{"id":113904,"date":"2024-12-24T23:20:01","date_gmt":"2024-12-25T04:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=113904"},"modified":"2024-12-24T23:20:01","modified_gmt":"2024-12-25T04:20:01","slug":"suns-collin-gillepsie-return-injuries-team-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/24\/suns-collin-gillepsie-return-injuries-team-issues\/","title":{"rendered":"Phoenix Suns Rumors: Injuries and Return Dates, Christmas Day Rotation and Starting Lineup, Plus, Team’s Many Issues and Whether They Are Fixable"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mat Ishbia<\/a> has spent a ton of money to bring the Phoenix Suns<\/a> spent a ton of money to bring the Valley of The Sun, their first NBA title. But the Suns<\/a> are in the exact same place as they were a year ago with many of the same issues. On a positive note, Collin Gillespie<\/a> — who has had to overcome numerous injuries — is expected to return soon.<\/p>\n

Suns Expected To Get Point Guard Back Soon, Does His Return Some Of The Team’s Issues?<\/h2>\n

Phoenix enters its Christmas Day<\/a> game against the Denver Nuggets<\/a> with a 14-14 record. That is the same mark the Suns had a season ago at the same point, though they began this season with a 9-2 record. Also, just like last season, the Suns are 3-6 in December and their issues are very similar to that in 2023-24, according to Gerald Bourget of PHNX.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite a year of continuity, improved bench depth, a head coaching change and a new system that\u00a0finally<\/em>\u00a0has the Suns shooting more 3-pointers, the same issues continue to fester.<\/p>\n

At a certain point, the highest-paid common denominators from last year have to be the ones responsible for eradicating those problems, or else wholesale change may not be far behind.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, what are Phoenix’s issues?<\/h3>\n

First, injuries have been an issue for the Suns. Only two players, Tyus Jones<\/a> and Royce O’Neal<\/a>, have played in all 28 games thus far, while Kevin Durant<\/a> and Bradley Beal<\/a>, who sat out 30 games a season ago, have missed 10 contests apiece.<\/p>\n

Due to the Suns’ injuries, 12 players have seen action in at least 16 games and average at least 12 minutes a game. All 17 players under contract have appeared in at least one contest, and Mike Budenholzer<\/a> has used 13 different starting lineups.<\/p>\n

But Budenholzer has only used his preferred opening unit of Jones, Beal, Durant, Booker, and Jusuf Nurkic<\/a> for a total of 10 games. The Suns are 7-3 in those games that those five have been on the floor at tipoff.<\/p>\n

“The center position in general, lack of size, wing depth, Nurkic\u2019s<\/a> horrendous start, Beal<\/a> needing to come off the bench,\u00a0Booker regressing, KD\u2019s leadership,<\/a> Budenholzer\u2019s<\/a> coaching, inherent roster flaws, lack of athleticism \u2014\u00a0all<\/em> of them have been offered up as the biggest culprit at some point this season, Bourget said of the Suns mounting issues. “There\u2019s truth in almost all of those reasons, but the most important truth is that it doesn\u2019t\u00a0matter<\/em> which weakness rises to the top of this anger-driven free-for-all. Because for a team that is expected to contend for a championship, with the type of payroll reserved for championship-level teams, led by an owner and front office with championship aspirations, this team is nowhere near championship-caliber.”<\/p>\n

Are The Suns Issue Fixable?<\/h4>\n

That is a good question. Bourget said if the Suns’ issues are fixable, they aren’t easy and can only be accomplished internally.<\/p>\n

To that point, there is no external savior to be found here. There is no outside trade that fixes everything and sets Phoenix back on its desired path to a championship. \u201cBlowing it up\u201d isn\u2019t a realistic option either, because unless Durant and\/or Booker demand a trade, this front office isn\u2019t hitting the eject button on the face of the franchise who\u2019s only 28 years old, nor are they unceremoniously dumping the team\u2019s best player.<\/p>\n

No, for the Suns to prove themselves as a legitimate playoff team that could actually contend in the Western Conference, their only hope lies in the same place it did at the start of the season: Internally.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s either a great comfort or an irrefutable condemnation of their prospects, depending on who you ask. Because so far, the Suns have shown little resolve when they\u2019ve been put to the test. They\u2019ve routinely folded when other teams have struck first, they\u2019ve let third-quarter runs by their opponents spiral into debilitating deficits, their defense has put up zero resistance against mediocre competition, and bad habits like turnovers have slowly started to creep back into the picture.<\/p>\n

