Greetings and welcome to “Inside the Suns,” your weekly in-depth examination of the Phoenix Suns franchise.
The Fantable, a group of Bright Siders, discusses the most recent problems and news involving the Phoenix Suns once a week.
I know a lot of people want to flop O’Neale for Allen with the starters, but I would go offense to start the games and try to score 50 in the first quarter. I also wouldn’t declare a clear 9th rotation player because there is no need to and no one has truly earned it. Depending on the matchup they may need the extra on point defender/energy of Okogie or the size of Eubanks or the rebounding of Young. No reason to firm it up beyond 8. However, if I have to choose 1 in the spirit of the question I go with one of the centers.
Rod: For now I’d stick with the current ‘healthy’ starting lineup of Beal, Booker, Allen, Durant and Nurkic. It might make more sense to start O’Neale over Allen at times but I’m not sold on making that change yet. For the subs I’m picking O’Neale, Gordon, Bol and Eubanks. Thad Young could eventually replace Eubanks in my 9-man rotation but he’s still too new to the team to put him in that spot right away. And of course I hope Vogel will be flexible enough to at least consider varying his rotations – and even his starters – depending on the opponent.
GuarGuar: I’m confused as well why we haven’t filled out that spot yet. I thought they were just waiting for the buyout market but that time frames seems to have passed. Maybe they are waiting to get a large enough sample size with this group to see if there’s any depth concerns. Waiting to sign that last spot in case an injury occurs so we know what position to add depth to is all I can come up with.
OldAz: For one, no one worth paying is available. Why take up a roster spot for someone to sit on the bench? I believe the team will play up until the last few games of the season and then determine which they need more: the ball handling of Lee or the size of Azubuike, and they will convert one of those 2 right before the playoffs.
Recently, Lee has been getting some run and playing well, but when Beal and Gordon are healthy he will be buried way too deep on the bench to have any value. Azubuike on the other hand, has size that both Eubanks and Young are lacking and may be needed in certain playoff matchups.
In the end I think the Suns will realize size is the greater need and will convert his contract before the end of the regular season. I may be wrong, but I believe after March 1st, the existing 2 way players already with the team are the only ones that can be signed to the regular roster and be playoff eligible.
Rod: I’ve noticed that Saben Lee has been getting more minutes lately which makes me wonder if he isn’t getting the chance to make his case for having his two-way contract converted and take that last spot. Otherwise I think the Suns are just taking their time because there isn’t anyone out there that they think is a “must have” addition to the team. Technically they don’t have to add anyone until the last day of the regular season for them to be playoff eligible (as long as that player was waived by his previous team before March 1) so there’s no big rush to fill that open spot yet.
