Phoenix Suns Media Day / Training Camp 2025/2026

[Superbone]

[SunsRIt]

Could Fleming be the other villain?

[O_Gardino]

Fleming seems like a sunday-school kid to me, although I don't know why I made that judgment.

[ShelC]

I hope confidence isn't an issue with Fleming. Ott bringing that up and and Fleming talking about it makes it seem like that might be something to watch for. If he's missing shots or getting beat defensively, does he get too down on himself? Can he just move onto the next play?

[Superbone]

Could Fleming be the other villain?

For some reason, I'm thinking it's Oso. These confidence issue questions take me off Fleming. Oso seemed to up his aggressiveness in summer league. I've also seen videos of Oso battling Brooks. (Not to be confused with a babbling brook.)

[Superbone]

And listening to Ott yesterday, it dawned on me who he reminds me of. And most of you whippersnappers are too young to remember him. Long time, early era coach and first to take us to the Finals, John MacLeod. His voice is very reminiscent to me. With that mid-western flair.

[Superbone]

[Superbone]

And so it begins. Supposedly, it's to err on the side of caution but we'll see. If he doesn't start opening night, then I'll be very suspicious.

[Superbone]

[Superbone]

[Superbone]

[ShelC]

Here's my opus on minutes/rotations for this year.

Spoiler: show/hide

I'm not sure anyone knows what to expect from Ott or his subs/rotations. Are we going to play the vets with the young guys mixed in for development, hoping to compete and maybe try for a play-in/playoff spot? Are we leaning hard into the youth to get them minutes early on? Will we go with vets to try and win games and then switch to youth if it doesn't work out? There are also some related x-factors having to do with Ott and his subs/minutes that I won’t get into here.

I think we can safely pencil in Green, Book and Williams as starters assuming all are healthy to start the season. The question marks for me are SF and PF.

I would hope we don’t think short-term and go with some Green, Book, Allen/Brooks/Royce/NHD, Williams as a starting lineup thinking that will win games early on to get us on a path to a play-in.

Dunn should be starting and getting 30 mpg IMO. Shooting aside, he's the kind of athletic defensive wing we need guarding the other team's best perimeter player. And he'll get his points as a threat in transition and off the ball. He's also the kind of young guy who should be a core piece to the team going forward. Don't jerk him around with minutes like Bud did last year. Unless he falls completely flat, commit to starting him.

For me, the larger question then becomes where does Dunn play and who do we start next to him. I really don't want to see him as a PF because I think it puts him and the team at a disadvantage. Let him be a standout SF rather than an out-of-place 4.

If we start Brooks, can he play the 4? He'd be overmatched almost every night but I think he's got the physicality and mentality to handle the job. And it may not even matter if we're flying around and switching things so Dunn could end up guarding the 4 at some point anyway. Neither Brooks nor Dunn have shown to be great rebounders tho, so we'll take a hit there even if Williams is healthy and grabbing 10+. While Brooks isn't a consistent 3pt threat, he's at least enough of a streak shooter to keep defenses honest. And with him and Dunn on the floor, we'd have a great defensive duo making plays on that end which could lead to a lot of easy baskets.

I guess there's a chance we could start either Grayson or Royce at the 3 for some better shooting, with Dunn at the 4, but I think that's unlikely. I also don’t love a smaller lineup of Allen/Royce at the 3 and Brooks at the 4. I’d rather go with the size, length and athleticism that Dunn brings. We know Booker and Green will be go-to offensive players, let's surround them with defenders.

Because I want Dunn starting, I don't think Oso can be the starting 4. That would give us 3 non-shooters (unless Dunn surprises us) on the floor and I don't think we can afford that even with Oso's high post passing. I think he'd be better suited off the bench for 25mpg as a 4/5, mostly 5. Another option might be going with with Brooks/Grayson/Royce at the 3 and Oso at the 4 with Dunn and the others off the bench but I think Dunn's the guy we want locked in as part of our future starting lineup.

For now, until they prove otherwise, I can't expect much from Fleming, Brea, NHD or Maluach. No knock on them, but we have to see what they can do in training camp and preseason. NHD could be most likely to earn minutes and on paper, he might be a good enough stretch 4. Good enough to start? Maybe but again, wouldn't expect that. But he'd give us better size and shooting at the 4 if we're starting Dunn (or Brooks) at the 3.

I'd hope Fleming and Maluach can eventually give 12-15 minutes off the bench for depth and be impactful enough to where we look to give them more minutes as the season goes on. Unless Williams misses time (a legit possibility), Maluach might be out of the rotation or see time in the GLeague. I’d love to see Fleming come along throughout the year and give us a 3-D big off the bench. He and NHD could be fighting for those minutes.

Brea may need a year of strength/conditioning to handle the physical part of the game. Plus at the moment he looks to be buried behind Book, Green, CG, Allen. If/when we move Royce and/or Allen, then I could see Brea getting a look as an elite shooter provided he’s not a total 0 defensively.

