3 Lineups we'd like to see the Suns use in preseason

The Phoenix Suns will return to training camp in the coming weeks, and have also confirmed they will play a fifth preseason game against the Detroit Pistons at Michigan State University. A nice way to end what will be important tune-ups versus the Pistons (twice), Los Angeles Lakers (twice) and Denver Nuggets.

The Lakers are an opponent the Suns will be very familiar with by the end of October, but playing against LeBron James and Anthony Davis so frequently is no bad thing. If the Suns are who they think they are, then taking care of business against teams with similar ambitions has to be a top priority.

Preseason will also be a good chance to try out some different lineups.

The Suns have sneakily added real depth to their roster this summer, with the additions of Tyus Jones, Monte Morris and Mason Plumlee meaning they legitimately gone nine deep. Depending on your views on Damion Lee and even Bol Bol - and it is hard to see where either will get a chance to prove themselves - the roster is verging on too deep.

With a new head coach in Mike Budenholzer busy trying to figure out how all the pieces fit, it will be interesting to see what groups appear on the court in these preseason contests. With no pressure to win, ensuring they come away from this block of games with new ways to hurt opponents when the games do matter is of massive importance.

3. Booker-Beal-Allen-Durant-Nurkic

You might not like to admit it given how busy the front office were this offseason, but the best five players the franchise has are all returning from last time out. Easy as it is to forget because they were swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves, this team won 49 games last season, and that was with Bradley Beal limited to just 53 games through injury.

This five-man group played 503 minutes together during the regular season last time out across 35 games, and in that time had an absurd offensive rating of 124.5. Miles better than the 116.8 the Suns posted as a team throughout the season, and better even than the league-leading Boston Celtics, who put up a 122.2.

That group also held up on the defensive end, managing a rating of 113.4 that was even marginally better than the 113.7 they finished with at the end of the season. All of which is to say, this group when given a run of games together is competitive enough on both ends of the court to be bordering on elite.

Offensively Devin Booker and Kevin Durant are going to take care of most problems, while Beal, Durant and Allen provide decent size to defend multiple positions. As we will see with some of the other lineups at coach Budenholzer's disposal - when a true point guard is added to the mix - the Suns lose quite a bit of size.

2. Jones-Beal-Ighodaro-Bol-Durant

It is preseason after all, so let's have a little fun with this. Last season the Suns had a jumbo lineup featuring Durant, Jusuf Nurkic and Bol Bol. It had some success against bigger opponents like the Lakers, and the balance of the three worked well. Nurkic is a traditional big who can bang, Durant is still somehow an underrated defender, and Bol could chase wing players around.

It would be cool to see the Suns turn this lineup up a notch with the introduction of a bouncy rookie in Oso Ighodaro. Summer League should always be taken with a massive grain of salt, but if nothing else Ighodaro looked like he has an above average IQ defensively, and the large frame to cause a problem on that end for opponents.

Point guard Tyus Jones is going to be able to put the ball where his teammates need, while Beal has averaged over 30 points per game twice in his career. He's being slept on some because he's 31-years-old now and is the third option in The Valley, but he would relish being the primary scoring option for stretches.

It's possible coach Budenholzer could substitute in their first round draft pick in Ryan Dunn in Ighodaro's place as he looks like the better two-way player at this point, but the jumbo trio remaining is the key here. They can be above average defensively - Durant and Beal can take care of the scoring - and Jones can tee people up. This lineup also finds a home for Bol's limited uses as well.

1. Jones-Booker-O'Neale-Allen-Durant

We're going all out offensive play here, and the hope is that this group can absolutely blow opponents off the court. Again Jones makes the cut - there's been no space for backup Morris so far and he may struggle to find a consistent role hard to come by - because the lack of point guard last season was painfully apparent at times.

His 12 points and over eight assists last season with the Washington Wizards will be like found money if Jones can replicate those numbers in his first season in Phoenix. Booker's talent speaks for itself - this really could be a fringe MVP campaign - while the duo of Allen and O'Neale are elite 3-point shooters.

Allen led the league in 3-point shooting at 46.1 percent last season, while O'Neale shot 37.6 percent after coming over from the Brooklyn Nets at the trade deadline. Beal actually was scorching himself last season, making 43 percent of his own efforts, good for a top five mark in the league. But O'Neale gives the group more size and effort on the defensive end, even if Beal is very willing.

Durant playing at the five isn't something the team should be leaning on too heavily during the regular season, but he is capable of being elite on both ends of the court. He will soon be 36-years-old - so having him wrestle with monster centers is not ideal - but he's smart enough to know when to mix it inside, and when to conserve his energy. This grouping could shatter offensive records.