The 240 Minutes Series Explained:
In the NBA there are 450 players under full contracts to start every season. These players consist of superstars, all-stars, average players, guys dealing with injuries, benchwarmers, rookies, ring-chasers, and whatever Hassan Whiteside is. Despite the contracts, draft capital, coaching, potential, friendships, and experience that all play a role in rotation minutes, there are only 240 minutes every game to go around and split amongst the players.
In this series, we cut through all of that. Join the fun as we dig into the rosters of every NBA team and project how many rotation minutes will be played by each player to begin the season. This takes into account all active injuries and thinks about the rosters in terms of which 9-12 players on each team will actually be playing for their respective team for the first few weeks of the regular season. In addition to this, we will discuss the positions that they will be playing, why their minutes per game total is calculated where it is, and showcase the quality of the player that is allotted those minutes. The “quality of player” tiers will look as such:
MVP Candidate – Top 10 player and potential to win MVP this season
All-NBA Candidate – Top 30 player and potential to be on an All-NBA Team this season
High-End Starter – Quality starter with potential to make the All-star game this season
Starter – Quality starter and is (roughly) a top 120 player this season
Low-End Starter – Starts but is not (roughly) a top 120 player this season
Elite 6th Man – Does not start but is a top (roughly) 120 player and could win 6MOTY this season
High-End Backup – Does not start but could if needed and perform well
Backup – Does not start but is a quality role player
Low-End Backup – Could see minutes during regular season but might not make playoff rotation
Without further ado:
Where Will the 240 Minutes on the Phoenix Suns Go?
Devin Booker SG – All-NBA Candidate (34 minutes per game)
In what was viewed as a breakout season, Devin Booker experienced his first playoff experience and first championship appearance in the same season. His numbers and efficiency were nearly identical to his 2019-2020 season last year averaging 25.6 points per game on 48.4/34.0/86.7 shooting splits in 33.9 minutes per game. CP3 was the player most responsible for the Suns huge leap, but Booker certainly showed flashes of being an All-NBA player, including two 40+ point performances in the NBA finals. He also had 10 games in the playoffs with 30+ points scored. The pure scorer will look to continue to improve his efficiency next season as he leads this young Suns team into the 2021-2022 season.
Mikal Bridges SF – Starter (33 minutes per game)
Bridges is one of the most over-qualified 4th options in the league. On another team he could easily be moved up into the “High-End Starter” tier, but on this roster behind CP3, Booker, and Ayton, his true production is limited. With that being said, Bridges elevated his game last season and shows no signs of slowing down. He is an elite 3 and D guy who can guard the PG, SG, SF, and PF spots and shot 42.5% from three on 4.4 attempts per game. Mikal Bridges was 2nd on the team in minutes per game last season and actually played in all 72 games, which allowed him to lead the entire team in total minutes. Look for him to average right around 32.6 minutes per game again this upcoming season.
Deandre Ayton C – High-End Starter (32 minutes per game)
In what feels like a broken record, Ayton also had a career year last season in terms of his impact on the game. Although his stats took a small dip with the additions of Jae Crowder and Chris Paul, he still averaged 14.4 points and 10.5 rebounds per game on a career best 62.6% shooting. Not only that, he increased his numbers in the playoffs to 15.8 points and 11.8 rebounds per game on 65.8% shooting in a whopping 36.4 minutes per game. Much of these extra minutes were due to the Dario Saric injury. Look for his minutes to dip back down to the 30-32-minute range as the Suns bring in Javale McGee and will look to get their 2020 first-round pick, Jalen Smith, a little more involved in 2021-2022.
Chris Paul PG – All-NBA Candidate (30 minutes per game)
The Point-God showed yet again what his worth is last season with the Suns as he reached the NBA finals for the first time in his career, being a mentor and leader for this young team. Health towards the end of the season is always a concern with Chris Paul but he has now made All-NBA 2nd team in back-to-back seasons and finished 5th in MVP voting in 2020-2021. CP3 has averaged a consistent 31-32 minutes per game the last five seasons. Entering his 36 year-old-season it appears that the Suns are going to keep Paul as close to 30 minutes per game as possible. They resigned Cameron Payne and also brought in long-time point guard Elfrid Payton.
