The Phoenix Suns enter 2025-26 with similar questions they've had in seasons past, such as: Do we have a point guard? Is the point guard Devin Booker? What does the minutes distribution look like? How much burn do the young guys get? Will this new coach be the right one? Is sentience an inescapable curse?
I don't have an answer for all of those — except the last one; yes — and I don't know if new head coach Jordan Ott has an answer for them yet, either. But I think (and hope) for the Suns' sake that early on in the year, a backcourt order is established with Devin Booker as the clear point guard and primary ball-handler, and Jalen Green providing scoring pop but not as much creation or facilitation as he's been tasked with thus far in his career.
That's the role Green should have played all along. But the Rockets' roster build didn't allow that to happen, instead forcing Green to be the primary perimeter scoring option for years — a role he never quite lived up to. Considering only about 5 or 6 players in the NBA can play that role efficiently, I can't fully blame Green for his inefficiencies as a scorer. He was just asked to do too much. Yes, he took bad shots and yes, he sometimes tried to do so much himself that he took the Rockets out of games. But a lot of that was situational; next to Devin Booker, Green shouldn't need to isolate as much, and in a Suns offense that will need to rely on ball-movement to beat defenses, Green will be asked to shift his playstyle for the first time.
Whether Green is actually willing to forego some of that isolation is another important question and could determine how successful this backcourt ultimately becomes. But Green has an opportunity to improve his efficiency this season than he ever has before, and that all starts with Book's improved facilitation chops.
Devin Booker might need to become a full-on point guard this year
Devin Booker turned into the Suns point guard by default the past two seasons so he didn't have much of a choice other than to become a high-level passer. And in order for the Booker / Green pairing to work, Book will have to take his creation skills up another level in 2025-26. That doesn't mean sacrificing his own scoring, but would it be so crazy to see him shift into a Tyrese Haliburton-esque role? I don't think so — and it might be the best way for this team to get its offense off the ground.
It's not just the addition of Green that leaves this roster with so many questions, though, and a lack of scoring creation outside of the backcourt makes things tougher. Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal are gone. Green, Dillon Brooks, Mark Williams, and Khaman Maluach are in. Ryan Dunn has an extra year of experience. There's talent outside of Booker and Green, but it's not offensive creation talent. I don't know how it all gets managed, but Devin Booker with the ball in his hands a lot seems like a good place to start.