Enjoying the Jalen Green experience so far Suns fans? Like it or not, the play-in loss to the Portland Trail Blazers showed the best and worst of the 24-year-old and what he brings to this team.
He took a whopping 29 shots on the night, which is nowhere near acceptable when you consider Devin Booker had 12 less. It will be on Booker to change this moving forward.
Suns must learn to love up-and-down nature of Green's offensive game
The shot volume has to change, but the Suns need to accept that the shot selection never will, and that has to be ok if they want to get back to being playoff regulars.
That Portland game the perfect microcosm because of all that we saw during his team high 39 minutes on the court. His 35 points also led the Suns, although how he achieved it was unacceptable.
But in the first-half Green made some tough shots, while also taking some in the flow of the offense as well. The Suns were rolling, and he was a big part of the reason why.
There was a lot of #discourse on Jalen Green following the trade to the Suns.
— Stephen PridGeon-Garner 🏁 (@StephenPG3) April 17, 2026
I rewatched his series vs GSW & detailed his flaws at the time, + how the Suns process/personnel would benefit him.
Wanted to re-pub this as tomorrow could serve as a bit of atonement for him.…
But as the momentum shifted the Trail Blazers began to target him defensively on some possessions, and in response he took the ball and forced it in trying to make something happen.
There were a few occasions when it looked like head coach Jordan Ott called out a play and Green either didn't hear, didn't know or flat out ignored what he was supposed to do.
You don't become a second overall pick without having some feel for the game though, and it is not like he stood still waiting for the ball to take ill-advised efforts.
He still found space and again has the capability to make the kind of shots that nobody else on the roster outside of Booker can.
It was the same story in the playoffs with the Houston Rockets last season. Some awful displays against the Golden State Warriors that likely sealed his fate in Texas, but also a wonderful 38 point explosion in a Rockets win.
Coach Ott now has to figure out how to make the most of Green when he's got it rolling, while putting a plan in place when he does not yet is still trying to shoot his way back into the game.
He's not likely to change and is one of the key facets of the offense, so accepting the kind of player he is will lead to success down the road. There are going to be a ton of bumps to get there.
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