Despite being more locked-in at the start of the season, Phoenix is now one of the worst half-court defenses in the league \u2014 a problem that\u2019s compounded when lazy, live-ball turnovers gift their opponents easy runouts. Their effort, focus, size and athleticism have paled in comparison to the opposition on a nightly basis for weeks now. This group appears disjointed, demoralized and completely dumbfounded over how to fix it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Booker and Allen To Miss Christmas Day Game<\/h4>\n

Three Suns are currently dealing with ailments. Bol Bol<\/a> (knee), Devin Booker<\/a> (groin), and Grayson Alle<\/a>n (concussion) have all been declared out for the Christmas Day rematch against Denver. Allen and Booker didn’t practice today, thus leading the Suns to make their decision, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic<\/a>. Allen will miss his second straight contest, and it is Booker’s third in a row.<\/p>\n

With Booker remaining out, expect Budenholzer to keep O’Neale in the starting lineup. O’Neale has already made nine starts this season, including the last two games for Booker. The 31-year-old wing has been much more productive as a starter, averaging 14.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.7 assists.\u00a0 He has scored in double-figures in seven of his nine starts.<\/p>\n

So, in the same token, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Budenholzer kept the same starting lineup that he has used in the past two games despite the fact that the Suns have given up a combined 250 points. This starting unit of O’Neale, Durant, Beal, Jones, and Nurkic is 0-2 when starting together and has a -24.3 scoring differential per 100 possessions. Overall, the Suns are 2-7 in games O’Neale has started and have been outscored by nearly six points a game.<\/p>\n

Ryan Dunn Should Continue To See An Increase In PT<\/h4>\n

Starting O’Neale and Allen, who are also out, means that Budenholzer will have to manage his bench a little differently. Allen, who started 74 of his 75 appearances, has seen a major reduction in his role this year. He is only seeing 23 minutes a game as Budenholzer is leaning more heavily on the 29-year-old’s shooting prowess.<\/p>\n

Rookie Ryan Dunn<\/a> will likely benefit the most from the injuries as he saw 30 minutes against the Nuggets. However, Josh Okogie<\/a>, who is essentially 12th on the Suns’ depth chart, could also see some extra minutes.<\/p>\n

Bol, Booker, and Allen could return on Friday when Phoenix hosts Dallas.<\/p>\n

Collin Gillespie To Return Soon<\/h3>\n

While Booker and Allen’s return is far more substantial to the Suns’ success and potential 2024-25 title hopes, the Suns could also have Gillespie back soon. Gillespie, on a two-way deal, is in his first season with the Suns after appearing in 24 games with Denver in 2023-24.<\/p>\n

As a two-way player, Gillespie is seen as a developmental player. He is known as a shooter, a good ballhandler, and a capable facilitator. He played well in 2023-24 with the G-League\u2014Grand Rapids and had a strong preseason with the Suns.<\/p>\n

Gillespie has been out since fracturing his right ankle in the opening minutes of the Valley Suns G-League opener, Phoenix’s Affiliate, on November 8. While the 25-year-old’s recovery has been slow, he was initially expected to be re-evaluated mid-December. Gillespie told Rankin that he hopes to be ready before the New Year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s getting better, getting better, making progress. Slowly, but it\u2019s getting better. \u2026 \u201cJust got to deal with it, doing everything I can rehab wise to get back. Making sure I\u2019m doing the things I can control.<\/p>\n

Getting that flexibility back in my ankle because it was really swollen for the first three weeks. I\u2019m just trying to get the mobility and the strength back, the flexibility. Then once I get on the court, I think the more I moved it, the more I work it out, it\u2019ll happen over time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t really talked to the coaches about it, but I\u2019m sure that\u2019ll be the plan of making sure I check off all the boxes here, individual workouts. Play 2-on-2, 3-on-3 and just build it up until I\u2019m ready to go 5-on-5. Then I\u2019m sure once they get back from break, they\u2019ll have some home games that I\u2019ll be able to play. Hopefully get some reps there.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mat Ishbia has spent a ton of money to bring the Phoenix Suns spent a ton of money to bring the Valley of The Sun, their first NBA title. But the Suns are in the exact same place as they were a year ago with many of the same issues. On a positive note, Collin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3146,"featured_media":113930,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,2,62,28],"tags":[1939,1731,108,352,487,2236,135,69,550,4745,49305],"class_list":["post-113904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-featured","category-nba","category-suns","tag-bol-bol","tag-collin-gillespie","tag-denver-nuggets","tag-devin-booker","tag-grayson-allen","tag-josh-okogie","tag-jusuf-nurkic","tag-kevin-durant","tag-mike-budenholzer","tag-nba-injuries","tag-ryan-dunn"],"modified_by":"Daniel Benjamin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113904"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113932,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113904\/revisions\/113932"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}