Welcome to Inside the Suns, your weekly deep down analysis of the current Phoenix Suns team. Each week the Fantable — a round table of Bright Siders — give their takes on the Suns’ latest issues and news.
Fantable Questions of the Week
Q1: What are your thoughts on Oso Ighodaro’s progress this season?
GuarGuar: I’ve been really impressed with how Oso has progressed offensively this season. He was so rough on both ends to start the year, but now he’s become a very serviceable backup center who gives us a different look offensively than Mark.
I love his new aggressiveness and his ability to finish at the rim more effectively. He’s not shying away from making a basketball play anymore, and that’s big. Defensively, I love his hustle and effort, but we still need to work on limiting the dumb fouls. But his progression from game 1 this season is very noteworthy.
Ashton: Before this season began, I was seriously thinking about pulling Rod out of retirement (chortle) to play bass for a band called “Book and the Scrubs”. It would save us both from having to watch horrible Suns’ basketball. My role would be band manager and making sure we had a drivable van to play the gigs.
What happened? Well, I never asked, and the Suns totally exceeded expectations. We would have had to upgrade to an RV with a satellite connection while booking gigs at Whisky a Go Go.
The point here is that Oso is overlooked, but literally anyone who was not on the preseason radar has stepped up during certain games. Oso has won one Bright Side Baller award among a plethora of other players and one coach. And the comment section is not calling for him to be traded or limit his minutes.
OldAz: I was one of his critics to start the year based on his size and lack of shooting. However, Ott certainly believes in him and has given him every opportunity to contribute and continue developing. Oso has taken full advantage of this by cementing himself as the backup center.
He did this by playing strong, aggressive, switchable defense and being a connector on offense. It’s hard for defenses to double the man bringing the ball up when that player is big on the floor because the other center is usually not as mobile, and this leaves wide-open lanes for Oso to use his excellent passing to create a mismatch out of the double.
Recently, Oso has also added a good amount of aggression to his offensive game, attacking the basket for dunks or drawing fouls. His free throw is still not pretty, but it is getting better and is going in enough to keep going with him.
Ultimately, he has provided more value than having a big body that just takes up space as the backup center. It has made the reserve unit that much more effective, and he is a key reason that unit often turns the game around for the Suns. It may be just a matter of time before Khaman Maluach takes over the job, but Oso is making that very unlikely to happen this year, and it will only push Malauch to get better.
Rod: He had a rough start this season but has looked much better lately. While he’s still not much of an offensive threat, he’s better than he was simply because he seems much more comfortable attacking the basket and dunking the ball whenever possible. He just seems more confident and assertive now than ever before.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Oso has a very good future in the NBA as a backup center. I don’t think he has the size, athleticism, or offensive tools to ever be a successful starter in the league, but eventually, he could turn himself into one of the best backups in it.
Q2: There have been fan discussions over whether the Suns should — for the time being — start Royce O’Neale or Ryan Dunn at power forward. What’s your opinion on this issue?
GuarGuar: I like what we are currently doing, starting Royce and bringing Dunn off the bench with a change of energy. Yes, Royce leaves a lot to be desired as an individual defender and rebounder, but the respect he garnishes as a floor spacer really helps our offense. I know he can be frustrating at times, but I’m ok with it until Jalen gets back. Then I’d slide Brooks down to the 4.
Ashton: There is plenty of comment chatter about the need for a power forward, but the money just does not work. I like reading the trade for Lauri comments, but it is simply not doable, and Ainge loves him some picks.
I am going with recency bias on this one and taking RO. I thought he did a good enough job on butt-hurt KD (can I say that on the Table?) to deserve the starting PF role. However, if anyone wants to argue that Oso should get more playing time while teaming up with Mark Williams, I am all ears.
OldAz: I don’t really care who starts. It matters more to me who plays more minutes and who finishes. This should be based on effectiveness on the floor and how well they are fitting within the team concepts at the time.
I will admit, there are a lot of times when I wish Coach Ott had a quicker hook for Royce when he is not playing well on defense. Personally, I would give the longer leash to the player who plays better defense and has more developmental upside, which is Dunn. However, it is hard to argue with the results Ott is getting at the end of the day.
Rod: For the moment, I still believe Royce is the better choice. Athletically, Dunn wins hands down, but O’Neale’s experience and understanding of the NBA game make up for what he lacks physically. Add in his three-point shooting and his passing skills, and that seals the deal for me.
Dunn isn’t that far behind, though. I think he tends to play a little out of control at times, mostly on offense, but I think that’s something he will eventually get under control with a little more experience. And then there’s the difference between Royce’s 3-point percentage (41.3%) and Ryan’s (30.8%).
The reality is that neither of them should really be starting at power forward, but, at the moment, they are the two best options that the Suns have at that position, and overall, Royce is the better of the two playing at that position.
Q3: It has been suggested that Dillon Brooks’ reputation gets him extra scrutiny and/or quicker whistles from NBA referees. Do you agree with this?
GuarGuar: Dillon 100% gets more calls because of his reputation. There is no doubt. It’s part of who he is and how he plays, and you just have to take the good with the bad. His energy and toughness have had such an overall great impact on this team so far. The refs will be out to T him up and you just have to accept it at this point.
