The Phoenix Suns have lost four straight and seven of their last eight games. They are currently 11th in the West and two games out of the final Play-In Tournament berth. Not exactly what a franchise facing a historic luxury bill wants, especially with Kevin Durant rumors expected to resurface this summer.
Head coach Mike Budenholzer and the Suns must fix it now. They face teams with losing records in four of their next five games, but cannot rely on the status quo. Fans have been frustrated by the rotations during their rough stretch, and coach Bud has to make changes.
Tyus Jones was brought in to start and organize the Suns' offense. The veteran has been a reserve for the majority of his career but wants a larger role. Phoenix is in no position to hold to their guarantee as they fight for a postseason berth. Coach Bud must make this switch.
Tyus Jones should be benched to solve Suns starting lineup woes
Phoenix had an abysmal negative-17.1 net rating with their Big 3 playing next to Jones and Jusuf Nurkic over 119 minutes this season. The Suns knew Nurkic had to go and traded him to Charlotte in a salary dump.
They acquired for Nick Richards to be their center and benched Bradley Beal for a more defensive-minded wing, but their new starting lineup has fared worse. The Suns have a negative-23.7 net rating with Royce O’Neale and Richards flanking Durant, Devin Booker, and Jones. Phoenix is not benching KD or Book, which leaves one constant problem.
The Suns are minus-46 in the 421.7 first-quarter minutes Jones has played this season. He is third in playing time and has the absolute worst opening stanza plus-minus on the team. It is time to take him out of the starting group and rely on their two superstars to create offense. Benching Jones for someone like Ryan Dunn gives Phoenix more defense and additional pathways to be successful.
Budenholzer has shaken up the starting lineup multiple times and should make another move. Let Devin Booker start the game running the offense with Durant as the primary scorer. Play O’Neale and Dunn for defense with Nick Richards at the five. Bring in Jones and Beal to dominate second units and figure out how to close based on matchups.
If the Suns can improve with their starting group on the floor, they may be able to string together some wins and make the postseason. Phoenix will have to go through the Play-In Tournament where anything can happen. Kevin Durant and Devin Booker are capable of taking over and winning any game. The Suns would be underdogs in almost any series if they made the playoffs, but failing to do so likely creates massive offseason changes.
It is now or never. The Phoenix Suns must bench Tyus Jones and try one more rotation shakeup to make a push. If not, their roster will look extremely different when training camp begins in the fall. Stay tuned to see what happens.