January 20, 2026
John Jones/Imagn Images
Collin Gillespie has emerged as one of the NBA's best bench guards this season.
As the Sixers officially begin the second half of their 2025-26 regular-season slate with their 42nd game on Tuesday, they will also get their first look at the league's most surprising playoff contender: the Phoenix Suns, who after trading Kevin Durant were expected to bottom out in a loaded Western Conference.
Instead, the Suns have stood out, playing tremendous basketball. They can be a nightmarish team to play; first-year head coach Jordan Ott looks like a strong contender for Coach of the Year in part because his team has played with tremendous effort and intensity.
Here to get us up to speed on all things Suns is Mike Vigil, a host of The Timeline Podcast.
Mike is ready to take the baton:
Adam Aaronson: The Suns might be the most delightful surprise of the 2025-26 NBA season so far; it is hard to recall any national experts predicting they would even be a Play-In Tournament-caliber team let alone potentially better than that. Did folks in Phoenix see this kind of season being a possibility? What has been the overarching theme of the Suns’ surprising success under Ott?
Mike Vigil: I think there’s a chance they have been better than anticipated by everyone, right down to the front office. On the podcast we did have a long conversation about how the over/under numbers seemed particularly low, especially factoring in the disastrous and often baffling coaching the Suns endured last season with Mike Budenholzer. But even at the highest levels of expectations, if you factor in just how injured they have been (Jalen Green has played one full game), then this is all very unpredictable.
I think the overarching theme is easy – they play hard. I personally have fully flipped from “this team wanted it more” being bad analysis to believing maybe it’s the most important thing. You do have to have guys that embody that, though, and Dillon Brooks, Jordan Goodwin, Collin Gillespie, and even Devin Booker really do. I don’t want to say all that and undersell just how good Ott has been this season, though. The Suns seem to be prepared at a high level for just about every game, and the effort only comes if the players believe in the coach.
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AA: Readers local to Philadelphia are likely familiar with Gillespie, the former Villanova standout enjoying a breakout season in Phoenix. What has powered Gillespie’s rise to one of the best role-playing guards in the NBA?
MV: Gillespie has been good in the G League for years and had a short stint with the Nuggets before finding a way into the rotation last year. It was clear that he has grit, he is smart, and has the requisite ball skills necessary to be his size in the NBA. The thing that has made him this vital to their success this season has been his shooting. His catch-and-shoot numbers led the NBA throughout the Suns' hot start, and he has gotten better and better at taking more and more audacious pull-up threes. He even had a game-winner earlier this season:
COLLIN GILLESPIE WINS IT FOR THE SUNS IN THE FINAL SECONDS!!!
— NBA (@NBA) November 22, 2025
ENDED THE GAME ON A 9-0 RUN.
PHOENIX MOVES TO 2-0 IN WEST GROUP A 🔥 pic.twitter.com/4MoPXWx4fp
Gillespie's eventual ceiling overall will be interesting to follow, as at times he looks like a really high-level player and although he is 26, in NBA years, he’s pretty young (he’s played 98 games total in his career).
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AA: Before the 2025 NBA Draft, many Sixers fans were interested in Duke center Khaman Maluach as a potential insurance policy on Joel Embiid. Maluach ended up landing in Phoenix, where he has not played much. What have you made of Maluach’s limited action, and should the Suns slow-playing his development cause any concern?
MV: Maluach is 19 years old and started playing basketball at 14 years old. Slow-playing his development seemed to always be the plan, but having said that, I think if the Suns had been playing more at their expected level (bad), then there would be a much brighter spotlight on the lack of highs on the court when he does play. Maluach often turns the ball over and looks a little lost.
The thing that should not be lost, though, is just how massive he looks while out there. There is a body and frame ready to be a top defensive player and Ott’s widely credited with some of the player development at Cleveland while he was there. He will have his work cut out for him with Maluach. Given he will likely be the last lottery pick for the Suns for years, his development will be vital for the team's long-term success.
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