The Phoenix Suns used 69 lineups in just 4 games under Mike Budenholzer

LOS ANGELES – Grayson Allen has a pretty good idea of how new it is Phoenix Suns says head coach Mike Budenholzer, considering he played for Budenholzer in Milwaukee for two seasons (2021-23).

After the coach shuffled players in and out like a Las Vegas card dealer last week against the Los Angeles Clippers, Allen was anticipating the start of the season.

Then he thought about it.

“We have a very strong team,” Allen said. “We have to figure out what lineups work best and what will be best for our team in the future. I expect Coach will experiment with this a lot. We have a lot of guys who can play.”

Let the experiment continue.

Budenholzer has used 13 players and used 69 different units in just four games Advanced NBA.com lineup stats.

That’s the second-highest total in the NBA at 73 heading into Wednesday’s games, behind only the Memphis Grizzlies.

“This league is diverse,” Kevin Durant said. “You have to be able to have different lineups.”

Budenholzer will eventually have a better sense of which lineups are more effective and which rotations occur as part of a better understanding of the team.

Until then, he’ll likely continue to mix and match when the Suns (3-1) face the Clippers again on Thursday here at the new $2 billion Intuit Dome.

“It’s not easy to know exactly when, but I think we want to check in pretty often and pretty early since this is our first year together,” Budenholzer said. “There are things that were at the forefront throughout camp. The sample size is small, (but) I think early verification of some of the things we’re talking about is very important.”

Budenholzer expects a break in the schedule to do this “check-in,” for example, within the first 10 games or so and reassess where the team is.

When it comes to multiple lineups, the Suns are there.

“I think just our versatility,” Suns winger Royce O’Neale said. “Trying different lineups and seeing how everyone fits together, and different games require different lineups, whether we play small or big, I think we get so much variety playing different people together.”

Even if it means it takes longer to develop chemistry and rhythm during certain sessions.

“At the end of the day, it’s still basketball,” O’Neale said. “As long as we play correctly, everyone will score their goals. I don’t think anyone really cares about statistics about who scores what. As long as we win the game, everyone is happy.”

Here’s a breakdown of the number of five-man lineups for each NBA team during Tuesday’s games.

73-Memphis Grizzlies

69-Phoenix Suns

67 – Toronto Raptors

61-Golden State Warriors

60-Indiana Pacers

56 – Charlotte Hornets

54 – Atlanta Hawks

50 – Brooklyn Nets, Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks, Utah Jazz

49 – Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder

46 – New Orleans Pelicans

45 – Philadelphia 76ers

42 – Los Angeles Clippers, Portland Trail Blazers

40 – Detroit Pistons, Sacramento Kings

39 – Orlando Magic

38-Boston Celtics

36 – San Antonio Spurs

35-Washington Wizards

34-Cleveland Cavaliers

33 – Minnesota Timberwolves

31-Milwaukee Bucks

30 – Denver Nuggets

28 – Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, New York Knicks

The Suns’ small-ball lineup with Durant at the five and a combination of Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, Tyus Jones, rookie Ryan Dunn and O’Neale has garnered the most attention.

Phoenix completed its 109-105 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday with Durant, Booker, Beal, Dunn and O’Neale securing a huge defensive stand by three with 37.5 seconds left.

“I felt like we just wanted to protect the 3-point line, try to guard it…,” Budenholzer said after the game. “With Kevin’s length and Royce’s toughness and Ryan’s toughness, length and athleticism, we went with that group and they were able to make a big stop.”

This is the only time Budenholzer has used this lineup this season.

Its three most commonly used units are as follows:

1. Tyus Jones, Jusuf Nurkic, Booker, Durant and Beal. This is Phoenix’s starting lineup. Beal missed the home opener against Dallas with a right elbow injury. They have played a total of 29 minutes together, shooting 52% from the field but just 4 of 19 on 3 balls as Nurkic is 1 of 11 from distance this season.

Plus/Minus: -31, the worst finish of any Suns lineup. They have 15 assists and 11 turnovers.

2. Mason Plumlee, Booker, Durant, Jones and O’Neale. They played 10 minutes together, with Plumlee replacing Nurkic. They shoot 42.9% from the field and are 3 of 9 from 3.

Plus/Minus: +6, tied with two other lineups for seventh place.

3. Booker, Durant, Beal, Jones and O’Neale. This is one of the small-ball lineups with Durant at the five. After nine minutes of play, the unit is shooting 71.4% from the field and is hitting 3 of 5 from 3.

Plus/Minus: +16, the third best this season.

So which lineups have a better plus/minus?

The lineup of Booker, Durant, Beal, O’Neale and Plumlee is plus-18, shooting a combined 60% from the field and 62.5% from 3 (5-of-9). They played two games together for a total of 16 minutes.

Right behind this group is the lineup of Booker, Durant, Jones, Nurkic and O’Neale at plus-17. This collective is knocking down 44.4% of its shots, which is 6 of 15 from 3.

This unit played for a total of 16 minutes in two games.

Do you have any opinions on the current state of the suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

Support local journalism. Start your online subscription.