By stockpiling cost-effective youth and defensive specialists, Phoenix is quietly positioning itself to capitalize on Luka Doncic’s potential friction with the Lakers and form a dream backcourt.
The Phoenix Suns are perfectly content with largely keeping continuity in place during the lead-up into the 2026-27 season.
While the impending additions of Luke Kennard and Miles Bridges will shake things up to an extent, the separate veteran/youth cores will remain largely intact - with a potential endgame in the fold that not many see at this time.
That endgame? A potential pursuit of Luka Doncic, who has tormented Suns fans over the years in numerous ways. While Doncic is in position to sign a contract extension to remain with the Los Angeles Lakers for years to come, there isn't a consensus that believes this will actually be completed quite yet.
The Lakers did push their best efforts to surround Doncic with sufficient two-way talent this offseason, they also reportedly spurned the opportunity to re-sign Rui Hachimura - despite the All-NBA guard's preference for the franchise to retain the sharpshooting forward per the Athletic.
Could the two sides be gearing towards a messy divorce? It's entirely possible, and Brian Gregory seems to be battening down the hatches in the event that a bidding war does ensue.
Why does this current pipe dream seem more realistic once peeling back the layers of day-to-day operations?
It rests in how Gregory is constructing Phoenix's roster.
While the Lakers did a semi-respectable job in surrounding Doncic with floor-spacers, fearsome defenders, and low-volume, high-efficiency player archetypes, they simply burned a palpable amount of cash to do so - all while alienating LeBron James/Hachimura in the process.
Phoenix - on the other hand - is building a youth movement, while also rostering savvy veterans that would fit seamlessly alongside Doncic in theory.
Khaman Maluach, Rasheer Fleming, Koa Peat, and Koby Brea are just four of the players carrying the current youth movement. Each of the four are cost-effective at the moment, while also possessing a particular skill and/or tantalizing ceiling that would intrigue the Lakers in trade talks - or could remain with Phoenix in a complimentary role that would serve Doncic well.
As for the veteran core, Dillion Brooks is a player that would greatly benefit from the gravity that Doncic would provide, while his unrelenting physicality on the defensive side of the ball would be easily translatable to covering up for the Slovenian's shortcomings on that end. Collin Gillespie and Jordan Goodwin are the exact type of guards that Doncic should be surrounded by as well. Both are high-energy defenders that also excel as off-ball shooters.
Last, but certainly not least, Devin Booker would be positioned like never before to be the best version of himself as a player. The fit between the pair of megastars has been debated since Phoenix passed on selecting Doncic with the first overall selection in the 2018 draft - a union between the two sides would finally realize a pairing that has long been seen as a match made in heaven.
Doncic could serve as a pure point guard that also doubles as a deadly scorer, while Booker would be able to return to a full-time role of being one of the most dynamic off-ball scorers the league has ever seen.
While the possibility of making a trade for Doncic isn't within reach yet, there are signs that Gregory and the Suns organization are gearing up for another superstar pursuit in the coming year.
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Kevin Hicks is a contributing writer to SunsRoundtable. He can be reached on X @khicks_21.
