PHOENIX– The Phoenix Suns, Devin Booker, and Jordan Ott had one thing on their minds throughout the preseason.
Health.
Just a year prior, they lost Booker's backcourt mate, Jalen Green, to a hamstring injury that limited him to 30 games. Now with the 2026-27 season around the corner, the Suns appear to be fully healthy.
Even though Luke Kennard and Oso Ighodaro missed Friday's game, Ott said both players are ready to play in the season opener.
Going back to the Suns' overall health, the starting unit played in the first two-and-a-half quarters before rolling with the reserves. It felt a tad concerning, just considering what happened last year.
As a result, Booker feels the victory his team had doesn't come from any statistical metric.
“Yeah. I mean, we're healthy,” Booker explained in the locker room postgame. “I think that's the main goal of preseason, and we've been getting to scrimmage each other in practice too. So, everything's been high level. We know what we're up against here.”
Jordan Ott feels the same about Devin Booker's thoughts
Ott is always methodical in his gameplan execution, often driving praise from his team, and other opposing coaches. With that meticulous planning comes a balance, and one he's executed well.
Having that balance is critical, given that the preseason carries weight, but not like the 82 regular season games.
Article Continues BelowThe obvious health factor aside, Ott feels he's seen exactly what he wanted to see through the small sample size
“I think we've seen it in spurts, in long spurts,” he explained postgame. “We'll look at this film because this is a big one because they're gonna play their rotation players. But I think overall, when our rotation guys have played, we played to our identity. We've taken some steps, adding new pieces, but you don't know until it jumped up Wednesday night, so we're in a good place.
“Health is always the first and foremost when you get through a preseason. I think we're in a pretty good place there, and what we've been able to do on the floor with this group seems to be headed in that direction, but we won't know until Wednesday night.”
Phoenix will start the regular season on the road on Wednesday against the Portland Trail Blazers.

