We’re continuing our Bright Side series by exploring what success looks like for each Suns player in 2025–26.
Scoring. Strip the game down to its bones, and that’s what basketball comes down to. You’re either exceptional at putting the ball through the hoop or exceptional at keeping your opponent from doing it. The rare few who master both become All-Stars. Superstars. Champions.
Looking at the Phoenix Suns’ horizon, their greatest obstacle next season isn’t grit or defense. No, no my friends. It’s generating points. This isn’t a roster destined to crawl back to the 90s with 88-point box scores. But against the league’s middle ground, they project as a bottom-third scoring team.
The reasons aren’t complicated: too few players can reliably create their own shot, and elite shooters aren’t sprinkled across the roster like they are for the league’s most dangerous offenses. And when the final five minutes hit, when the floor shrinks, the whistle fades, and every possession becomes a chess match, I’m not convinced the Suns will have the variety or execution to beat a defense that already knows where the ball is going.
That’s why Grayson Allen isn’t a luxury piece. He’s a necessity. If winning is the metric, they’ll need his scoring in volume.
Grayson Allen is heading into his third season in Phoenix, the longest stretch he’s spent with any team. One year in Utah. Two in Memphis. Two in Milwaukee. Now three with the Suns. He’s logged 139 games in a Phoenix uniform so far, which is exactly one more than his total with the Bucks.
A career 41.4% shooter from deep, Allen hit 42.6% last season, which was actually down from the absurd 46.1% he posted the year prior. His presence gives Phoenix flexibility; if the offense stalls, he can be inserted to stretch the floor and force adjustments. But it’s a trade-off. Allen’s minutes may often come at Dillon Brooks’ expense, making every substitution a choice between adding punch to the offense or reinforcing the defense.
Allen is also underrated when it comes to creating his own look. While most of his self-made buckets come in transition, he’s not afraid to put the ball on the deck and attack the rim, a skill this team sorely lacks. That aggression toward the cylinder, even if situational, is a weapon Phoenix can’t afford to leave holstered.
So what does success look like for Allen? Picture a firefighter. The alarms blare, the flames rise, and the situation is slipping toward disaster. Then GA checks in, hard hat and all, and suddenly the fire starts to die. That’s his job next season: extinguish scoring droughts, keep the offense breathing, and give the Suns a chance to survive stretches where buckets seem impossible.
It’s not about a Sixth Man of the Year nomination. It’s about being their sixth man. Every night, in every situation that calls for it. Because my gut says there will be plenty of fires. And they’ll need someone who knows exactly how to put them out.
Listen to the latest podcast episode of the Suns JAM Session Podcast below.
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