Phoenix Suns preseason storylines to monitor: 3s, lineups, rookies

PHOENIX — Hey, Phoenix Suns basketball is here! That’s neat.

Preseason play begins on Sunday in some fancy town next to Los Angeles against the Lakers before four more matchups to get everything into gear.

Basketball in the preseason is not nearly as useless as football but don’t glean too much.

With that in mind, we can still glean a little bit. Here’s what to watch:

Let it fly

Disclaimer: Do not freak out on a game-to-game basis about Phoenix’s 3-point attempts. We are still going to see some in the 20s. Their hope is getting more consistently in the mid-to-high 30s, even reaching the 40s a few times a month.

Is the intention clear, even in the preseason? Do we see a clear difference?

Focusing on where the 3s are coming from is our best indicator. Devin Booker will likely launch a few off the dribble, a beginning-of-the-season trend we’ve seen before. So, again, some trepidation is suggested.

How many are coming off fluid ball movement, directly around ball screens and so on will be progress points.

Who is initiating?

It should just be Tyus Jones for the most part. But will we still see Booker, Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant begin offensive possessions on the ball? Are grab-and-go’s still on the menu, or is the first instinct now always finding Jones on the outlet? How about Jusuf Nurkic still doing that too?

Where Monte Morris factors into this will be interesting as well. Assuming we get at least one or two of these fixtures including everyone available to play, Jones or Morris being on the floor at all times seems like a decent bet. There are reasons, however, to not do that and squeeze in a few more minutes for Grayson Allen or Royce O’Neale to try and get both of them closer to 30 minutes a night off the bench. That depends on how sound the foundation of the offense is.

*Fighting video game announcer voice* Combination multiplier bonus

To extend off that discussion, if we’re getting looks at the rotation with everyone playing, that’s the start of an indication when it comes to lineup combinations.

Three-guard lineups will be out there in droves and the permutations off that are expansive. It could even go as far as playing someone like Allen or O’Neale at the 4, again in an effort to find them more minutes. Will Phoenix dive even deeper into that pool by going with a small-ball 5 at times? It will be interesting to watch how often Booker and Durant share the floor, as well as Beal’s substitution patterns.

It’s a bit of a stretch for the preseason but anything funky will be spotlighted.

They actually have rookies now

That’s right! Beal is particularly elated to have first-year guys to assign rookie duties, a tradition that involves veterans assigning the youngins tasks to complete. This is crucial for road trips especially, so Ryan Dunn, Oso Ighodaro and Jalen Bridges better grab the right snacks for Beal and company before getting to the airport.

Speaking on those three, Beal is a big fan of what he has seen.

“They are just so attentive to detail,” Beal said. “They want to learn and they want to earn their keep here. They ask me, Book and K questions constantly throughout the day. They’re constantly picking our brains about stuff. I’m excited for them man because we’re going to instill a lot of them and they’re going to have an opportunity to really provide some good stuff for them. … For young fellas, rookies, they’ve been lightyears ahead of most rookies coming in here.”

Dunn is the wing the Suns need. Every 3 he attempts will be dissected. Bridges is more of the plug-and-play rookie out of the two and has a half-decent shot at carving out a role. To that point, don’t sleep on Ighodaro winning out the backup 5 spot. He’s good right now, and if the intricacies are clicking for him, the coaching staff will want to play him.

The only training camp battle (or is it?)

It feels like we are at a solid nine spots in the rotation. Jones, Booker, Beal, Durant and Nurkic will be the starting lineup. The bench will be largely made up of chunks for Allen and O’Neale. Morris and Plumlee presumably as veterans are the backup 1 and 5. That leaves one more opening for Bol Bol, Damion Lee, Josh Okogie, Bridges, Dunn and Ighodaro.

Everyone provides something the rotation could use more of. Bol’s the athletic outlier of all athletic outliers, Lee’s the sharpshooter and Okogie is more on-ball juice with tremendous rebounding at his size. Bridges is the best pure 3-and-D selection, Dunn’s the most dynamic overall defender and Ighodaro’s mobility on both ends is the extra layer neither other center can give.

The safe bet is Bol, who is coming off a career year and was genuinely good for Phoenix. He didn’t earn enough trust defensively to be in the postseason rotation but if he can build off last season and limit the mistakes he was a spark plug offensively all year once he got run.

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