Predicting the final records of each NBA team

Phoenix Suns

Aside from potentially the Lakers, the Phoenix Suns are the team where I am likely to be the lowest against the general consensus. The positives are real with the Suns, as I am an enormous fan of head coach Jeff Hornacek and the backcourt has the potential to be absolutely electric with the full move to two-point guard sets and the addition of free agent guard Isaiah Thomas. However, there are several issues that could come back to bite the Suns, and in the Western Conference, there is no room for error.

First, the pairing of Dragic and Bledsoe went swimmingly last season, but it is entirely possible that we’ve just seen the “peak” year for both players. The 6-foot-3 Dragic averaged career-bests in scoring (20.3 points), field goal percentage (50.5%) and 3-point percentage (40.8%), and while some of that is sustainable based on the offense, some slight regression is probably in the cards. In the case of Bledsoe, his numbers (17.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.7 assists per game) weren’t jaw-dropping, but he has real durability issues with 43 or fewer games in two of the last three seasons, and his game requires hyper-aggression and ultra-athletic plays to be effective.

The backcourt certainly isn’t the biggest question mark, however, as the front-court provides room for real skepticism. Markieff Morris (13.8 points per game) was the leading scorer in Phoenix’s frontcourt last season, and if anything, the Suns have regressed up front with the loss of Channing Frye. Both Markieff and Marcus Morris are nice players, but neither should be anchoring a playoff team, and the center position is occupied solely by Miles Plumlee and the oft-injured, unproven Alex Len. It is very nice to have P.J. Tucker back on board on a reasonable contract, but at 6-foot-5, it would be an understatement to say that he lacks ideal size as a forward, and Phoenix’s rotation of big men simply doesn’t stack up to the other playoff teams in the West.

It is hard to come off as entirely pessimistic on the Suns, simply because they were a great deal of fun to watch last season. However, virtually everything went right for Phoenix during Hornacek’s first season and they still missed the playoffs. Add in the loss of Frye and his incredible gravity offensively, and I simply can’t see a scenario where the Suns improve in 2014-2015.

Projected Record: 40-42, 11th in West