Ashton: Yes. And while many posters and Isibia love his game and the toughness he brings to team identity, I am taking the contrarian route. It will eventually cost the Suns close wins due to free throws given up to the opposing team. I believe Brooks currently has 11 technicals and two ejections.
That is the second leading scorer on this team sitting it out and handing over free throws. John Voita recently put up an article based on Murphy’s Law on KD’s three-point shot win for Houston, but I would posit the “Law of Averages”. It will bite the Suns in the behind when it comes to seeding (they will make it).
Which is why I do not get why Brooks can’t play with a little more self-control.
When I was watching the classic Oregon vs. University of Arizona games, I did not see someone who was in your head. What I saw was “Dillion the Assassin”. Cool, calm, collected, and making threes while beating my hometown team. Enough so that I made a pitch on this Suns board to draft him in 2017. I am still shaking my head because he went number 45 (Houston) while the Suns could have taken him with number 32. They took Devon Reed, if you all remember him. What a horrible draft that was. I don’t even want to get into who the Suns took with the fourth pick. Let’s just say he had a worse attitude than Brooks.
So, let’s see less of “Dillon the Villain” and more of “Dillion the Assassin”.
OldAz: Of course it does. It shouldn’t, but it does. I believe sometimes they give him a quick T early in a game just so he will calm down his antics the rest of the way. This is really unfair when he has not earned a T, but it is indicative of all the officiating issues in the NBA. The inconsistency in officiating, both in on-court foul calls, what gets ignored, continuations, and how much leash certain players are given to argue, etc., all go into their biggest problem the NBA has.
I realize professional basketball is probably the hardest to officiate, but it would be nice if the officials were solely focused on the action and enforcing the rules consistently, rather than on which players are involved in any given play. Unfortunately, world peace is probably more realistic. As for Brooks, he has to play his game, as it is a big reason the Suns’ culture has changed so much (for the better). The team is simply going to have to live with the inevitable suspensions that are coming based on the number of technicals called and continue to petition the league when those T’s are given early and unfairly.
Rod: I don’t think it would be easy to argue that the refs aren’t blowing quicker whistles on Dillon than most and that they aren’t quicker to hand out techs to him than others. I hate it, but there it is. Even though Brooks has seemed to tone it down a bit lately, that rep is following him around and will likely continue to for a while.
His attitude is what helps make him what he is, though, and that attitude has played a big part in developing this team’s never say die mentality, so I am willing to live with the consequences.
As always, many thanks to our Fantable members for all their extra effort this week!
”There’s still some people who don’t get in the game that can knock down those shots that I trust so in the NBA, we have a super talented group and a super confident group.” – Devin Booker
“We’ve challenged Oso to not just switch. Don’t just switch. That’s like checking the box. You’ve got to switch and impact. Switch and take it from them if you can. Switch and make it uncomfortable for them.” – Jordan Ott
“It (the delayed flight to Houston) put us in a bind for sure. Our legs were a little stiff but stuff is going to happen in games. Happy how we fought. Wish it could’ve been in a W but we have another chance in a couple of days.” – Dillon Brooks
Devin Booker’s game-winning shot against OKC was his 8th-career game-winner in the final 5 seconds of a game. That ties him with Jayson Tatum for 2nd-most since Book entered the league, behind only Kawhi Leonard with 9.
On January 9, 1972, the NBA’s 2,000,000th point occurred in either the Baltimore-Phoenix or Detroit-Buffalo game. At the time, NBA records were not detailed enough to determine in which game the 2 million point mark was reached or which player scored those points.
On January 11, 1997, Robert Horry, recently suspended for throwing a towel in the face of Suns head coach Danny Ainge while also screaming obscenities at him, was traded along with Joe Kleine to the Los Angeles Lakers for former Sun Cedric Ceballos and Rumeal Robinson.
On January 12, 1979, the Suns traded fan favorite Ron Lee (who led the NBA in steals the previous season with 2.7 per game), Marty Byrnes, a 1979 1st round draft pick, and a 1980 1st round draft pick to the New Orleans Jazz for Truck Robinson, a 1978 NBA All-Star power forward. Truck would return to the All-Star game in 1981 as a Sun.
This Week’s Game Schedule
Friday, Jan 9 – Suns vs New York Knicks (7:00 pm)
Sunday, Jan 11 – Suns vs Washington Wizards (7:00 pm)
Tuesday, Jan 13 – Suns @ Miami Heat (5:30 pm)
This Week’s Valley Suns Game Schedule
Tuesday, Jan 13 – Valley Suns vs Oklahoma City Blue (7:00 pm) ESPN+
Jan. 10 – All NBA contracts are guaranteed for the remainder of the season
Jan. 14 – 3-for-1 All-Star Voting Day (All-Star Voting concludes @ 11:59 pm ET)
Feb. 5 – Trade deadline (3:00 pm ET)
Feb. 13-15 – 2026 NBA All-Star weekend in Los Angeles, CA
March 1 – Playoff eligibility waiver deadline
March 28 – NBA G League Regular Season ends
March 31 – 2026 NBA G League Playoffs begin
April 12 – Regular season ends (All 30 teams play)
April 13 – Rosters set for NBA Playoffs 2026 (3 p.m. ET)
April 14-17 – SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament
April 18 – NBA Playoffs begin
