Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of followers across the NBA. Throughout the 12 months we ask questions of the most plugged-in Suns followers and followers across the nation.
Hypotheticals and projections. That’s what’s holding us engaged at this level in the offseason. It’s August, the common season is still two and a half months away, and we’re all questioning what the Phoenix Suns are going to look like. We speculate about the three-point capturing. We debate the protection. We attempt to project the rotations.
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Devin Booker will lead the Suns in scoring. If he does not, that will create an solely totally different dialog. But the odds overwhelmingly favor Booker ending as the group’s main scorer once again. The stability this group has labored to construct is a welcome sight, particularly when you think back to two seasons in the past, when the roster was so closely tilted toward a handful of gamers.
That stability is a good factor. At the same time, it leaves you questioning one easy query. Who’s going to be the second main scorer on this group? Yeah, you might be pondering, “Who cares?” I care. I think it’s an attention-grabbing thought train, and the outcomes could reveal something attention-grabbing.
Allow me to introduce the candidates.
First up is Jalen Green. He is the explosive, athletic, and at instances inconsistent capturing guard who will actually have every alternative to fill up the stat sheet. Last season with the Suns, he averaged the third-most field-goal makes an attempt on the group at 16.0 per recreation and completed third in scoring at 17.8 factors per recreation.
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By Green’s requirements, it was a quiet season. It was his lowest scoring average since his rookie 12 months in 2021–22, and he also posted the lowest three-point proportion of his profession at 31.3%. You can actually level to the circumstances. Green performed only 32 video games and began 27 of them as he battled a number of hamstring accidents all through the season. He never actually discovered a rhythm or the consistency needed to get his recreation rolling.
The query is whether he can return to the degree he reached in Houston during the 2022–23 season, when he averaged a profession high 22.1 factors per recreation. That 12 months, he also averaged a profession high of 17.9 discipline purpose makes an attempt per recreation.
Next up is Dillon Brooks. Brooks took more photographs than he ever had in his profession last season, averaging 17.1 discipline purpose makes an attempt per recreation. The earlier high came in 2021–22 with the Memphis Grizzlies, when he averaged 16.4 makes an attempt on a group that completed 56–26 and earned the second-best report in the Western Conference.
He responded by posting a profession high 20.2 factors per recreation for the Suns despite capturing 34.4% from beyond the arc, the fourth lowest mark of his profession. He also tried a profession high 6.6 three pointers per recreation.
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Was last season an outlier for Brooks? You can actually make that argument. Jalen Green missed 50 video games and Devin Booker missed 18, forcing Brooks into a much bigger offensive function than anyone anticipated. His utilization climbed accordingly, and so did his shot makes an attempt.
Then there’s the newly acquired Miles Bridges. Bridges averaged 21.0 factors per recreation during the 2023–24 season with the Charlotte Hornets while taking a profession high 17.5 photographs per night time. He’s getting into a new system with new teammates and new alternatives, so we do not yet know precisely how he’ll be utilized offensively. But as someone who can attack the rim and who once shot 40% from three during the 2020–21 season, he actually has the skill to elevate his offensive manufacturing and put factors on the board.
So who do you think will end as the Suns’ second main scorer this season? That’s the query at the coronary heart of this week’s Suns Reacts survey. Go forged your vote, then head to the feedback and inform us why you made your alternative. I’m curious to see where everyone lands on this one, because there’s a professional case to be made for all three candidates.
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