Does the name Jared Butler mean anything to you? It certainly does to us, after he personally got in touch to let us know we were wrong for suggesting that the Phoenix Suns were right to cut him in favor of Jordan Goodwin. Hasn't been much talk about that being a bad move lately.
Goodwin is the perfect backup point guard for this roster.
That's because the more defensive-minded Goodwin has shown across the last number of games that he is exactly the kind of third string point guard head coach Jordan Ott needs in order to play the way that he wants to. It goes far beyond the fact he is a bigger body and better defender as well.
With the league trending more towards the full court press this season, Goodwin is the perfect player to have in these scenarios. He is not as fast as Butler - few people in the league were - but he's got the IQ to know how to blow up the attempts of opponents to get the ball across halfcourt.
This is a Jordan Goodwin appreciation post 🚨 pic.twitter.com/gutFwSmiGO
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) November 24, 2025
He's no slouch either, and the Suns are allowing a ridiculous 106.7 points when he is on the court. That also represents the best mark of his career, while his net rating of plus 10 is a massive boost for his team when he comes off the bench.
His 19.9 minutes each night - which have included a pair of starts - is also a career high if you take out that impressive 17 game run with the Memphis Grizzlies immediately after being let go by the Suns the first time round.
Really though the impact of having Goodwin on the roster was seen during the most recent win over the Sacramento Kings. With Collin Gillespie rightfully promoted to the starting five, Goodwin slid into a bigger role seamlessly. If anything this just showed how over-qualified he is as the third point guard.
He played 24 minutes, the most of any bench player, while his game score of plus 15 was the best across the entire team. Better even than Mark Williams, who had a monster 21 point, 16 rebound performance. When Goodwin is out there good things are happening, even if they don't always show up on the box score.
So while the decision to keep him over Butler was met with some boos at the time, you can see the logic now. Butler remains the more electric offensive player, but Goodwin brings so much more than that to The Valley. That includes the ability to press and step into a larger role, which he has done.