Several Key Suns Not Expected to Play in Preseason Rematch vs Spurs

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns are likely to be without several key players for their fourth preseason matchup tonight against the San Antonio Spurs.

According to The Arizona Republic's Duane Rankin on X, Devin Booker, Jalen Green, Miles Bridges, Dillon Brooks, Collin Gillespie and Oso Ighodaro are not expected to play against the Spurs and did not participate in the full morning shootaround.

Booker (rest) and Bridges (ankle, rest) also did not play in the team's third preseason game against the Spurs on Saturday, but this is the first time Phoenix has not played almost all of its top players this preseason.

Coach Jordan Ott said after the 102-98 victory over San Antonio that the plan was to rest the starters for one of the two remaining preseason games.

"One of these two (games we'll give them the night off). It's very fluid. We have a couple days here in between," Ott said. "Get a good practice in on Monday and then see where we're at on Wednesday."

Phoenix closes out the preseason at home Friday night against the Utah Jazz, so Suns fans could see the starters back in action then.

What Suns Resting Starters Means for Rest of Team

The Suns resting their starters and Gillespie is going to open a lot more opportunities for reserve players to show their worth.

One big battle to monitor is the final rotation spot between Ryan Dunn and Rasheer Fleming, as Dunn has outplayed Fleming through the first three games, but both players are right on the bubble for a rotation spot.

Another significant note is that Ighodaro is resting, which suggests he has pretty much won the starting center job over Khaman Maluach after Mark Williams suffered a torn labrum in the offseason, unless something changes in the next week before the Oct. 21 season opener.

The Spurs played the Utah Jazz Monday in between these two matchups against the Suns and were without nine players, so the majority of their key players could be back against the Suns.

This will give Maluach another great opportunity to match up against Victor Wembanyama, who is expected to return to the floor tonight.

Maluach got the start against Wembanyama Saturday and recorded 10 points and 15 rebounds in 23 minutes, which was a step forward the Suns wanted to see.

“I think he played well. He manned the paint, got some boards, caught some hard passes, finished with both hands. He played well and protected our rim really well," Dillon Brooks said of Maluach after the win.

“He guarded Wemby really well. He stayed in front, made him take tough shots, helped contain him from getting rebounds by tipping it out and getting it to us, showing strength and grabbing boards over top. It’s a process, he’s young and gets to see those different matchups. We play them again, we’ll play them about three times, we got to trust him to guard him and give me a little break.”

Luke Kennard also was very impressive with a game-high 20 points against San Antonio Saturday, while rookie Koa Peat seems like he could be in line for more minutes tonight with so many players out.

With that said, there's still going to be a lot the Suns can take from tonight's game even without their starters as they continue to evaluate their bench.

Tonight's game is scheduled to tip off shortly after 5 p.m. MST.