3 ways the Phoenix Suns have adapted without Devin Booker
By Luke Duffy
2. More jumbo lineups
With Booker not on the court, coach Vogel has had to tinker with some lineups and rotations in order to cover up for his absence. His scoring and passing ability can't be replicated, so instead the Suns have decided to just go in another direction entirely, and beat up on some of the smaller lineups in the league.
This was again most notable against the Nuggets, when the Suns had Durant, Nurkic and Bol Bol out on the court together at the same time. A trick they had also successsfully deployed in a win over the Los Angeles Lakers as well, although Booker was healthy at that point. With Eric Gordon also out there against the Nuggets, it gave them a guy who can also guard bigger wings too.
“I think it’s pretty tough on the other teams, ‘cause we’re all so versatile.”
— Gerald Bourguet (@GeraldBourguet) March 1, 2024
Bol Bol talked about the Suns’ super-sized lineup of Bol, Kevin Durant and Jusuf Nurkic, and how he’s building chemistry with those two: pic.twitter.com/31voBMNKfI
This meant Nurkic and Durant had a size advantage depending on the matchup, and it allowed Bol to do perhaps the only thing he is any good at defensively. Against the Lakers he annoyed Austin Reaves with his length - and in the game against the Nuggets - his long arms got in the way of Christian Braun having as big of an impact as he would have liked.
This might not seem like much - but if Bol can keep an opponent's fourth or fifth best scorer on the perimeter quiet - then he will be outperforming expectations. He still gets some rebounds just because of his sheer length, and not his IQ on that end, and having Nurkic and Durant cover for him and bang with bigger bodies helps. We will see more of this lineup, with and without Booker in it.