Suns Hit the Panic Button With a Chaotic New Starting Lineup
Underdog NBA reported: 'Lineup alert: Suns will start Booker, Green, Brooks, Bridges, Maluach on Monday.'
The have officially reached the "throw the whiteboard into the nearest dumpster" phase of the season. After a brutal stretch of basketball, the team is hitting the panic button and rolling out a starting five that looks like it was pulled out of a hat.
According to Underdog NBA, will start , Josh Green, , Mikal Bridges, and rookie on Monday.
You cannot really blame the coaching staff for getting weird with the rotation. The Suns are coming off an embarrassing 124-83 blowout loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, which they immediately followed up by surrendering 131 points in a loss to the . When you are bleeding points like that, you have to try something drastic.
This specific combination of players is a defensive fever dream. Starting and Bridges together is like trying to win a basketball game by putting a padlock on the rim. Opposing guards are going to have an absolutely miserable time trying to initiate any kind of offense against those two.
But the other end of the floor is where things get hilarious. The offensive spacing for this group is going to look like a rush-hour elevator. is already carrying the load, averaging 23 points per game on nearly 54 percent shooting, and his usage rate is about to go to the moon.
If you are looking at the prop market, might have to take 30 shots just to keep in the game. When you share the floor with a rookie center and a bunch of defensive grinders, you are basically required to shoot the ball every single time you touch it.
We will see if this chaotic experiment actually pays off when the travel to face the Oklahoma City Thunder. If they lay another egg and the offense completely stalls out, expect this lineup to be permanently retired by Tuesday morning.