Suns lean on Booker and a Jalen Green comeback

The Phoenix Suns, 45-37 last season, open 2026-27 Wednesday, October 21, at the Portland Trail Blazers with Jalen Green back from a 32-game season and center Mark Williams out until about February.

Tip-off is 10:00 PM ET. Phoenix finished 7th in the West last season with a net rating of 1.5 and was swept 4-0 by the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The record needs context. With Devin Booker, Collin Gillespie and Oso Ighodaro all in the lineup, Phoenix went 37-27 over 64 games. Without at least one of them it went 8-10, and it finished 14-16 over its last 30.

Dillon Brooks and Rasheer Fleming missed 26 games each, Williams 22 and Booker 18.

Green played 32 of 82 games last season and averaged 17.8 points in 25.8 minutes. In 2024-25 he played all 82 and scored 21 points a game over 32.9 minutes, with a Keel Impact of -0.67, slightly below average.

Our projection gives him 19.4 minutes a game and a Keel Impact of -0.12, the usual discount for a player back from a long absence. A return to his full level would be more than that holds. How he fits beside Booker is the open question.

Booker scored 26.1 points with 6 assists a game in 64 appearances and graded 3.29, the best mark in the core. Phoenix is better with him on the floor, and last season he was not always there.

Gillespie played 80 games at 12.7 points and 4.6 assists and graded 3.11. Jordan Goodwin, at 2.83 in 70 games, and Ighodaro, at 2.31, also graded well above average. Brooks scored 20.2 points in 56 games but graded -0.37, below average.

Phoenix brings back 76% of last season's minutes. Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale, who both went to the Charlotte Hornets, played 28.8 and 28.3 minutes a game. Allen graded 1.24 and is the bigger loss. O'Neale graded -1.82.

Bridges arrives from Charlotte after 77 games at 17.1 points and 5.8 rebounds. He graded -0.34, so he adds scoring and size without a positive mark behind it.

Kennard comes from the Los Angeles Lakers after splitting last season between the Atlanta Hawks and the Lakers. He scored 8.4 points in 21.6 minutes and graded 0.57. He is day-to-day with left knee soreness.

Pat Spencer (Golden State Warriors) and Duop Reath (Portland Trail Blazers) also arrive. Rookie Koa Peat, the No. 30 pick out of Arizona, projects as a fringe player.

Williams averaged 11.7 points and 8 rebounds in 60 games last season and graded 1.41. Until he returns, Ighodaro, who played 22 minutes a game last season, carries the center minutes. He is day-to-day with hip soreness. Fleming, at 12.3 minutes a game, is the other frontcourt piece.

Our numbers rank the roster 12th of 30 and project 43 wins and a net rating of 1. That is a view, not a promise, and it holds only part of what a healthy Green would add.