Phoenix Suns borderline All-Star Dillon Brooks played just seven minutes in the double-overtime win over the Orlando Magic on Feb. 21 after suffering a broken left hand.
Now, thanks to reporting from ESPN’s Shams Charania, Suns fans have a timetable for Brooks’ recovery — and it confirms the Suns will be without their culture setter for a while.
In social media posts Monday, Feb. 23, Charania reported that Brooks is set to miss four-to-six weeks recovering from the broken left hand he sustained against Orlando.
That puts a possible Brooks return at the end of March or early April, depending on how quickly he’s able to recover and rehab from the injury.
The good news is Brooks should be able to return to the Suns for the playoffs and possibly the last couple weeks of the regular season. That bad news is obvious: without Brooks, Phoenix may tumble down the Western Conference standings.
Brooks was in the midst of a career year for the Suns, averaging a career-high 20.9 points per game while shooting a career best 44% from the field overall. He’s been the team’s most consistent scorer aside from Devin Booker. Now, a number of other players — including trade acquisition Jalen Green — will have to step up.
The extended loss of Brooks no doubt hurts entering the most crucial stretch of the regular season, but the underlying statistics indicate that the Suns might be able to weather the storm.
Can the Suns stay competitive without Dillon Brooks?
Although Brooks was scoring a career-high points per game and putting himself in the All-Star conversation, his on/off stats suggest the Suns may not be doomed during his prolonged absence.
According to Basketball Reference data, the Suns are actually 3.5 points per 100 possessions worse when Brooks is on the court versus when he’s off.
The offensive rating of opponents is 116.7 when Brooks is playing and drops to 110.2 when he sits.
To be fair, those minutes include garbage time when opposing teams may not have their best available lineups out there, but it may also hint that Brooks being sidelined isn’t a death knell for this upstart Suns team.
If Green and Booker can stay healthy for the next month-plus (a big ask, we know), that guard tandem can build much-needed chemistry together and create some new lineup dynamics without needing Brooks to shoulder so much of the offensive load.
Getting Brooks back in time for the playoffs should be the goal for both Brooks and the Suns’ training staff, but the overarching goal in the interim is for Phoenix to lock up a playoff spot without Brooks being able to play.
This will no doubt be a challenging stretch for the Suns, who already have limited frontcourt depth. However, it also gives an opportunity for players to step up and for head coach Jordan Ott to build his already stout Coach of the Year resume.
Look for free-agent signing Haywood Highsmith to get some run in Brooks' absence.