LOS ANGELES – Grayson Allen has a pretty good idea how new Phoenix Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer thinks, given that he played two seasons (2021-23) for Budenholzer in Milwaukee.
So after the coach shuffled players in and out last week against the Los Angeles Clippers like a card dealer in Las Vegas, Allen chalked it up to the season opener.
Then he thought about it.
“We’ve got a very deep team,” Allen said. “We’ve got to figure out what lineups work best, what’s going to be best for our team going forward. I’m assuming Coach will experiment with that a lot. We’ve got a lot of guys who can play.”
Let the experiment continue.
Having played 13 players through just four games, Budenholzer has used 69 different units according to NBA.com advanced stats for lineups.
That’s the second-most in the NBA behind only the Memphis Grizzlies at 73 going into Wednesday’s games.
“This league is versatile,” Kevin Durant said. “You’ve got to be able to have different lineups.”
Budenholzer will at some point have a better feel for which lineups are more impactful and rotations as part of having a greater understanding of the team.
Until then, he’ll likely keep mixing and matching as the Suns (3-1) face the Clippers again Thursday here at the new $2-billion Intuit Dome.
“It’s not easy to know exactly when, but I think we want to be checking in fairly often and fairly early, given this is our first year together,” Budenholzer said. “There are things that have been an emphasis throughout camp. The sample size is small, (but) I think the early check-in on some of the things we’re talking about are very important.”
Budenholzer foresees a break in the schedule to have that “check-in” within, say, the first 10 or so games to re-evaluate where the team is.
When it comes to the multiple lineups, the Suns are rolling with it.
“I think just our versatility,” Suns wing Royce O’Neale. “Trying different lineups and seeing everybody meshing together, and different games call for different lineups, whether we go small or big, I think having that variety of playing different guys together.”
Even if it means taking longer to develop chemistry and rhythm with certain units.
“At the end of the day, it’s still basketball,” O’Neale said. “As long as we play the right way, everybody is going to get shots. I don’t think anybody really cares about stats, who scores what. As long as we win the game, everybody is happy.”
Here’s a breakdown of the number of five-man lineups for every NBA team through Tuesday’s games.
73 – Memphis Grizzlies
69 – Phoenix Suns
67 – Toronto Raptors
61 – Golden State Warriors
60 – Indiana Pacers
56 – Charlotte Hornets
54 – Atlanta Hawks
50 – Brooklyn Nets, Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks, Utah Jazz
49 – Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder
46 – New Orleans Pelicans
45 – Philadelphia 76ers
42 – Los Angeles Clippers, Portland Trail Blazers
40 – Detroit Pistons, Sacramento Kings
39 – Orlando Magic
38 – Boston Celtics
36 – San Antonio Spurs
35 – Washington Wizards
34 – Cleveland Cavaliers
33 – Minnesota Timberwolves
31 – Milwaukee Bucks
30 – Denver Nuggets
28 – Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, New York Knicks
The Suns’ small-ball lineup with Durant at the five along with a combination of Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, Tyus Jones, rookie Ryan Dunn and O’Neale have gained the most attention.
Phoenix closed its 109-105 victory Monday over the Los Angeles Lakers with Durant, Booker, Beal, Dunn and O’Neale and got a huge defensive stand leading by three with 37.5 seconds left.
“Felt like we just wanted to protect, try to guard the 3-point line … ” Budenholzer said after the game. “With Kevin’s length and Royce’s toughness and Ryan’s toughness, length and athleticism, we went with that group and they were able to get a big stop.”
That’s the only time Budenholzer has used that lineup this season.
His three most used units are as follows:
1. Tyus Jones, Jusuf Nurkic, Booker, Durant and Beal. This is Phoenix’s starting lineup. Beal missed the home opener against Dallas with a sore right elbow. They’ve played a total of 29 minutes together, shot 52% from the field, but just 4-of-19 on 3s as Nurkic is 1-of-11 from distance this season.
Plus/minus: -31, the worst for any Suns lineup. They have 15 assists to 11 turnovers.
2. Mason Plumlee, Booker, Durant, Jones and O’Neale. They’ve played 10 minutes together with Plumlee being the backup big to Nurkic. They’re shooting 42.9% from the field, going 3-of-9 from 3.
Plus/minus: +6, tied for seventh with two other lineups.
3. Booker, Durant, Beal, Jones and O’Neale. This is one of the small-ball lineups with Durant at the five. Playing nine minutes together, the unit is shooting 71.4% from the field, hitting 3-of-5 from 3.
Plus/minus: +16, the third-best this season.
So which lineups have a better plus/minus?
The Booker, Durant, Beal, O’Neale and Plumlee lineup is at plus-18, shooting 60% from the field overall, 62.5% from 3 (5-of-9). They’ve played two games together for a total of 16 minutes.
Right behind that group is the Booker, Durant, Jones, Nurkic and O’Neale lineup at plus-17. That collective is knocking down 44.4% of its shots, going 6-of-15 from 3.
This unit has seen action in two games for a total of 16 minutes.
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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