How The Suns Can Survive Life Without Devin Booker

Boy, can life in the NBA change in a heartbeat. One moment, you’re celebrating the first-ever clean injury report for the Phoenix Suns, the next, you’re in disbelief over Jalen Green heading to the locker room, grabbing his hamstring.

You accept that. The team is playing well, and Booker looks like he’s in one of those “takeover” modes. And then, of course, in true Suns fashion, he goes down with a nasty ankle injury. Life comes at you fast.

We’re lucky it’s just listed as a sprain with how it looked playing it back in slow-mo.

Now suddenly, instead of getting the healthy team reps we all hoped for, the Suns are back in “next man up” mode. This piece was actually supposed to be about how Jalen Green’s return would impact the rest of the Suns. I had to scrap it and put together a survival kit instead. Luckily for Jordan Ott and company, this isn’t their first rodeo.

We don’t know exactly how long Devin Booker will be out. We do know just 36 games are remaining on the schedule, and each one will be vital in the Suns’ playoff run. The Western Conference is a bundle of teams vying for the 2-7 seeds, all within just a few games of each other.

Phoenix began its 5-game homestand with a loss against the Miami Heat on Sunday night. They play eight of their next nine games in Phoenix, so that helps. They absolutely have to get a win against a reeling Brooklyn Nets squad tonight at home.

Who Steps Up?

The obvious answer here is veteran Dillon Brooks. He has already seen an increase in usage and responsibility (on both ends) this season, so we can skip past him for now, though he will be an important piece in all of this.

We’ll need a lot more of this.

Grayson Allen is the next name that comes to mind, and he could sure use a refresh after a rough night against Miami on Sunday. He poured in 18 points, but most of his work came at the charity stripe, where he went 10-for-11. He shot just 4 of 18 from the field and 1 of 11 from three-point range.

Allen and Royce combined to go 1 of 18 from three-point range, which was a major reason why the team shot just 20% from deep in the loss. Ice cold.

As SPG notes below, the team ran a season-high 28 PnR’s for Grayson in the loss to Miami. An increase in usage and shot attempts for Allen is all but guaranteed for this next stretch. I expect a bounce-back game from Allen against the Brooklyn Nets.

They’re going to need him.

Collin Gillespie is the other candidate to continue his breakout season with an increased role yet again. They will likely be leaning on 30+ minutes from both Allen and Gillespie as long as Green and Booker remain sidelined.

Along with the noted increase in Allen’s on-ball usage above, Collin will likely be tasked with plenty of creation himself out of the PnR. They’ll need him to be in attack mode, hunting his own shot along with getting others involved.

Jordan Goodwin and Jamaree Bouyea are the other key pieces, who have shown they are more than capable of stepping up in big moments. Goodwin will compete every second he’s out there… we already know this.

Bouyea’s return from concussion protocol could not have come at a better time. He is a sparkplug of energy himself and has shown he is fearless in getting his own buckets and picking up full court.

He was likely a bit rusty in his first game back against Miami, but once he settles into his role again, I expect him to be a major piece for this team while their star guards are sidelined.

A blend of increased usage from Dillon Brooks and Grayson Allen as your top two scoring options, along with a more aggressive Collin Gillespie? That gives you a shot if they can get the role players hot from deep and continue to play their relentless style of basketball.

Jordan Ott has plenty of options at his disposal, but it won’t be easy without Devin Booker’s gravity. These next few games are important for Phoenix to stay afloat as they push for a top-6 seed out West.