Fansided

Phoenix Suns season preview

By Philip Rossman-Reich

Feb 8, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) dribbles the ball up the court against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the first half at Talking Stick Resort Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 8, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) dribbles the ball up the court against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the first half at Talking Stick Resort Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports /
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The NBA season will be here before you know it and FanSided is here to get you ready. In the lead up to Opening Night, we’ll be previewing two teams each day, reviewing roster changes, discussing important players and challenges, and hearing the perspective of our FanSided site experts. Let’s get ready for basketball!

Roster changes

Inputs: Dragan Bender (PF, NBA Draft pick No. 4); Marquese Chriss (PF, NBA Draft pick No. 8); Tyler Ulis (PG, NBA Draft pick No. 34); Jared Dudley (PF, signed for three years, $30 million); Leandro Barbosa (SG, signed for two years, $8 million)

Outputs: Mirza Teletovic (PF, signed with the Milwaukee Bucks); Jon Leuer (PF, signed with the Detroit Pistons); Ronnie Price (PG, unsigned); Chase Budinger (SF, signed with the Brooklyn Nets)

Retained: None

Most important player

It would be easy to point to Devin Booker, the stellar wunderkind who lit up the baskets in Phoenix in the latter half of the season. Booker made a late push for Rookie of the Year. He averaged 13.8 points per game last year, but put up 19.2 points per game when he was given free reign to shoot away.

However, that end-of-the-season run was a product of circumstance with the rest of the Suns backcourt decimated by injury. Having Booker put up a 26 percent usage rate is probably not the best way for the Suns to win basketball games. His development will continue to be a steady progression. For Phoenix, though, their most important player remains their most enigmatic and tough to figure Eric Bledsoe.

Bledsoe has at times looked like an All-Star in a Suns’ uniform. He averaged 20.4 points per game lasts season, breaking that barrier for the first time in his career. When he has played for the Suns, he has scored and been a dynamic driver and facilitator. He averaged 6.1 assists per game with a 50.2 percent effective field goal percentage last season.

Any hope for the Suns to make the playoffs begins and ends with Bledsoe staying healthy.

Despite Bledsoe’s gaudy offensive numbers, Bledsoe has had trouble just staying on the court. He played in only 31 games last year and only 43 games in his first year in Phoenix, with an 81-game season in the middle.

Phoenix is a young team. The Suns probably still have a lot of work to go to get truly competitive. If they want to avoid being too deep in the basement as their young team grows, Bledsoe will have to be a big part. He is still the most star-ready player on the roster and the veteran to keep everyone else on the roster honest.

Biggest rivalry

The Phoenix Suns and the Denver Nuggets are going to be rivals for super-hipster team in the Western Conference this year. When these two young teams get together, it should make for some excellent matchups for NBA nerds.

These two teams are rebuilding. Neither is likely to make the playoffs. Neither have the potential superstars that other developing teams like Minnesota or New Orleans have. There is very little here for the casual fan, but plenty of excitement for the fanatics.

Both teams have interesting high lottery picks — Dragan Bender and Emmanuel Mudiay. Both have interesting young big men — Nikola Jokic and Maruqese Chriss. Both have veterans still searching for the right roles to fill — Danilo Gallinari and Eric Bledsoe — and veterans who seem to disappoint constantly for whatever reason — Wilson Chandler and Brandon Knight. And Devin Booker is still in there somewhere too for the Suns, along with veterans Tyson Chandler and Kenneth Faried.

This game is truly a mirror image. And the preview for a Western Conference playoff series five years from now.

The Suns and Nuggets will probably be climbing over each other to be the next “it” team in the NBA, fighting for lottery position and momentum against each other this season.

Related Story: Golden State Warriors season preview

What does success look like?

— Scott Hanna-Riggs, @ValleyoftheSuns, Valley of the Suns

Success for the Phoenix Suns is Earl Watson’s system being fully embraced by the entire organization. The Suns organization lacked stability and consistency for years. Even when the team was wildly successful on the floor, Robert Sarver and the front office would often make counterproductive moves like trading draft picks, such as Rajon Rondo, for cash.

Since the Markieff Morris trade at the 2016 deadline, the Suns have made smart move after smart move. They’ve given Watson a great set of pieces to work with. Now, they just need Sarver to let Ryan McDonough manage player moves.

Watson also must get the players to buy in. The team looks like a locker room of best friends, but nobody is fighting over minutes yet. The Suns have seen locker rooms turn toxic quickly.

There are obvious conflicts for minutes: Booker and Knight; T.J. Warren and P.J. Tucker; Jared Dudley and the rookies Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss; Tyson Chandler and Alex Len. The key is for Watson to get the team to buy into whatever rotations he comes up with. Winning would obviously make this much easier, but that should be required for good team chemistry.

If Watson can manage the Suns’ locker room, and the front office doesn’t trade for two point guards at the trade deadline, the team will succeed simply through another year of their young guns developing.

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