Jalen Green missed just 21 combined games in his first four years in the NBA before being traded to the Suns in the 2025 offseason. But his first year in Phoenix was plagued by repeated hamstring strains, a problem that limited him to 32 regular season contests in 2025/26.
While the former No. 2 overall pick appears to be over his hamstring issues, his matchup with the Suns remains an embarrassment. Through nine games this season, the 24-year-old guard has posted career lows in a variety of stats, including points (11.7) and rebounds (3.1) per game, while shooting a career-low .406/.207/.680.
Green had six points (on 2-of-8 shooting), five rebounds, four assists and three turnovers in 24 minutes in Monday’s lopsided home loss to the Spurs. After the game, he admitted that he was still trying to find the right balance between playing and scoring, tweets Kellan Olson of ArizonaSports.com.
“This is a good question. I don’t know. You just need to start aggressively” said Green, who holds a $36 million player option for next season.
Here’s more on the Suns, who fell to 3-6 after Sunday’s loss:
- Off-season supplement Miles Bridges had a quiet night (eight points on 3-of-11 shooting, four rebounds) on Monday, but he played well in five games which led to this loss, trans Dwayne Rankin of the Arizona Republic. “He just gets more comfortable”, star guard Devin Booker said. “Every time you get thrown into a new group, it will take some time. It didn’t take him long. I already said he filled a lot of holes that we were missing last year. His energy is right. He doesn’t just make shots and defend, he’s one of the vocal leaders in the locker room, too.” Bridges, who will be an unrestricted free agent next summer if he doesn’t sign an extension by then, said the switch to Phoenix was “like a match made in heaven” for me.
- Before Saturday’s game against Houston, Dylan Brooks explained why he made an exception Kevin Durant‘s Comments on Twitter before the start of the season according to Rankin. Durant, responding to an interview clip with the owner Mat Ishbia, tweeted, “#blameKD even though KD stayed at the top of his game at 36 years old and gave you back that ‘culture’ you love so much. Yeah Matthew acts like I got arrested for DUI or Sumn.” Brooks was charged September on a misdemeanor DUI charge stemming from an arrest in March. “If you have a beef or want to talk to someone in particular, don’t mention anyone else” said Brooks.Do you understand what I’m saying? And it just shows little fake accounts and all that (profanity) and back and forth and blah, blah, blah. So, I’d rather do it on my real account. Even though I don’t have a fake account. I’m going to do it on my real account. And you’ll throw some subliminals, I’ll throw subliminals back.” Both Brooks and Green said they were excited to be reunited with their former team.
- Brooks limited Durant to 1-of-5 shooting in the fourth quarter, and the Suns emerged victorious Saturday after a late surge from Booker. – writes Rankin. Afterward, Durant downplayed any tension between the two sides. “It’s a normal, normal game” Durant said.I played here for two and a half years. It’s not that deep. I loved living in Phoenix. I miss it every day to be honest with you, my favorite place to live in the league. But other than that, I haven’t had any problems with anyone here.”