Suns Hit the Panic Button With a Chaotic New Starting Lineup

The Phoenix Suns are 1-5, and their coaching staff has officially entered the experimental phase of a failing season.

According to Underdog NBA, the Suns are rolling out a brand new starting five on Thursday against the Orlando Magic: Devin Booker, Josh Green, Dillon Brooks, Mikal Bridges, and Oso Ighodaro.

"Lineup alert: Suns will start Booker, Green, Brooks, Bridges, Ighodaro on Thursday."

This is the kind of lineup you throw together in a video game when you accidentally simulate the first month of the season and realize your defense is broken.

You cannot really blame Phoenix for getting weird. The Suns are bleeding points right now. They just gave up 132 points to the Portland Trail Blazers and 127 to the Denver Nuggets. When your defense is operating like a broken turnstile, you have to try something drastic.

Starting Brooks and Bridges together is a pure chaos move. It is the basketball equivalent of hiring two bouncers for a public library. Opposing wings are going to have a miserable time trying to breathe, let alone initiate an offense.

But the other end of the floor is where the math gets hilarious. The offensive spacing for this group is going to look like a studio apartment with five roommates.

Booker is already carrying the entire franchise, averaging 24.7 points per game. With this group on the floor, his usage rate is about to break the tracking software. If you are monitoring the prop market, Booker might have to take 30 shots just to keep Phoenix in the game. When you share the court with a young big man like Ighodaro and three defensive grinders, passing is no longer a viable strategy.

We will see if this defensive fever dream actually pays off against Orlando. If the Suns lay another egg and the offense completely stalls out, expect this lineup to be scrapped before the weekend.