The case for extending Dillon Brooks

The Phoenix Suns have numerous decisions ahead of them this upcoming offseason, including multiple restricted free agents, unrestricted free agents, and players with trade value. The following series will examine those decisions as our writing team presents both a point and a counterpoint for each.

Dillon “The Villain” Brooks arrived in the Valley this year with a mix of emotions from fans. Some saw him as a solid role player who could help out; others thought he was just a bad throw-in from the Kevin Durant trade. One thing is for sure, though, is that no one saw him rising to the man he did just in his first year here in Phoenix. Brooks showed not only that he can be that defensive guy everyone buys into, but also a viable offensive option when injuries come into play.

Advertisement

This was seen from day one, even though no one knew what role he would truly hold; they saw he had gotten along well with the team in training camp. There was some hype around the team, even if they were not the best, that they would be a fun product to watch. Luckily for us, it was the best of both worlds, and Brooks was a huge part of that.

Brooks embodied the “Villain” persona he has stuck by in the league, really bringing out the best in these guys in the locker room and on the court. His aggressiveness and determination to leave it all on the court inspired teammates to give that same effort. This was the mold that a coach in Jordan Ott wants in his first year: guys who will buy in and leave it out there every single night.

This season, Brooks not only showed he could be better than anticipated, but even had fans clamoring for him to make the All-Star game.

Advertisement

He then suffered a broken wrist, which kept him out of 18 games for the Suns.

This definitely put a wrench in his great year, but when he returned, he bounced back to his average: 20.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.2 blocks, while shooting 44/34/84 from the field in 30.2 minutes per game. This led him to a career-high in points and rebounds, which was another positive for Brooks.

In a season where he saw his role fluctuate a bunch with…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/case-extending-dillon-brooks-000000144.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-05-27 00:00:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.