Yes, Mike Budenholzer has already named the Phoenix Suns’ starting 5

During the Phoenix Suns’ media day Monday, expect to hear the usual cliches about the great offseason of additions and Player X adding 15 pounds of muscle. Good news, though: Do not expect first-year coach Mike Budenholzer to give the ol’ “people are going to have to win their starting roles in training camp” speech.

The Suns have their starting five. There are no surprises.

Budenholzer told NBA.com’s Steve Aschburner in a story published Friday that point guard Tyus Jones will be joined by Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic to begin games.

“Certainly we feel like Tyus has established himself as a great starting point guard in our league and he will be our starter,” Budenholzer told NBA.com. “When you put him out there with Kevin, Brad, Book and Nurk, we feel like we’ve got a strong starting five. And a really strong bench behind them.”

Phoenix’s front office members had already said Jones would start after he averaged 12.0 points, 7.3 assists and shot 49% from the field last season with the Washington Wizards.

That the Suns’ three-headed monster joins him isn’t a surprise, though fan debate at times this offseason went into the zone of considering Beal as a bench player.

That’s not how it works for a three-time All-Star making $51 million per season, even if he did have injury issues and even if his 18.2 points per game were the lowest since the 2015-16 season.

Beal had his most efficient season as a pro — 51% shooting and 43% from three — and hardly did enough to warrant that silly discussion.

Still, Budenholzer naming an official starting lineup this early puts a stamp on the Suns rolling out a pretty small lineup.

Phoenix added Jones late in the free agency process after the former Washington Wizards point guard watched the market dry up, leaving him with backup opportunities and potentially eight figures of annual pay. Instead, he chose the Suns’ starting opportunity, which comes with a veteran’s minimum salary of $3 million.

If the Suns are fully healthy, the move bumps shooting guard Grayson Allen to the bench after his career season playing along with Booker and Beal in the backcourt.

The Jones signing also eats at playing time for fellow point guard Monte Morris, who joined the Suns earlier in the free-agency process looking like he would at least play a significant role off the bench as a low-turnover floor general.

Having two point guards should be welcome for a team that leaned too heavily on Beal and Booker to run point last year. The starting lineup is scary offensively if Jones plays with tempo in the fullcourt and the Suns in the halfcourt can shoot as many threes as they should under Budenholzer.

There are questions about fit and offensive deficiencies at wing and rebounding worries at the 4 and 5 slots. But there’s no question there is more versatility to the roster compared to last year’s team.

Here’s a look at the depth of the 20 players entering training camp on standard, two-way and exhibit-10 contracts.

Who will be in the Phoenix Suns’ starting lineup to begin 2024-25?

PG: Tyus Jones

G: Devin Booker

G: Bradley Beal

F: Kevin Durant

C: Jusuf Nurkic

Suns bench depth

PG: Monte Morris, Collin Gillespie (two-way), TyTy Washington (two-way)

G: Grayson Allen, Damion Lee

Wing: Royce O’Neale, Ryan Dunn, Josh Okogie

F: Bol Bol, Jalen Bridges (two-way), Mamadi Diakite (exhibit-10), Moses Wood (exhibit-10)

C: Mason Plumlee, Oso Ighodaro, Frank Kaminsky (exhibit-10)

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