Breaking: Suns Star Rookie Benched – What’s Behind the Shocking Decision?
After an impressive All-Star weekend, several Phoenix Suns fans were excited to see rookie forward Ryan Dunn back in action Thursday night against the San Antonio Spurs.
However, the 28th pick only ended up playing 20 seconds the whole night, despite the Suns (26-29) having several defensive breakdowns down the stretch and really all game in a 120-109 defeat, their seventh loss in the past eight games.
Starting center Nick Richards also did not play after recording three points and six rebounds in a little under nine minutes in the first quarter. The Spurs only had Bismack Biyombo as their primary center after ruling out Victor Wembanyama for the season earlier in the day, but Mason Plumlee played 17 minutes off the bench for Phoenix.
“We mapped out a nine-man rotation and then we tightened it from there,” Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said of Dunn and Richards’ lack of minutes (via The Arizona Republic’s Duane Rankin).
“I think we went with the guys we thought both ends of the court, we’ve got to be able to make plays, defensively, offensively. We were able to close it. We made some runs. We had some good stretches, but again not enough of them.”
Dunn has now only played over 15 minutes one time in the last 11 games, dating back to when he suffered an ankle injury in a Jan. 25 win over the Washington Wizards. This was just a few weeks after he seemingly became a permanent starter when Phoenix moved Bradley Beal to the bench on Jan. 6.
Budenholzer previously said before the Suns faced the Denver Nuggets on Feb. 8 that “being healthy” was a big step toward Dunn playing well.
After the All-Star Game Sunday when Dunn tied a team high with eight points as his Rising Stars fell to Kevin Durant’s Shaq’s OGs, Dunn said his ankle felt “good” and added the extra rest from the break was good for him.
Yet, with pretty much everyone now healthy, Dunn couldn’t crack Phoenix’s nine-man rotation, despite the Suns needing some kind of spark and point-of-attack defender defensively, which is Dunn’s strong suit.
Where the Suns go from here with the rotation remains to be seen, but it is very obvious they need some kind of shake up with them currently the 11th seed in the Western Conference and two games out of even a play-in spot.
Phoenix also has the toughest remaining schedule in the NBA.
The Suns continue their road trip Saturday against the 22-34 Chicago Bulls in a game they desperately need to win to gain some momentum.
