The Phoenix Suns are in a great spot after the first 10 games of the season, as they have jumped out to an 8-2 start. Dark clouds have begun to hang over The Valley however, with Kevin Durant set for a spell on the sidelines with a calf strain.
With Devin Booker (illness), Ryan Dunn (ankle sprain) and Jusuf Nurkic (ankle soreness) all playing while not at 100 percent, the Suns are about to embark on their longest road trip of the season so far in not quite as positive a place as they were even a few days ago.
The Suns still have Bradley Beal – healthy after his own injury scare as a result of a twisted knee – to call upon, while point guard Tyus Jones and sixth man Royce O’Neale have excelled in their own roles so far this season. There is depth beyond these guys too, with Grayson Allen and Josh Okogie itching for a chance to play more minutes.
It is impossible to replace Durant on this team – he was giving them over 27 points per game in nearly 40 minutes each night – so the Suns will have to think outside the box with this one. We’ve already examined who is likely to see their minutes increase as a result of his absence, with Dunn being the most obvious candidate.
He started the first game Durant missed – an overtime loss to the Sacramento Kings – and assuming his ankle sprain doesn’t keep him out of action, is likely to continue in this spot. Head coach Mike Budenholzer could then look at using his rotations in a different way to mask the fact they’re missing their best player so far this season.
Kevin Durant. pic.twitter.com/VsfxjfKQN1
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) November 9, 2024
Having one of Beal or Booker out there at all times would appear to be a good start, while it may be that the coaching staff experiments with bigger lineups to try and beat opponents in different ways. A combination of Nurkic, Dunn and Mason Plumlee for example being one, while even Bol Bol could come in from the cold.
Mentioning Bol in the same sentence as Durant is madness – but as a result of his body type and ability to make a 3-pointer – it could be that the Suns use him for five minutes each night as an offensive release point. Bol isn’t going to be any kind of long-term solution this season, but isn’t this kind of the reason they brought him back? To be used sparingly in not ideal situations.
With Durant out and Booker not quite himself, the Suns are going to have to lean even more into the defensive end of the court in order to carve out some wins. They’ll be playing the Utah Jazz, Kings, Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves on this trip, so having the best defensive run of the season to this point would be a great way to pick up some wins here.
The Suns currently rank an impressive 12th in defensive rating (111.0), although in their last four contests that has slipped to 15th (115.8). Although previous head coach Frank Vogel was able to get the most out of the roster on that end, the belief this time around was that the Suns would try and outscore their opponents.
There has been an element of that this season, but one important factor has been the emergence of Dunn defensively. Combine that with Beal turning in his best run of games and Durant once again being overlooked on that end of the court, and it goes some way to explaining how the Suns have held their own.
They need to take this a step further while on the road, and jump into the top 10 in this category to secure some wins. The Jazz game in theory is the easiest of the bunch, a chance to keep an opponent to a low score while winning the game. After that though, they’ll need to repeat that trick at least twice more to come back to Footprint Center satisfied.
This goal is dependent on Booker feeling better from his illness, but there is no reason to think he won’t be back to his best by the time the Suns go up against the Kings again. So far this season he has been excellent, but the feeling that he has remained somewhat in his Team USA character from the summer persists.
His “I’ll Do It” moniker was exactly what his country needed, and it also has its place next to Durant as well. Booker doesn’t care who takes the last shot or if his personal numbers suffer because he has a superstar teammate. He just wants to win, and that is why the pairing with Durant can be so successful.
Most 4th quarter points this season (TS% in parenthesis):
77 – Cam Thomas (75.0%)
57 – LaMelo Ball (76.9%)
53 – Devin Booker (65.7%)
53 – Luka Doncic (69.4%)
51 – Trae Young (62.6%)
48 – Jaylen Brown (63.5%)
47 – DeMar DeRozan (66.8%)
47 – Jalen Green (58.2%) pic.twitter.com/CIZLW8sAYI— The Lead (@TheLeadSM) November 4, 2024
But this is now going to be his team for the next few weeks, and so we need to see Booker putting up at least 30 in one of these games. The Suns don’t need him to be the point guard anymore, so he can let Tyus Jones or the barely used Monte Morris get him the ball in his favorite spots so he can go to work.
Also worth noting is the fact Booker is taking 8.1 efforts from deep each game (a career high), while making only 32.1 percent of them (a career low). That has to change if he’s going to carry this team to some wins – which he will have to do if the franchise don’t want this trip to be a disaster – and they should be hoping to go at least 2-2 while out on the road.