The Phoenix Suns are set to play their second preseason game of the 2023-24 season on Tuesday, but this one isn’t against a bottom-feeder in the Eastern Conference like the Detroit Pistons are. No, this is against the team that won it all last season.
Sure, it’s only the preseason, so it’s not like the Suns’ starters will be playing the Denver Nuggets starters for 40 minutes. However, even with a team like the Nuggets, their bench guys will still be very disciplined and play exactly how their coach, Mike Malone, wants them to play.
They didn’t win the NBA Finals by luck; they are genuinely a dominant team. They are the team to beat, and while this game means nothing for the standings, it will be important to see how the Suns play against a disciplined team with this new roster.
The Suns will bring them all like they did last game. We saw them score 46 points in the first quarter, have a lead by nearly 30 points twice, but almost choke it in overtime. They can’t do that against the Nuggets, even in the preseason.
We know the starters won’t be playing; however, there are three bench guys we should watch for to see how they continue to fit on this team in 2023-24. Here are the guys we hope Vogel Frank gives enough playing time to so we can watch for certain things.
3 Suns players to watch vs. Denver
Eric Gordon, G
Eric Gordon brings veteran leadership to the Suns bench they didn’t have before they signed him. Gordon used to be known as an elite shooter and a guy whose playmaking isn’t bad. He deserves more credit for his playmaking than he gets, and we could see him in that role this season off the bench.
Or, we could see him as the fifth starter, too, mainly because he has done it before. Gordon is going to be a guy who hits open shots, cuts, moves the ball within the offense, plays a bit of defense, and leads based on his experience. They don’t need him to be a guy to create off of the dribble or shoot pull-up threes in transition. They have three players like that already.
On Tuesday, look to see what he does for this team against the Nuggets. Try and see if we can get a better feel of what the Suns want his role to be because it could be something completely different than what we think it is. Gordon is going to be great for the Suns for what they need. Let’s see if they made the right decision to sign him.
Keita Bates-Diop, F
Keita Bates-Diop is one of the players Suns fans were excited about adding to their favorite team’s bench. Why? Well, because he is one of those guys that just does everything you need for him to do. However, he had somewhat of an underwhelming performance against the Pistons.
Sure, like we said before, it’s just preseason, so it’s not that big of a deal; however, he played 18 minutes and didn’t have much to show for it. He wasn’t very good outside of the rebounding, in which he had five rebounds. That’s not a great thing to see for the first preseason game, but it also isn’t something to panic about.
He shot 1-5 from the floor and two fouls with three points. Bates-Diop was a -4 on the floor, too. That is why he is a player to watch on Tuesday against the Denver Nuggets.
Bates-Diop will be a good rebounder regardless because he is a guy who takes pride in that, but you would love to see him be a bit more efficient from the floor. The three-point shot looked fine, as he was 1-2 from beyond the arc, but everything else was iffy. Let’s watch him and see if he can find a better way to get involved in this game besides his rebounding, which is great.
Drew Eubanks, F/C
When you think about it, the Suns traded Ayton for Nurkic; obviously, they had other pieces too, but the main one was the Bosnian Beats, and swiped Eubanks this free agency. Eubanks is an underrated player, and the SUns may feel like he can be a guy who closes out games, especially if Nurkic is in foul trouble or the matchup just isn’t there.
In the last game, Nurkic went into foul trouble really early, so we got to see what Eubanks could do. He was great, too, to say the least. Eubanks was a guy who played the small ball center in the lineup we love to see occasionally. He finished with seven points, five from the free throw line while going 1-1 from the field, eight rebounds, two assists, and a block, and was a plus 18 when on the floor.
Eubanks will bring something they didn’t have a ton of last season, so let’s see if he brings it on Tuesday. Watch for Eubanks to be a guy who does all the dirty work, including defense, but can also make his way to the line. We assume he can do it because we just watched it on Sunday, but who doesn’t want to see it again? His stock was certainly up against the Pistons. Let’s see if it stays up.