Although the Phoenix Suns have shattered expectations this season by being firmly entrenched in play-in tourney range as the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference, questions about team chemistry remain prominent.
Due to injuries ranging from Jalen Green’s problematic hamstring, Devin Booker’s groin and hip problems and, more recently, Dillon Brooks’ broken left hand, that trio of score-first options has only played five games together in 2025-26, according to data from NBA.com.
Needless to say, that’s not nearly enough of a sample size for those three players to be comfortable playing with one another, nor for first-year head coach Jordan Ott to know what he has out on the court when his trio of stars are healthy.
With Brooks sidelined, the chemistry between Booker and Green has failed to really materialize.
Following a March 24 loss against the Denver Nuggets, in which Nikola Jokic again bullied the Suns, Phoenix has lost six of its past seven games. That’s despite the fact that one of Booker or Green has been the leading scorer in six of those seven contests (with Collin Gillespie’s 24 points in a loss at San Antonio as the lone exception).
Green and Booker are scoring in bulk. However, their efficiency and, more importantly, team wins remain elusive.
How should the Suns handle Jalen Green when Dillon Brooks returns?
The problem the Suns have ahead of playoff time is developing chemistry with the retooled roster. Brooks should be able to return from his hand injury prior to the end of the regular season, giving Phoenix at least some runway to create chemistry with the new look trio of stars.
But provided Green and Booker have been an inefficient band of dueling banjos together, it might make sense for Coach Ott to play Green in a reserve role when Brooks is healthy.
Booker and Brooks played well together early in the season to not only keep the season afloat but also thrive to the point of eyeing the playoffs even with Green sidelined. There’s simply not enough time left in the regular season to experiment with lineups including all three scorers.
Moving Green to a role off the bench where he can focus on being the go-to scoring option with a second unit including Grayson Allen, Jordan Goodwin and Oso Ighodaro (when Mark Williams returns to the starting lineup) may be the best option in the short term.
The starters with Booker, Brooks and Gillespie can pick up where they left off earlier in the season, while Green won’t have to compete as much for touches on offense with other ball-dominant Suns.
Unfortunately, Green’s comfort level in a reserve role doesn’t instill confidence by the numbers.
It’s worth noting that many of Green’s reserve minutes this season occurred when he was getting his feet wet after returning from injury, but he’s been far better in a starting role in his first season with the Suns.
In 20 games as a starter, Green is averaging 19.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.1 assists per contest while shooting 41% from the field and 31.3% from 3-point range.
In his five games as a bench player, Green averaged 9.4 points, 2.4 assists and 2.4 rebounds while shooting 37.2% from the floor and 30.4% from long range (in 15.4 minutes compared to 29 minutes per contest as a starter).
Regardless of what Ott decides to do with his rotations when Brooks returns from injury, extracting maximum value from all three score-first Suns is going to prove yet another challenge in a season full of them.