At first it was not enough, and now it may be overkill. The Suns may have a roster construct problem.
The Phoenix Suns guard rotation is a thing of beauty on paper. They had one hell of an offseason adding Tyus Jones and Monte Morris to a guard room that already featured Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, and Grayson Allen.
The only issue is now they might have too many guards. I know, I know. It sounds spoiled to suggest that is a problem, but when we look at the Suns roster, it’s clear there is a lack of balance.
Outside of Kevin Durant, the lack of wings is glaring. Royce O’Neale and Ryan Dunn help, but outside of a rookie and role player, they do not have the ideal size and production from the 3 & 4 positions that title contenders typically have.
Photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images
Phoenix’s current depth chart (guards only):
- SG — Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, Grayson Allen, Damion Lee
- PG — Tyus Jones, Monte Morris, *Collin Gillespie, *TyTy Washington
It is likely that the Suns choose to start Jones, Booker and Beal together, leaving Morris and Allen to lead the bench attack with Lee ready to step in if there is an injury. Gillespie is also a dark horse candidate to get minutes if one of Jones or Morris misses time, even though he is on a two-way contract.
Dividing minutes in the regular season will already be difficult enough, so what happens come playoff time when rotations shrink?
Trade?
The question is, should the Suns look to trade one of their guards to balance the roster out a bit?
The candidate that makes the most sense financially and value-wise (for a return) would be Grayson Allen. He is coming off a career year and is among the best shooters in the association, but with the newcomers and inability to get off Beal’s contract, it’s tough to point the trade machine anywhere else. At some point having a roster that is redundant and lacks flexibility needs to be addressed.
I’m not advocating to trade him just to trade him, but if a playable wing (in a playoff setting) is available and the right deal comes along… you have to consider it. Finding that perfect player who lines up to Allen’s contract and becomes available is another story. A longshot more than likely.
That’s where Josh Okogie’s contract and the 2031 1st round pick come in handy.
A lot of this hinges on how playable rookie Ryan Dunn is immediately.
If he (Dunn) integrates into their system quickly and makes an impact then there is less of an urgency to make that type of trade. On the other hand, if he looks lost and the offense is a complete liability (along with Okogie) then I can’t see how a team could rely on just Durant and O’Neale as the lone wings in a rotation for a team trying to win a championship.
For me, it still comes down to what the Phoenix Suns roster looks like in a playoff environment. How many rotation players are playable for more than 15 minutes in that context? What positions do they play?
Bigs = Nurkic, (maybe Plumlee)
Fowards = Durant, O’Neale, (maybe Bol/Dunn)
Guards = Booker, Beal, Allen, Jones
Depending on how you feel about Plumlee, Bol and Dunn they are listed as possible playoff rotation pieces. Monte Morris very well could be, but looking at a healthy guard rotation it’s tough to fit him in. It’s a small group.
Notice a trend above? The vast majority of their rotation is listed as a guard and/or stands between 6’1” and 6’5”. The lack of size and athleticism was evident throughout the series against the Timberwolves and the bottom line is they still haven’t addressed that outside of the addition of Ryan Dunn.
I’m not sure there is an easy solution to fix the unbalanced roster, but the Suns do have more assets (picks) and contracts to deal now than they did entering the 2023-24 season.
Let’s see how this roster meshes and revisit around the new year. Until then, it’s something on the back of my mind, looming over the Suns’ title hopes.
