Because of this depth and the personnel on the Phoenix roster, there is an endless list of lineups from Gentry to choose from. Here are a few different types of lineups that offer different matchups and styles of play:
The starting lineup: Nash-Richardson-Hill-Turkoglu-Lopez
This is what we expect will be the starting lineup, at least to begin the season. The only real question mark is how Hedo will fare at the power forward position, which I’ve looked at fairly in depth both ofensively and defensively. But other than that you have four returning starters including one who is only improving in Lopez. This is a veteran group with a ton of experience to go along with that talent.
The conventional lineup: Nash-Richardson-Turkoglu-Warrick-Lopez
The starting lineup is a bit of an experiment, so this is the more standard, positionally correct group. Turkoglu slides to his natural position at small forward, and Warrick jumps in as the power forward. This group would pack it in the paint a bit more, but because Warrick is a capable mid-range shooter, they wouldn’t be struggle with spacing
The three-point shooters: Nash-Richardson-Dudley-Turkoglu-Frye
This may be the most impressive lineup of them all. Every one of these players are above-average three-point shooters — all over 40 percent last year except for J-Rich and Hedo, who were very close — and would make for the most spread floor in NBA history. In fact, this may be the best three-point shooting lineup from top to bottom in NBA history. They’re all shooters, but yet could all realistically play the position they’re slotted at. Frye would run the pick and pop, Turkoglu or Nash could play spot up or run the point and Dudley and J-Rich are your spot up shooters.
The defensive lineup: Dragic-Childress-Dudley-Clark-Lopez
The best thing about this depth and versatility is that the Suns finally have the personnel to play a little bit of defense, at least on the perimeter anyway. Dragic, Childress and Dudley are all above-average defenders and, although he may struggle guarding power forwards, Clark is as well. Then with Lopez as the anchor, this team would shut down opposing offenses unlike any group the Suns have had in recent history.
The BIG lineup: Nash-Childress-Turkoglu-Frye-Lopez
While the Suns do lack some size up front, they have a ton of ways they can offer size on the perimeter. at 6-foot-8 Childress is considered a big shooting guard, and at 6-foot-10 Turkoglu is also an oversized small forward. Although he isn’t a banger, Frye is 6-foot-11 and Lopez a seven-footer. If the Suns need size, this is the lineup they can offer. If Clark ends up cracking the rotation they could even move Turkoglu to shooting guard and substitute Clark for Childress and have an even bigger lineup.
The athletic lineup: Dragic-Richardson-Childress-Clark-Warrick
All of these guys, even Dragic, can jump out of the gym and run the floor. While that doesn’t always translate to good basketball, it is still a nice look to be able to offer.
The small-ball lineup: Nash-Dragic-Richardson-Childress-Turkoglu
This is as unconventional as it gets and is probably a bit of as stretch, but Dragic is capable as a shooting guard and Gentry even mentioned Turkoglu will even play some five at times.
