The Phoenix Suns battled the Minnesota Timberwolves in the team’s first preseason game. Due to injuries, many reserves got a chance to either solidify or make their way into the season’s 10-man rotation. Who moved up and who moved down?
Monty Williams plans to primarily use a 10-man rotation for the Phoenix Suns this season, which inherently demotes five players on the active roster to the cheering and hype section at the end of the bench.
Don’t diminish that role, though. A solid end-of-the-bench hype section is key for team morale and enthusiasm. While no NBA team has quite reached Monmouth-quality celebrations, the league is starting to see a lot more joy being had by reserves in the last couple years than in eras past.
Aron Baynes and Jalen Lecque are the early odds-on favorites for best bench hype men.
That being said, once everyone is healthy, they will all be vying to be one of the ten players who see meaningful minutes. Seven of those players are obvious:
Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton, Ricky Rubio, Kelly Oubre Jr., Dario Šarić, Mikal Bridges, and Cameron Johnson are all shoe-ins barring any type of major regression. Cameron Johnson actually started and led the team in minutes (27) during the first preseason game.
However, in the first preseason game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the remaining players all played well in their own right, making Monty Williams’ job of whittling down to a 10-man rotation difficult.
The exception to this is Tyler Johnson. The 19-million-dollar-man who many folks may give an automatic bid into that 10-man rotation, put up goose eggs in 15 minutes of play: zero points, zero assists, and zero rebounds. He did, however, pick up one steal.
Granted, it is only one game, but there is no doubt Tyler Johnson hurt his stock and rests closer to the 10-man bubble than he would like. That means he, Frank Kaminsky, Cheick Diallo, Jevon Carter, Ty Jerome, Elie Okobo, Aron Baynes, and Jalen Lecque are competing to squeeze into the top ten.
That makes eight men fighting for three spots.
Even though he was not on the official injury report, and his dunking ability or dance performance at open practice were not affected by it, Jalen Lecque is recovering from a sprained ankle. That could explain why he didn’t see any time against the Timberwolves on Tuesday.
Lecque has great potential, but no one expects him to see many minutes early in the season.
Of the remaining players, Baynes sat out with a fractured nose, but Kaminsky (14 points, 4 rebounds), Diallo (1 point, 9 rebounds), Carter (9 points, 1 assist), Okobo (13 points, 1 assist), and Jerome (12 points, 4 assists) played well with no one really separating themselves from the pack.
If anyone from this group did stand out, it was Ty Jerome, primarily because he is a rookie, and early success is naturally not expected. However, he has impressed Monty Williams throughout camp thus far and fans finally got to see what all the rave was about.
As for the three players vying for the last 2-way contract, only Tariq Owens played in the first preseason game. He finished with 2 points and 2 rebounds in 12 minutes of action.
David Krämer didn’t play due to a shin injury, but Norense Odiase didn’t play due to the dreaded coach’s decision denotation. Not a good sign for the big man.
Monty Williams suggested during his 10-man rotation would start to solidify after three preseason games. The players’ next chance to separate themselves from the pack will be Thursday night against the Sacramento Kings.