PHOENIX — It is easy to simplify how different the NBA is from a style of play perspective 10 years ago compared to now.
Pace. Space. 3s. Versatility.
But what that versatility actually means and how that space is getting used keeps on changing, an ever-shifting point on a spectrum the Phoenix Suns and head coach Jordan Ott are comfortable moving with wherever it takes them.
“It’s cool to see the game evolve,” Suns center Mark Williams said Monday. “Every year it’s something different.”
After small ball was all the rage just a few years ago, some teams have flipped it the other way.
The Houston Rockets announced on Monday that they will be starting two centers, Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams, in addition to Jabari Smith Jr. and Kevin Durant, two players that would be listed as power forwards (and have the height/length to play it back in the day). Amen Thompson, who is 6-foot-7 with a 7-foot wingspan, is the fifth starter as a wing.
While Durant plays like a guard in a few ways and so do Sengun and Thompson, it’s fascinating that Houston will be essentially starting games without one after a season-ending injury for Fred VanVleet. The Rockets will still use more traditional lineups and this is just at the start of games but it’s a bold bet to make.
“It’s no surprise (after) they had some success with it last year, to try it out early and see,” Ott said Monday. “That’s what’s best for their roster at the start and we’re going to do what’s best for our roster at the start of the year.”
Phoenix is in an odd spot for this roster-wise, and also in a tremendous position to take advantage of this ever-shifting shape.
The Suns’ largest deficit here is ball-handlers, initiators, playmakers, or whatever you want to define them as. Devin Booker is an elite one, while Jalen Green has more to prove in terms of reliability, and this is Collin Gillespie’s first season with a concrete role.
But where they can make up for it is options on the wing and down low.
With Grayson Allen, Dillon Brooks, Ryan Dunn and Royce O’Neale, Phoenix will be able to deploy trustworthy perimeter players consistently throughout a game that offer different dynamics when it comes to lineup combinations.
Brooks is going to spend time on lead ball-handlers, and then he would also likely be the guy defending the second center for teams going ultra-big. Allen has gravity-moving skill as a shooter to open up the floor more, while O’Neale can go down to the “4” as a hard-nosed defender and is another good shooter who is an excellent ball-mover and decision-maker on the weak side. Dunn has the most versatility from a physical build standpoint as a defender and rebounder who is also very comfortable as a screen-setter.
That’s before getting to wings like Nigel Hayes-Davis and Rasheer Fleming, who bring their own value as small-ball 5s.
On the flip side, the Suns also have good choices to make at center. When Mark Williams is healthy, he’s your starter. From there, it’s three different guys deservedly vying for playing time in Oso Ighodaro, Khaman Maluach and Nick Richards. Richards is the most similar to Williams but has his own unique qualities, just as Ighodaro and Maluach do too.
Ott is open to going either way, stating “I think we have enough depth to test both sides out.”
“You are kind of constantly moving, trying to figure out what the best solution is on a night-to-night basis but also what’s best for our group,” he said. “I’m sure we’ll figure out some of those solutions as we go forward.”
As he put it the weekend prior, Ott and his coaching staff now change their thinkings to where “suggestions become decisions” with the opener coming up on Wednesday.
With the two-big look specifically, Ott said they haven’t tried it yet but there is nothing from him that comes even remotely close to any close-mindedness that some older, more experienced head coaches would be stubborn about.
“I’m open to winning, winning games out there and playing the best that we can,” Ott said. “Whatever it takes that night to win the game, that’s what we’ll do.”