Suns' Biggest Problem Entering Preseason Revealed

Training camp and the preseason are going to tell a lot about how the 2025-26 season will stack up for the Phoenix Suns.

With so many new faces around Devin Booker and a new coach in Jordan Ott, the Suns will likely look completely different when they hit the floor for the first time.

Still, one problem persists that has plagued the Suns since they traded away Chris Paul in the summer of 2023.

Bleacher Report Lists Biggest Problem Facing Suns

Bleacher Report's Zach Buckley recently listed the biggest problem for every team entering the 2025 preseason.

For the Suns, Buckley wrote they have no natural playmaker, as they begin the season with a starting backcourt of Booker and Jalen Green.

Buckley added:

"Back when the Suns were following the lead of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, their whole never added up to the sum of its parts.

"While there were various factors behind that, one clear issue was the lack of an on-court conductor who could tie everything together.

"Well, Phoenix still has that same issue of having no natural table-setter, only now it has less firepower at its disposal. Durant and Beal are gone, and the lone bucket-getter added as a replacement is Jalen Green, a streaky scorer who has yet to shoot even 43 percent from the field or 36 percent from distance.

"The Suns' offensive plan seems to be entirely built around the idea of Booker-or-bust, and that's basically true for all facets: scoring, three-point shooting and distributing.

"Maybe that somehow powers him to the best campaign of his career, but it's all too possible this is more than he can handle: in terms of both offensive responsibilities and the defensive attention he's destined to receive."

When asked at media day last week how the Suns plan to construct a system without a true point guard, Ott said there is such a variety of point guards in terms of size and playing style in today's NBA, which has been a big change in the last five to 10 years.

He then shared his perspective how he plans to build around Booker and Green.

"Part of the offense is we want to play fast. In order to play fast, you need to have multiple ball handlers," Ott said. "The other part of the offense is we're going to play fast and play in concepts, so we have to have solutions on whatever coverage is being played against us. Some nights on how they're going to play Jalen and Book, it may entail someone else creating that first domino, that first advantage.

"The game has shifted. I think we're extremely lucky to have some depth in that guard position. I'm interested to see how it does play out in the preseason, but it's also our job as coaches to fit the play style and what we do offensively around the guys that we have, and for that, we're lucky. We're very lucky that we do have multiple ball handlers. It's going to put some of those guys in a position that they haven't been in, and that part is exciting, and we're all going to try to find solutions that best fits us to win that night."

Although Booker averaged a career high in assists last season, the Suns never quite cracked the code of playing in a multi ball-handler system the past couple seasons, but this was one of several problems the team faced.

How Booker and Green are able to co-exist and play off each other in the backcourt will be a huge determining factor of success for the Suns as they enter a new era with very little expectations in this first season.

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