The Phoenix Suns might be one of the surprise packages of the NBA season so far, but they have barely gotten to see 23-year-old Jalen Green show The Valley what he can do. His debut for the franchise an electrifying one as he put up 29 points, before then going down in the very next game with a reoccurrence of his hamstring issue.
Right away it didn't look good for the former Houston Rocket, as he had to be helped off the court and was clearly in discomfort. Not that the Suns were hampered by this, they're above .500 and thanks to the play of some key role players they keep on rolling. Tougher tests lie ahead though, and it would have been great to have Green for a key stretch of the campaign.
Green expected to miss 4-6 weeks with latest hamstring issue.
So the latest on Green - he's going to miss well over a month with this setback - is not what head coach Jordan Ott will have wanted to hear. It also a concern because he hadn't missed a single game, regular season or playoffs, in the last two seasons, and was one of the more durable young players in the league.
Phoenix Suns guard Jalen Green will be re-evaluated in four-to-six weeks with a right hamstring strain, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/LQVuW4aP9X
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 11, 2025
To have a hamstring issue that has caused him grief going back to preseason - when he didn't appear in a single game despite making the trip to Macau - is not good. Green was the best player the Suns got back in the Kevin Durant trade, and although it is not time to win right now, beginning his career in The Valley hobbled like this deflates some of the positivity that had been building.
The franchise are not going to rush him back, although the fact they don't have their own first round draft pick next summer is reason to try and be competitive this season. The vibes are most definitely higher in Phoenix these days, and everybody from Mark Williams to Collin Gillespie has exceeded expectations on the court.
All of this has kept Devin Booker engaged, while the team may yet put themselves in the history books if they keep up their 3-point shooting. Green was an important part of that, his ability to create for others taking some of the responsibility off Booker while being able to get his own shot had been helpful in coach Ott's offensive schemes.
Realistically he is not going to be back on the court this side of Christmas, by which point the team could be out of play-in contention. The Western Conference is that competitive, although the organization can take solace in the fact they may yet win more games than last season even without Green. He'll be given as much time as needed to recover, it is just a bummer to have happened at all.