The Phoenix Suns keep trying. Like many teams, the Suns struggle to land superstars in free agency and have to resort to either blockbuster trades or the draft. Along with the Denver Nuggets and Boston Celtics, they are a team constantly barging into trade discussions, waving their surplus of assets around in attempts to acquire stars. They pop up in every trade rumor, whether for guys like Paul George and Jimmy Butler, or even possible future available superstars like Anthony Davis and Giannis Antetokounmpo. They will likely keep trying.
Last season, the Suns tanked in the final month by telling a healthy Eric Bledsoe, along with Brandon Knight and Tyson Chandler, three of their veterans and better players, to stay home. The Suns ended with the fourth pick and selected Josh Jackson, a freak athlete who adds some much-needed defensive pop.
They are still most willing to move Bledsoe, Chandler and Knight — players who aren’t in their long-term plans but could still have an impact on better teams — though with Knight’s injury history, he could just be salary that makes a deal for a larger contract possible. The Suns control all of their draft picks and have two extra firsts from the Miami Heat from the Goran Dragic trade.
Unlike most teams, the Suns are able to focus on their youth while lurking in the trade shadows. Including Jackson, the Suns have six players 21-years-old or younger. They’re the league’s third-youngest team in the NBA, according to RealGM. They’re committed to their youth. They rejected trade proposals from the Cleveland Cavaliers that would’ve forced them to give up Josh Jackson. They signed T.J. Warren to a four-year deal they hope will become a bargain. Warren is a decent scorer for them, and though he probably projects better as a sixth-man gunner off the bench, he’ll be a good stopgap until Jackson takes over.
With their front office finally on the same page, the Suns’ focus can shift to the court, where this is a season of building for the young core. Bledsoe led the team in assists and Chandler led the team in rebounding. Understandably they’re bright spots on the team — and those who played the most often. Chandler’s rebounding will continue to go a long way for the team as the young kids try to catch up. This season is about others stepping up and taking over those roles.
One side lauds Jackon’s 3-point-percentage in college (38 percent), while the other side sees he took only 90 attempts. To be an effective wing player in today’s NBA, you need to shoot that well but on more attempts. In the Suns’ first preseason game, Jackson made his first two attempts and didn’t hesitate to shoot when he was open on the third.
Jackson has to show he can keep shooting that an above-average clip. With his comparisons to Golden State’s Andre Iguodala, it’s likely Jackson will struggle shooting throughout his first few seasons. But the same can be said for most rookies, who struggle with adding elements to their game as they adjust to the NBA. That’s fine. Like all shooters who need improvement, the thing needed most from Jackson is consistent mechanics and confidence to keep pulling even after the defense sags off him — or even if a defender goes full Chris Paul and waves his hand in dismissal of a shot attempt.
Since the Suns are so young, they’re apathetic toward the things young teams are. They’re bad on defense and they don’t make plays for their teammates. The Suns finished last in assist-to-turnover ratio. They finished 29th in assist percentage despite the second-highest pace in the league. Sharing the ball and not giving it away are team-wide problems. They were near the bottom in defensive and net rating. It’s on guys like Marquese Chriss, whose defense ESPN’s Zach Lowe describe as “Which way did he go” clueless, to improve on that end, which he should. He and Dragan Bender are still both 20 years old, despite the league seems to have soured on the latter.
Improvements even include arguably their best player Devin Booker, who dropped 70 points against the Celtics last season. Booker has become the pillar from where the Suns will build, but this season is no longer about putting up insane points in blowouts. Booker has to add to his playmaking. He finished last season with a nearly 1-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, averaging 3.4 assists and 3.1 turnovers, good for sixth-worst among guards who averaged over 30 minutes. If he averaged 1.6 more assists, Booker would’ve finished 20th among that group. It’s easily within reach for him to up his playmaking, and with the Suns trying to move on from Bledsoe, it’s necessary for Booker to take advantage of his increased role.
Next: 25-under-25 -- The best young players in the NBA
The Suns are going to be bad this year. It’s just how it happens when your team is filled with yutes. But with teams like the Philadelphia 76ers and the Minnesota Timberwolves seemingly destined for out of the top half of the lottery — and with the league chasing superteams — the Suns are in a comfortable spot where they can take their time, see what they have, and plan with a relative bright future of assets coming in. Until they land that superstar, after years of owner Robert Sarver directing the franchise into blissful ignorance, it seems Phoenix has refocused and are now aware of what they need to do to to progress.
Add us as a preferred source on Google