Takeaways From Suns' First Week of Action

The Phoenix Suns' first week of action has been quite fruitful - here's what we learned.

Oct 28, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) handles the ball against Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura (28) during the second half at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

PHOENIX -- The first week of the 2024-25 season is officially in the books for the Phoenix Suns. The Suns managed to go 3-1 with a quite difficult start to the year - defeating the Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, and Dallas Mavericks along the way.

The Suns are now embarking on the next week of action - which will begin with another road trip to L.A. to face the Clippers tomorrow night before returning to home to face the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday.

Reflection on what has been accomplished is just as important as looking forward - here are some things we have learned thus far with a bit of a softer schedule coming up.

Defense/Physicality Has Been Suns Calling Card

Well, this is unexpected.

The Suns were widely expected to take a step back on the defensive end while taking a massive step forward on offense.

While the offense has noticeably changed and has flashed moments of brilliance, it really was the defense that won them all three contests thus far.

A quirk of the Suns 4 games in is that they are racking up blocks. They're averaging 7 a game, tied for 5th leaguewide.

A handful of strips on shot attempts help account for that but also some great plays on the ball, secondary rotations and efforts in transition. pic.twitter.com/VL5leCJowW

— Kellan Olson (@KellanOlson) October 30, 2024

Phoenix is far from an elite defensive squad, but the scrappy, connected brand of play has certainly been the bread-and-butter of the team a week into the season.

Ryan Dunn is holding All-Stars to 26.3% FG when he is the primary defender this season. pic.twitter.com/wgTfOmM1KK

— StatMamba (@StatMamba) October 29, 2024

Among the standouts have been rookie Ryan Dunn and swingman Royce O'Neale - who have done admirable jobs guarding heavy hitters on opposing teams and have given Phoenix a boost when it comes to creating transition opportunities on offense among other advantages.

Depth is Much Improved

This is something that was apparent since preseason play began, but it has only been even more strongly reinforced since.

Suns by net rating after 4 games.

What stands out? pic.twitter.com/tO7RC61ywB

— Xin Varlock (@XinNBA) October 29, 2024

The previously mentioned O'Neale/Dunn duo have been absolutely incredible for the Suns from an impact perspective regardless of raw stats. Monte Morris has been a standout in three of four games off of the bench. Mason Plumlee did a more than admirable job filling in for Jusuf Nurkic when coach Mike Budenholzer pulled him after 18 minutes of action. This is also with 6MOTY candidate Grayson Allen getting off to a slow start - and must be taken into account.

This is a bench that doesn't just compliment the stars in a seamless fashion, this is a bench that can win Phoenix games when/if an untimely injury to a starting player occurs.

Point Guard Moves Have Paid Off

Much was said about the Suns' plans at point guard last season (or lack thereof). One thing that is for certain is that the front office did rectify those concerns with two of the most underrated signings of the offseason in Tyus Jones and the aforementioned Morris.

It’s early, but through 4 games, Suns’ point guards Tyus Jones and Monte Morris have a combined assist-to-turnover ratio of 8:1 pic.twitter.com/RbVF0RPiBC

— John Voita (@DarthVoita) October 30, 2024

Morris only played three minutes in the victory over L.A. after struggling against Dallas, but has shown moments of brilliance and reminded fans why he was once considered among the best backup PG.

ESPN's Dave McMenamin also chimed in on the impact Jones has had in revamping the Phoenix offense in ESPN's recent power rankings:

"After trying out Devin Booker and Bradley Beal as point guards at times last season, Phoenix signed Tyus Jones to a bargain one-year, $3.3 million deal in the offseason to play the position. In the early going, the 28-year-old Duke product is producing, averaging 10.0 points on 48.5% shooting (37.5% from 3), while ranking in the top 20 in the league in both assists (6.0) and steals (1.8)."

- McMenamin on Jones

Jones was largely brought in for his ability as a distributor and spot-up shooter, but his defense has been fairly unheralded on top of the efficacy as a floor general.

The scary part? Jones can score far more efficiently in the long run this season - which could ultimately raise the ceiling of this team even more.

This arrangement looks like it could pay dividends both in the regular season and postseason.