Phoenix Suns: Igor Kokoskov should try an all-wing lineup

The Phoenix Suns have unlocked their offense by replacing their point guard with a wing. They should try the same thing at center.

The Phoenix Suns barely ended a six-game losing streak, but it was not so long ago they won five out of seven games, which has been their only material success so far this season. Although they started De’Anthony Melton and Deandre Ayton in all of those games, they also got heavy bench minutes from Josh Jackson and Kelly Oubre Jr.

Despite Melton’s solid play so far, the Suns have been at their best when Devin Booker has ran the point. Plug any three wings plus Booker into NBA.com’s lineup page, and you’ll find that those lineups have been great, albeit in fewer minutes.

Devin Booker, Mikal Bridges, Josh Jackson and T.J. Warren have a crazy net rating of +36.7 in 24 minutes. Replace Warren with Oubre and the rating is +5.2 in 10 minutes. Replace Bridges with Oubre instead and the net rating is +1.9 in 15 minutes.

When your team has the second-worst record in the league, any positive lineups are a rarity. Head coach Igor Kokoskov should be taking note and giving these lineups some more run.

However, all of those lineups share one thing in common: They always come with one of Deandre Ayton or Richaun Holmes on the floor. That makes sense, because someone has to rebound and set screens.

Even so, Kokoskov should attempt to play all five of Booker, Bridges, Jackson, Oubre and Warren together, even in limited action. That lineup may lack rim protection and rebounding, but it would have incredible 3-point-shooting, and it could switch every screen, 1-5.

T.J. Warren has played less than one percent of his career at the 5, according to Basketball-Reference, and he hasn’t played there at all in the last year and a half. He’s definitely too small to stop the Joel Embiids and Andre Drummonds of the league.

However, if guys like Draymond Green and P.J. Tucker can work as centers against the right matchups, Warren might be able to in short spurts. As long as he can just be passable on defense, the Phoenix Suns could all crash the defensive glass together, and their combined length would probably be enough to survive on that end.

On offense, Booker would have more space to operate than he’s seen in his life. Warren could set screens and have the freedom to roll into a wide-open lane, or pop out for a 3 thanks to his newfound prowess from deep. Bridges, Oubre, and Jackson could either spot up, cut backdoor or run off-ball plays.

It is a shame to eat into the minutes of either Ayton or Holmes with such a lineup. Presumably, this experimentation would come at the expense of Holmes, since he and Ayton don’t really fit together, and Ayton will get as many minutes as he can handle no matter what.

Even though Holmes has proven himself to be a capable backup 5, guys like Oubre and Jackson are probably more valuable to the team for the long haul. If Holmes’ minutes need to be cut from 15.6 per game to 12 so that the Phoenix Suns can experiment a little bit, that’s not a huge deal.

If it doesn’t work out, Kokoskov can always go back to his usual rotation. What’s the worst that can happen? They lose more games?