The G League boys are in Santa Cruz for the first games in team history! What does the opening day roster look like? How can you watch them?
The wait is finally over, as G League basketball is back for Phoenix Suns fans and its developing players. The Valley Suns will make their debut Friday night on the road against the Santa Cruz Warriors.
The opener tipping at 8 p.m. MST from Kaiser Permanente Arena will be available to watch on Tubi’s NBA G League TV. It’s one of several games throughout the season that will be broadcast on the free streaming service.
The team released its opening day roster on Thursday, and there was quite a noteworthy omission, after the training camp roster was cut down from 16 to 13 players, including the three two-way players.
put in the work
tomorrow we start our inaugural season on the road in Santa Cruz.#TheRiseStartsHere | @nbagleague pic.twitter.com/gotOozuhHH
— Valley Suns (@GLeagueSuns) November 7, 2024
Valley Suns opening day roster
- #00 Tyrese Samuel — 6-foot-10, 240-pound forward from Florida (rookie)
- #8 Paul Watson — 6-foot-7, 215-pound guard from Fresno State (originally from the Valley)
- #10 Kaleb Johnson — 6-foot-6, 205-pound guard from Georgetown
- #11 David Stockton — 5-foot-11, 165-pound guard from Gonzaga
- #12 Collin Gillespie — 6-foot-1, 195-pound guard from Villanova (two-way)
- #14 TyTy Washington Jr. — 6-foot-3, 195-pound guard from Kentucky (two-way)
- #15 Jalen Bridges — 6-foot-7, 213-pound forward from Baylor (two-way)
- #17 Moses Wood — 6-foot-8, 210-pound forward from Washington (rookie)
- #22 Eric Washington — 5-foot-11, 185-pound guard from Miami OH
- #23 Jaden Shackelford — 6-foot-3, 200-pound guard from Alabama
- #25 Mamadi Diakite — 6-foot-9, 228-pound forward from Virginia
- #37 Cassius Stanley — 6-foot-5, 190-pound guard from Duke
- #73 Olin Carter III — 6-foot-3, 190-pound guard from San Diego (second-round G League draft pick)
The notable name to not make the cut is 6-foot-11, 235-pound forward Nate Roberts, who was the Valley Suns’ first-round pick in the 2024 G League Draft which saw former Phoenix guard Landry Shamet go second overall.
Roberts had familiarity with Wood and Phoenix assistant coach Mike Hopkins through their Washington connections. The big man spoke at Media Day about his desire to be the team’s enforcer.
The team will instead look to self-described stretch big Diakite and Samuel, who played four games with the Summer Suns in Las Vegas this year after working out for Phoenix during the pre-draft process.
Projected Valley Suns starting lineup
The two-way players are pretty much a lock to start whenever they’re at the G League level and not with Phoenix, because their development has the highest priority on the team. That’s why this is my projected starting lineup:
(1) Gillespie, (2) T. Washington, (3) Bridges, (4) Watson, (5) Diakite.
If I’m head coach John Little, the first group off the bench would include Stockton, Shackelford, Wood and Samuel with Carter, Stanley, E. Washington and Johnson rounding out the rotation.
What to expect in first pair of games
Fans should expect this team to look a lot like its Phoenix counterpart in terms of style, with playing fast and 3-point shooting being the two biggest calling cards.
It’s, of course, a new team playing its first game, so things aren’t going to look as clean as they have with Phoenix, plus these are obviously G League players and not NBA mainstays — or even stars in some cases.
But there are also interesting things going on with the Warriors’ side, as some of my favorite 2024 draft prospects are found on the roster.
Former Boston College big man Quinten Post and Virginia guard Reece Beekman are among the Warriors’ two-way players, while former lottery pick Kevin Knox is also present trying to work his way back onto an NBA floor.
Blake Hinson is on Santa Cruz’s roster too, and through the pre-draft process, he represented sort of the inverse archetype as Ryan Dunn.
While the consensus agreed Dunn could defend but not shoot, Hinson was lights out at the college level (42.1% on 7.9 3PA as a senior) but could not defend or do other things well enough to earn a draft pick, or even a two-way slot.
The teams will get two cracks at each other, as Friday’s opener is followed up by a Saturday matchup at 8 p.m. with coverage available on NBAGLeague.com.
Aside from the two aforementioned broadcast sources, games throughout the season will also be available on ESPN+, the Roku Channel and Arizona’s Family Sports. The ESPN streaming service has the biggest share of those with 21 games.
Find more information as well as tickets for the home opener on Monday against the Stockton Kings on the team’s schedules page.