I was nervous about a “vets vs youngs” battle when it came to lineups/rotations. I was fearful of becoming the mid 2010s teams trying to compete with guys like Bledsoe, Knight, PJ Tucker and Tyson Chandler while also trying to develop Book, Goodwin, Chriss, Bender and Len. That was like having two separate teams with two separate objectives on one roster.

It looks like this roster is a bit different tho - Our "vets" are still relatively young - Yea Book is older but Green and Williams are both 23 and our main young guys - Dunn and Oso specifically - are older, more mature 2nd year players at 22 and 23 respectively; and both look ready to contribute. Fleming is 21 with 3 years of college experience. This isn’t the same situation having 18-19yr old Chriss, Bender, Goodwin back in 2016-17. Gillespie is 26 but a bit unproven, Richards is 27 and just entering his prime but not someone we necessarily need to devote minutes to (like a Tyson Chandler), nor does he look like part of the core or long term plan (should he tho?). We do have Grayson (29) and Royce (32) which could be sticking points in the rotation. I think one, maybe Royce, could be left out of the rotation and see spot minutes unless there are injuries.

So the "vets" and young guys should mesh pretty well, generally speaking. There will be a minutes crunch tho that will have to be ironed out. Depending on Malauch’s development, we might be smart to put out feelers on Royce and Richards. If Maluach and/or Oso are ready for rotational minutes, then Richards becomes a luxury. If Williams is hurt or on some kind of restriction (minutes/B2Bs), Oso is still struggling to make an impact and Maluach is a year away from contributing, then Richards is obviously more important. But I think he and Royce are likely the odd men out and will need to be moved to free up minutes on the wing and at the 5 spot.

Book (34), CG (15) Green (32), Grayson (26) Dunn (30), Brooks (28), Williams (25), Richards (15), Oso (18), Fleming (12)

Royce, Brea, NHD, Malauch ~ 5 or so leftover.

[Mori Chu]

Thanks for that thoughtful post, Shel. When I look ahead to minutes and rotations, I can't help but go to my default assumption that any coach wants to maximize chance of winning the game they're playing that night, and that it is rare to intentionally play rooks and youngs at the cost of wins. So I think Coach Ott is going to mostly play the vets and let rooks get spot minutes and develop mostly in practice and G-League stints. I bet we basically see almost no playing time for Maluach, Fleming, or Brea most nights.

I think your minutes distribution mostly has it right, but I doubt Fleming will get 12 mpg. And I think Williams will be out a lot and that Richards will get way more than 15 mpg because of it. I also think Royce will get more than 5 mpg simply because he's a veteran and knows how to play better than most of the rooks do.

My big worry is that Coach Ott will underplay our second-year guys, Dunn and Oso. My initial dour prediction is that those guys see too few minutes and that folks here start to complain about it. I hope I'm wrong.

[Superbone]

[TOO]

Man Man already looks noticably larger.

[Superbone]

Man Man already looks noticably larger.

Agreed. I love that. Just in the two months since we drafted him. He and the Suns are doing it right! Oso too.

[O_Gardino]

Here's my opus on minutes/rotations for this year.

Spoiler: show/hide

I'm not sure anyone knows what to expect from Ott or his subs/rotations. Are we going to play the vets with the young guys mixed in for development, hoping to compete and maybe try for a play-in/playoff spot? Are we leaning hard into the youth to get them minutes early on? Will we go with vets to try and win games and then switch to youth if it doesn't work out? There are also some related x-factors having to do with Ott and his subs/minutes that I won’t get into here.

I think we can safely pencil in Green, Book and Williams as starters assuming all are healthy to start the season. The question marks for me are SF and PF.

I would hope we don’t think short-term and go with some Green, Book, Allen/Brooks/Royce/NHD, Williams as a starting lineup thinking that will win games early on to get us on a path to a play-in.

Dunn should be starting and getting 30 mpg IMO. Shooting aside, he's the kind of athletic defensive wing we need guarding the other team's best perimeter player. And he'll get his points as a threat in transition and off the ball. He's also the kind of young guy who should be a core piece to the team going forward. Don't jerk him around with minutes like Bud did last year. Unless he falls completely flat, commit to starting him.

For me, the larger question then becomes where does Dunn play and who do we start next to him. I really don't want to see him as a PF because I think it puts him and the team at a disadvantage. Let him be a standout SF rather than an out-of-place 4.

If we start Brooks, can he play the 4? He'd be overmatched almost every night but I think he's got the physicality and mentality to handle the job. And it may not even matter if we're flying around and switching things so Dunn could end up guarding the 4 at some point anyway. Neither Brooks nor Dunn have shown to be great rebounders tho, so we'll take a hit there even if Williams is healthy and grabbing 10+. While Brooks isn't a consistent 3pt threat, he's at least enough of a streak shooter to keep defenses honest. And with him and Dunn on the floor, we'd have a great defensive duo making plays on that end which could lead to a lot of easy baskets.

