Suns' clear X-factor emerges after defeating Wizards
Today at 01:16 AM
The Phoenix Suns have been scrounging for answers any way they can after falling off in the standings after their brilliant 8-1 start to the 2024-25 season that had many believing that they were in for a bounce-back season. And in early January, the Suns decided that they were going to bench Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic — a major signal for Phoenix’s bench pieces to step up in any way they can. And on Thursday night in their 130-123 win over the Washington Wizards, Grayson Allen answered the call in a major way.
Allen, who started 74 of the 75 games he played in during the 2023-24 season, has been relegated to a bench role thus far this season — sticking in a reserve role even with the recent role demotion to Beal. But he is certainly making his case for a larger role on the team considering the way he played on Thursday night. The 29-year-old wing put up 21 points off the bench — continuing a trend that should encourage the Suns to give him more opportunities moving forward.
According to StatMuse on X (formerly Twitter), the Suns remain undefeated in games that Allen has scored 20 or more points in. Allen has 16 20-point games for Phoenix, so it’s not as if a record of 16-0 on those games is anything to scoff at.
The Suns, however, have decided to cut Allen’s role in favor of Tyus Jones and Ryan Dunn to try and give the team more playmaking and defense, which they sorely lacked last season. But Allen was the league-leader in three-point percentage last season, and the Suns have to find a way to utilize his talents much more frequently.
Are the Suns getting back on track?
The Suns have been making the slow climb towards the .500 mark, and their most recent win against the Wizards moves them to 20-20 on the season. At this point, it’s not quite clear if there are any moves for the Suns to make to improve the roster considering that they’re neck-deep in the luxury tax.
Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic are obvious trade candidates, but the Suns cannot aggregate two or more players in a trade and they cannot take on more salary. This puts them between a rock and a hard place. But at the very least, Phoenix’s changes as of late have been steering the team back to the right direction, and a clean bill of health should do them wonders moving forward.
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