NBA Season Preview 2017-18: The voyage of discovery begins for the Suns

The Suns have been terrible for some time. The last time they cracked 40 wins was in 2014, and the time before that was when Steve Nash and Grant Hill were still on the team and playing over 30 minutes a game. Coming off two straight seasons winning under 30 percent of their games, it doesn’t seem overly likely that we’re going to see a quick turnaround. But there is a little more hope for Phoenix this year than last, and for a team struggling to find the foundation for their next era of basketball, that’s plenty good news.

It all starts, of course, with Devin Booker. Offensively, at least, he’s so good, so young that people are already criticizing him as if he were a 10 year vet who’s learned all he can. Beyond question, the major bright spot for the Suns as a franchise last year came on March 24, when Booker had 70 points on (only?) 40 shots. At the time, as always, a lot of people said that anybody chucking with that much abandon could do at least nearly as well, but since there’s been a heck of a lot of basketball and it’s only happened 10 times — five times, non-Wilt edition — we can assume that’s not true.

Then there’s Eric Bledsoe, much respected, occasionally maligned and believe it or not only 27. Bledsoe was a pretty limited NBA player in his first three years in the league, but since then he has been a reliable scorer, a decent rebounder and a competent passer. His 21.1-6.3-4.8 line on .434/.335/.847 isn’t going to set any records for efficiency, but it’s not like he or Booker currently have a lot of help. Last year, only T.J. Warren and Brandon Knight also managed more than 10 points per game, and Knight is already out for the season. The Suns’ fifth, sixth and seventh best scorers last year were Marquese Chriss, Tyson Chandler and Alex Len in that order. And that tells you a lot about what their deal is right now.

So where in all this is some kind of hope? I’m glad you asked. First, although their season numbers don’t look too impressive, guys like Tyler Ulis, Marquese Chriss and Derrick Jones really came along at the end of last year. Ulis, especially, had an extraordinary March and April for a guy nobody had really heard about. He finished out the season with four 20 point games in five nights — including 34 point and 27 point efforts — and threw double-digit assists six times between March 15 and the end of the season. On his 34 point night, he also got nine assists and grabbed nine boards.

As for Chriss, another really young guy, he was a solid contributor more or less from the start and became a consistent double-double threat, with decent percentages, by the latter half of the season. His 19-13 night on April 1 or his 23-11 night on March 23 show what he can do. Jones didn’t exactly set the world on fire, but for a guy as young as he is, five double-digit point nights in seven games to end the season is promising. And then there’s Dragan Bender, who didn’t do much last year but is certainly an intriguing talent.

And to this cast of characters, the Suns now add Josh Jackson, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. Jackson is generally considered to be hard to project, but Draft Express sees him as an Andre Iguodala-type player, and he may be a better shooter. His mechanics are a question, but he shot well enough at Kansas. Certainly, his defensive acumen will be a useful counterweight to Booker’s skillset.

So next year will be a voyage of discovery for the Suns, full of questions that need answers. Can Devin Booker learn to be more efficient, and how will he and Jackson play together? Who is the real Tyler Ulis, and who is the real Dragan Bender? Is there room for Marquese Chriss to improve or has he pretty much shown the type of player he’ll be? It seems, at this point, extremely unlikely that the Suns sniff the playoffs or come close to doing so, but next year is all about the years to come. Having recently signed T.J. Warren to a reasonable extension, they have a good chance at keeping a young core in place and it may mature into a pretty good one.

Next: Is Devin Booker going to be an offensive star?

In the NBA, in 2017, a lot of teams are as bad as the Suns, but not a lot of those have the talent they’ve got already on the team. As many franchises have had occasion to discover, talent isn’t destiny, and that can fall apart pretty fast. But at the very least, Suns games will be exciting next year, and may be the bridge to bigger and better things.