Jae Crowder SF/PF – Starter (27 minutes per game)
Crowder was the other key addition to Phoenix on their road to the finals. In my recent article, I go into great depth on why Jae Crowder is the ideal 5th man on a championship caliber roster: https://studentunionsports.com/jae-crowder-the-ideal-5th-man/ He averaged 27.5 minutes per game last season and is expected to have a similar role this season.
Cameron Johnson SF/PF – High-End Backup (25 minutes per game)
Cam Johnson and Cam Payne have provided a nice 1-2 punch off the bench for the Suns since the 8-0 Bubble run at the end of the 2019-2020 season. Johnson’s shooting did fall off from his impressive 2019 season in which he shot 39% from deep down to 34.9% last year. Even with that dip, he proved to be a microwave scorer off the bench at times and shot 44.6% throughout their finals run. Johnson can play both forward spots and is a nice compliment to Jae Crowder. He played 24.0 minutes per game last season and should see right around that amount again in 2021-2022.
Cameron Payne PG/SG – High-End Backup (18 minutes per game)
Cameron Payne was an amazing comeback story last season. He sat out almost the entire 2019 season and nearly fell out of the NBA until his bubble run with the Suns. He improved him game and impressed as a backup combo-guard for Phoenix in 2020, shooting lights out from three (44.0%) and averaging 8.4 points in 18 minutes per game. Payne even took over at times in the playoffs for the Suns but is best utilized as a complimentary backup piece to the rotation. With Landry Shamet and Elfrid Payton joining the locker-room Payne probably won’t see an increase in minutes, but will be a stable bench piece.
Landry Shamet SG/SF – Backup (16 minutes per game)
The Suns have not had a true backup SG on their roster for a couple of seasons and Shamet is a respectable backup for when Booker is on the bench. Phoenix acquired Shamet on draft night from the Nets for Jevon Carter and the 29th pick, so they are somewhat invested in him becoming a rotation piece. While Shamet hasn’t been the 3-point sniper the last few seasons that he was his rookie season when he shot 42.2% from beyond the arc, he is still an above average shooter who provides good spacing. He averaged 23.0 minutes per game last season but just 17.2 minutes in the playoffs. Now on a team with an incredibly deep back-court, he likely sees just 15-18 minutes a night.
JaVale McGee C – Backup (10 minutes per game)
The Suns greatest weakness in the playoffs last season was their lack of depth at the Center position. Once Dario Saric went down with an ACL injury, Ayton was practically the last man standing with Frank Kaminsky accounting for some frantic emergency minutes. While there is a world where Kaminsky is the backup center next season, McGee played with Booker on Team USA at the Olympics and was signed just weeks later to Phoenix’s roster. He should bring a veteran presence and work nicely with Ayton. McGee averaged 14.7 minutes per game last season.
Elfrid Payton PG – Backup (8 minutes per game)
Payton started 19 games for the Suns in the 2017-2018 season before he was traded to Orlando. He is familiar with sharing the backcourt with Devin Booker and was a great free agency signing for the veteran minimum and is useful insurance for Chris Paul. He might not see many minutes to start, but CP3 will surely be resting some games this season and Payton could easily slide into that starting PG spot when needed. Payton started all 63 games last season for the Knicks but only averaged 23.6 minutes per game.
Jalen Smith PF/C – Low-End Backup (7 minutes per game)
The 10th overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft rarely saw the floor in his rookie season and when he did make an appearance he struggled mightily. The prospect from Maryland did have one notable game against the Spurs in which the Suns did not play Paul, Booker, Crowder, or Ayton. This allowed him to record 11 points and 10 rebounds (along with 2 blocks) in 41 minutes. The Suns have developed young talent very well recently and Smith should get a couple more opportunities this season with Saric out to begin the year.
Projected Nightly Depth Chart:
PG: Chris Paul/Cameron Payne/Elfrid Payton
SG: Devin Booker/Landry Shamet/Cameron Payne
SF: Mikal Bridges/Cameron Johnson/Jae Crowder
PF: Jae Crowder/Jalen Smith/Cameron Johnson
C: Deandre Ayton/Javale McGee/Jalen Smith
Not in Initial Rotation:
Dario Saric PF (Injured)
Abdel Nader SF/PF
Frank Kaminsky C
Ty-Shon Alexander SG (Two-Way)