The Phoenix Suns fell to the Denver Nuggets 127-120 on Friday night in the Emirates NBA Cup, and prior to tip-off, Head Coach Jordan Ott confirmed that Jalen Green would be continuing as a lead playmaker for the team. Green repaid the confidence of his coaching staff by giving his team two points and as many assists in the loss, and is now barely hanging onto his starting role alongside Devin Booker.
Benching Green the obvious change to spark Suns back to life
It is hard to bring a former second overall pick who is making over $30 million this season off the bench, but the time has never been better to do so. Although Collin Gillespie backed Green in the aftermath of the loss, telling the media that "we've got a lot of confidence in JG", he could have no complaints about being brought off the bench if the best he can manage is his contribution against the Nuggets.
Green is far from the only issue in The Valley, but if nothing else, Miles Bridges did provide offense from the forward position in the defeat. Defensively, this entire group is another issue; they are giving up the most points in the league so far this season. Green is unfortunately part of that problem as well, and the overlap of abilities throughout the rotation is not helping the Suns force stops.
Bringing Green off the bench would give this group a high-level scorer who can split time on the court with Booker and create a situation where everybody wins. Booker would finally get an actual floor general alongside him, while both he and Green could be the lead scorers whenever they are on the court. Both units would have more balance, which would lead to the Suns not languishing as the worst defensive team either.
Collin Gillespie must be given opportunity if Green is benched
We've already made the case that Jordan Goodwin could actually be the best short-term solution to start at the one, but this is an opportunity that Collin Gillespie deserves. He has worked incredibly hard, from a two-way afterthought to a $48 million deal to return to Phoenix, and he is a proven commodity alongside Booker.
Defensively he too can be picked on because of his lack of size, but it can't get any worse than Green on that end anyway. He may be given another couple of games to save his spot, but the franchise has to act now. This is a move they are going to make anyway, so getting ahead of it before the season is over by Christmas is the move.
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