Suns Show Early Success in Executing Jordan Ott’s New System

There were a lot of positives from Phoenix's preseason opener.

Oct 3, 2025; Palm Desert, California, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) shoots past Los Angeles Lakers guard Dalton Knecht (4) at Acrisure Arena. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images | Denis Poroy-Imagn Images

PHOENIX -- It was only the first preseason game, but the Suns did an excellent job in executing new coach Jordan Ott’s system in their 103-81 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers Friday. 

Phoenix displayed a lot of effort on both sides of the ball, notably bringing on-ball pressure and making hustle plays defensively and moving without the ball offensively to create easier looks. 

"Our compete level was high," Ott said postgame (via The Arizona Republic's Duane Rankin).

"We've had more practices, so there's some carryover in what we were trying to do in practice ... Overall, it was a good first effort ... there will be some things that we can fine tune, but good start."

To Ott's point about the practices, Los Angeles coach JJ Redick felt the Suns were further ahead than his Lakers squad at this point of the preseason.

"The reality and this is not an excuse this is quite literally reality, (the Suns) had 19 guys in the gym all of September," Redick said. "They did their installs similar to how we did last year ... they're ahead of us from that perspective. They have more stuff in."

JJ Redick:

"The reality and this is not an excuse this is quite literally reality, (the Suns) had 19 guys in the gym all of September, they did their installs similar to how we did last year...they're ahead of us from that perspective" pic.twitter.com/z8OmKhE0Jt

— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) October 4, 2025

The Suns were without new highlight-reel scorer Jalen Green, who will likely miss the entire preseason with a hamstring injury, and new starting center Mark Williams, but did prove they can be creative even without the two key players in mixing and matching lineups. 

Devin Booker showed that he could have a career year as the lone star in Ott’s system, scoring 24 points and recording seven assists in 25 minutes. 

"I liked the way we played," Booker said (via Rankin). "A lot of carryover from training camp. It's nice to see it versus another team. Keep building on it and go to the film and see what we did right, see what we did wrong and still learn from it."

New acquisition Dillon Brooks had a lot of fans excited to see his gritty playstyle for the first time in a Suns jersey. 

It’s 100% Dillon Brooks. He sets this tone. He demands this energy from his team. When you see a guy doing all of this just in preseason, it inspires the WHOLE team to care more.

Stuff like this doesn’t show up in the stat sheet and is NOT easy to replace. https://t.co/IA4qTZMr4I

— ᵂᴵᴸᴸ (@BiasedHouston) October 4, 2025

Brooks also played well offensively, connecting on 3-of-4 3-pointers, all of which came in catch-and-shoot scenarios, which he should get a lot of in Ott’s offense. 

"I feel like a lot translated (from camp)," Brooks said (via Rankin). "A lot of our offensive sets we did perfectly, might have missed one ... Defense, maybe we got to do less fouling, but I'd rather have that than guys driving and getting whatever they want.

"Overall, I feel like it was a good game and it only builds up, ramps up from here."

The Suns will now depart Sunday for Macao, China, where they will play two preseason games against the Brooklyn Nets on Oct. 10 and 12.