as important but we're still going to be in plenty of half court sets and I hope Ott is game planning for that (and I'm sure he is.) Obviously, the way Book was handling double teams in the past wasn't great. I'd think Ott is going to have him moving the ball much sooner when double teamed.

[Superbone]

[ShelC]

Whatever you define as a traditional point guard, GIllespie is the only one on the roster. Book and Green are scorers and not natural point guards. The PG is the coach on the floor, a guy who elevates others. Whether they're 6-2 or 6-7, it's a feel and "type" of game. Doncic has it, Harden has it, SGA's been playing PG his whole career. Some may be better scorers/shooters than others but they're still Point Guards.

My impression is that we're going to be a fast breaking team and a traditional PG won't be as important but we're still going to be in plenty of half court sets and I hope Ott is game planning for that (and I'm sure he is.) Obviously, the way Book was handling double teams in the past wasn't great. I'd think Ott is going to have him moving the ball much sooner when double teamed.

Mike Tyson said everyone's got a plan until they get punched in the mouth. But this also goes beyond getting doubled. There's so much more to playing point guard than just pushing the ball and not turning the ball over when doubled.

[Superbone]

Whatever you define as a traditional point guard, GIllespie is the only one on the roster. Book and Green are scorers and not natural point guards. The PG is the coach on the floor, a guy who elevates others. Whether they're 6-2 or 6-7, it's a feel and "type" of game. Doncic has it, Harden has it, SGA's been playing PG his whole career. Some may be better scorers/shooters than others but they're still Point Guards.

My impression is that we're going to be a fast breaking team and a traditional PG won't be as important but we're still going to be in plenty of half court sets and I hope Ott is game planning for that (and I'm sure he is.) Obviously, the way Book was handling double teams in the past wasn't great. I'd think Ott is going to have him moving the ball much sooner when double teamed.

Mike Tyson said everyone's got a plan until they get punched in the mouth. But this also goes beyond getting doubled. There's so much more to playing point guard than just pushing the ball and not turning the ball over when doubled.

Of course, but those have been the biggest issues in recent history. It will be interesting to see how Ott game plans with this particular set of (guard) skills, to quote Taken.

[ShelC]

Call me a hater or a cynic but my gut is telling me the BS is starting already with Mark Williams and the FO/coach aren't being honest about it. If he's healthy he should be out there getting reps, learning the system and developing chemistry with his new teammates.

Holding him out of training camp, scrimmages and possibly preseason won't do any good for the regular season. Now is when you build endurance and conditioning, he had the whole offseason to train and get stronger. Worst case, he's been damaged goods and they're just trying to get him back to near 100%. Best case, he is healthy but they're treating him like Embiid, which isn't actually a best case at all.

[Mori Chu]

I agree that we don't "need" a traditional Nash/CP3 type of PG on this team. But I just want to see guys like Gillespie grow and blossom because I want this to be a team that passes the ball and finds easy shots rather than a team of 1-on-5 iso ballers like we had last year. I don't think Point Book is a winning NBA strategy, despite the fact that Book does have some talent in that role; it is not the best use of his considerable basketball skills. Doesn't have to be a pure PG but I just want to see guys sharing the ball and a free flowing offense, so I want guys like Gillespie, Green, etc. to show me that and not just dump it to Point Book every play.

[Superbone]

I agree that we don't "need" a traditional Nash/CP3 type of PG on this team. But I just want to see guys like Gillespie grow and blossom because I want this to be a team that passes the ball and finds easy shots rather than a team of 1-on-5 iso ballers like we had last year. I don't think Point Book is a winning NBA strategy, despite the fact that Book does have some talent in that role; it is not the best use of his considerable basketball skills. Doesn't have to be a pure PG but I just want to see guys sharing the ball and a free flowing offense, so I want guys like Gillespie, Green, etc. to show me that and not just dump it to Point Book every play.

I think we all want that.