I guess there's a chance we could start either Grayson or Royce at the 3 for some better shooting, with Dunn at the 4, but I think that's unlikely. I also don’t love a smaller lineup of Allen/Royce at the 3 and Brooks at the 4. I’d rather go with the size, length and athleticism that Dunn brings. We know Booker and Green will be go-to offensive players, let's surround them with defenders.

Because I want Dunn starting, I don't think Oso can be the starting 4. That would give us 3 non-shooters (unless Dunn surprises us) on the floor and I don't think we can afford that even with Oso's high post passing. I think he'd be better suited off the bench for 25mpg as a 4/5, mostly 5. Another option might be going with with Brooks/Grayson/Royce at the 3 and Oso at the 4 with Dunn and the others off the bench but I think Dunn's the guy we want locked in as part of our future starting lineup.

For now, until they prove otherwise, I can't expect much from Fleming, Brea, NHD or Maluach. No knock on them, but we have to see what they can do in training camp and preseason. NHD could be most likely to earn minutes and on paper, he might be a good enough stretch 4. Good enough to start? Maybe but again, wouldn't expect that. But he'd give us better size and shooting at the 4 if we're starting Dunn (or Brooks) at the 3.

I'd hope Fleming and Maluach can eventually give 12-15 minutes off the bench for depth and be impactful enough to where we look to give them more minutes as the season goes on. Unless Williams misses time (a legit possibility), Maluach might be out of the rotation or see time in the GLeague. I’d love to see Fleming come along throughout the year and give us a 3-D big off the bench. He and NHD could be fighting for those minutes.

Brea may need a year of strength/conditioning to handle the physical part of the game. Plus at the moment he looks to be buried behind Book, Green, CG, Allen. If/when we move Royce and/or Allen, then I could see Brea getting a look as an elite shooter provided he’s not a total 0 defensively.

I was nervous about a “vets vs youngs” battle when it came to lineups/rotations. I was fearful of becoming the mid 2010s teams trying to compete with guys like Bledsoe, Knight, PJ Tucker and Tyson Chandler while also trying to develop Book, Goodwin, Chriss, Bender and Len. That was like having two separate teams with two separate objectives on one roster.

It looks like this roster is a bit different tho - Our "vets" are still relatively young - Yea Book is older but Green and Williams are both 23 and our main young guys - Dunn and Oso specifically - are older, more mature 2nd year players at 22 and 23 respectively; and both look ready to contribute. Fleming is 21 with 3 years of college experience. This isn’t the same situation having 18-19yr old Chriss, Bender, Goodwin back in 2016-17. Gillespie is 26 but a bit unproven, Richards is 27 and just entering his prime but not someone we necessarily need to devote minutes to (like a Tyson Chandler), nor does he look like part of the core or long term plan (should he tho?). We do have Grayson (29) and Royce (32) which could be sticking points in the rotation. I think one, maybe Royce, could be left out of the rotation and see spot minutes unless there are injuries.

So the "vets" and young guys should mesh pretty well, generally speaking. There will be a minutes crunch tho that will have to be ironed out. Depending on Malauch’s development, we might be smart to put out feelers on Royce and Richards. If Maluach and/or Oso are ready for rotational minutes, then Richards becomes a luxury. If Williams is hurt or on some kind of restriction (minutes/B2Bs), Oso is still struggling to make an impact and Maluach is a year away from contributing, then Richards is obviously more important. But I think he and Royce are likely the odd men out and will need to be moved to free up minutes on the wing and at the 5 spot.

Book (34), CG (15) Green (32), Grayson (26) Dunn (30), Brooks (28), Williams (25), Richards (15), Oso (18), Fleming (12)

Royce, Brea, NHD, Malauch ~ 5 or so leftover.

Worth the wait.

I don't doubt that Brooks will start on opening night. They've invested too much and hyped him too much to send him to the bench without 2 other guys clearly taking that spot from him. Like you, I hope the other forward is Dunn.

Man, I really hope that we find a good trade for Graydon and/or Royce. I would love to get a pick back for each of them.

[Superbone]

Good to see Book setting an example.

[bajanguy008]

I've been enjoying most if not all these clips.
It's been an "interesting" few years being mentioned as contenders.....
Let's just leave that there

When I first started posting here was lots of lowered expectations and I was part of the glass half full folks. So I'm back sipping the Kool-Aid again as I don't think we will be terrible.

Very detailed breakdown "ShelC"
I agree with Fleming and Brea probably taking a while to get consistent minutes but I expect Maluach to have double digit minutes.

I can see Williams playing minutes in the 20s which is what he did mostly for Hornets anyways and Maluach plays 2nd unit with Oso. I know some didn't like the Williams move but for me it's so hard to be a paint presence as such a young big. I would have been concerned that Maluach would have had to deal with all the Suns finally ge their guy inside" hype and be pressured to try stay on the floor.

I want him playing like a Javale role or young Claxton playing behind Jarrett Allen ....
Rim run, try to deter as much shots as possible. Don't worry about fouls or getting tired because Richards would just sub in if it's too soon for Williams. That's how I think the C minutes go and once Williams health stays in order and if Maluach develops well then Nick is a luxury piece to trade.

[Superbone]