The Suns’ clear X-factor emerges after the win over the Wizards

The Phoenix Suns they are looking for answers by any means possible after falling down the table following their brilliant 8-1 start to the 2024-25 season, in which many believed they were in for a comeback season. And at the beginning of January, The Suns decided to bench Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic — the main signal for the Phoenix bench to step up in any way. And on Thursday night in their 130-123 win over the Washington Wizards, Grayson Allen answered the call in a major way.

Allen, who started 74 of the 75 games he played in during the 2023-24 season, has been relegated to the bench so far this season — sticking to a backup role even with the recent demotion to the Bills. But he is certainly pushing for a bigger role in the team given the way he played on Thursday night. 29-year-old winger scored 21 points off the bench — a continuation of a trend that should encourage the Suns to give him more opportunities to advance.

According to StatMuse on X (formerly Twitter), the Suns remain undefeated in games in which Allen scores 20 or more points. Allen has 16 20-point games for Phoenix, so it’s not like a 16-0 record in those games is anything to scoff at.

The Suns, however, decided to reduce Allen’s role in favor of Tyus Jones and Ryan Dunn to try to give the team more playmaking and defense, which they sorely lacked last season. But Allen led the league in three-point percentage last season, and the Suns need to find a way to utilize his talents much more often.

Are the Suns getting back on track?

The The sun is slowly rising towards .500 and their latest win against the Wizards moves them to 20-20 on the season. At this point, it’s not entirely clear if there are any moves for the Suns to improve the roster given that they are up to their necks in the luxury tax.

Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic are obvious trade candidates, but the Suns can’t combine two or more players in a trade and can’t receive a bigger salary. This puts them between a rock and a hard place. But at the very least, Phoenix’s changes of late are steering the team back in the right direction, and clean health should do wonders for them moving forward.